Writing Up: Publishing Results

Abstract

Research is “inherently a social enterprise...”, “...a communal achievement, for in learning something new the discoverer both draws on and contributes to the body of knowledge held in common to all scientists.” (Griffiths 1995) Publications are the means through which knowledge is disseminated and evaluated by the larger research community, and through which new directions for research are found. Publications have to have value to others and are essential to obtain feedback. They should not only be considered as a documentation of results. In particular, the reviewing process prior to publication can be extremely worthwhile to improve not only the publication but also the research work itself. Getting colleagues to read the writing can be a very effective means of obtaining first feedback, in particular when they are less familiar with the work; they will ask questions that those that are all too familiar will not ask. As Cuba (1993) suggests,

“You must be willing to part with your words [...] Incorporating the constructive criticism of others gives you an additional chance to ‘get it right’ [...] It is our responsibility as writers to allow enough time so that our first is never our final draft [...] Allowing time for revising is no less important than logging hours in the library for preparing to write.”