Writing and Reviewing

Writing

Are you ready to write your first paper? Or are you perhaps curious about the steps needed to write a paper? If the answer to these questions is yes, the resources listed below will turn out to be useful.

LaTeX and Overleaf

First, and perhaps most important, what software do I use to write my paper? In the CIS Lab, we use LaTeX–a software system that supports the preparation of articles and books. The learning curve for LaTeX is a bit steep, but the advantages offered by this system are substantial. Among the various software solutions supporting LaTeX, we use Overleaf, a collaborative and online LaTeX editor. Here are a few recommended steps:

  • Open an account on Overleaf. The free account provides enough functionalities for hosting a paper and learning LaTeX. For more advanced functionalities (e.g., track-and-changes), please contact Stefano: we have a standard plan that we use to host collaborative papers.
  • If you are new to LaTeX, please read the guide offered by Overleaf. Note that there are several other guides and tutorials available online.

Note that by using Overleaf you don’t have to use any software on your computer. In case you want to do so, consider installing TeXShop (MacOS) or TeXstudio (Windows, Unix/Linux, and MacOS).

Books

  • Writing Science: How to Write Papers That Get Cited and Proposals That Get Funded by Joshua Schimel is a must-read for all CIS Lab members. This book provides a wonderful introduction to scientific writing, from the overall structure of a paper or proposal to individual sections, paragraphs, sentences, and words. A compulsory exercise is to read this book while writing your first paper, basing your writing on what explained in each specific chapter. We have a physical copy of this book in our lab. A cheat sheet of Schimel’s book is available here.
  • First you write a sentence by Joe Moran is another great book that has shaped our approach to scientific writing.

Articles

Courses, Blogs, and other resources

Ready to submit?

Your paper is now ready to be submitted: What’s the next? What all journals will require is a list of recommended reviewers as well as a cover letter. They are both important:

  • It goes without saying, but you cannot suggest close collaborators or people from your same institution–these are clear conflicts of interest. Instead, suggest experts in the field and explain why you chose these names. A good editor will take your suggestions seriously–and may be negatively impressed by a sloppy list of reviewers.

  • The cover letter is NOT a summary of your paper. It is a document that explains why your work is novel and how it fits the aim and scope of the journal.

Please check our Templates section for a practical example of a document containing both cover letter and list of suggested reviewers.

All journals now have a policy in place for sharing the data and code corresponding to a given paper. Sometimes, specific situations or agreements with third parties may limit our ability to share data or code; that’s a very rare circumstance, though. This means you will have to prepare a third item, namely a repository containing instructions to reproduce results in a published work:

  • There are multiple ways for creating such repository that ultimately depend on the level of reproducibility you may want to reach. An excellent example / guide is this meta-repository used in the IM3 project.

Ready to revise?

Your paper has been reviewed and you have been invited to submit a revised version; great! You will have to follow the specific guidelines provided by the journal concerning which documents to submit. In all cases, you will have to provide a response-to-reviewers as well as cover letter containing a bit summary of your revision for the editor-in-chief.

  • Your response-to-reviewers has to be clear and concrete; it is a super-important document. The best way to learn how to write one is to see an example. We suggest reading the material posted here. For this paper, you can read the paper we first submitted, the response-to-reviewers, and the final version that was eventually accepted.

  • For an example of the cover letter, please refer to the Templates section. Reach out to Stefano if you want a version with the Cornell letterhead.

To do list

  • Open an account on Overleaf.
  • If necessary, start learning LaTeX using the resources posted here.
  • Read Joshua Schimel’s book.
  • Feel free to complement your knowledge with other resources listed here and elsewhere. Importantly, please contribute to this page!

Reviewing

Ok, so you have now been invited to review a paper. Should you accept? If you have time, the appropriate expertise, and no conflict of interest, the answer should be yes. There are many reasons for which serving as a reviewer–and later as an editor–is important. First, it is a service we provide to the scientific community; and communities work well when everybody contributes to them. In a more pragramtic fashion, you can see this matter in the following way: every paper that we submit (and gets reviewed) ‘generates’ two or three reviews; so, for every paper that we submit, we should provide at least two reviews. Second, reviewing is a great way of learning; it helps us become better scientists and better communicators.

Here are a few tips for your first review:

  • Follow the guidelines provided by the journal you are reviewing for. Sometimes they are lengthy, but they are there for a good reason as they provide clear indications on what the editor would like to hear from you.
  • Be kind, respectful, and constructive–always.
  • Support all your statements and criticisms with appropriate facts and / or references.
  • Remember that your ultime goal, as a reviewer, is to provide a detailed assessment of somebody else’s work.

There are several online resources that serve as good introductions to the peer review process. Here are a few we like:

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