How to succeed with your paper and talk in BISC 441880

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• How to succeed with your paper and talk in BISC
  441/880
• (and in your later career)
• how to plan, write and revise your paper
• (2) how to plan, prepare and give your talk
• (3) how to succeed in an academic or other
  scientific or
• professional careers

2

• Choice of research topic for paper and talk
• Choose an important, unresolved question, and one
  that
• interests and motivates you
• How come up with a topic? online searching, talk
  to me, read
• evolutionary medicine books on reserve
• (2) Address an important question with a novel
  method or
• conceptual approach (remember functional design,
  
• selection analysis and the comparative method)
• (3) Review a topic that has yet to be synthesized

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• What scientists do
• Theory, math, modelling rigorous, logical
• consequences of particular assumptions (if -gt
  then).
• There are many kinds and forms of models - best
  are
• as general as possible
• (2) Have and develop novel ideas (such as
  evolution by
• natural selection, or inclusive fitness, or
  parent-offspring
• conflict, or the confict theory of imprinting -
  or smaller novel
• ideas, for particular phenomemon)
• (3) Empirical work - collecting, assembling,
  synthesizing data
• from nature, the literature, databases - there is
  heaps of data
• already available in many areas
• Best scientists very good a two of these, or
  brilliant at one
• no one is good at all three

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• Planning and writing a paper
• Have something to say and know what it is
• seek to answer an important unresolved question
• identify and define a new question (are
  cancer-related
• genes subject to positive selection? what is the
  evolutionary
• basis, if any, of scoliosis?)
• (c) review a topic in the context of evaluating
  alternative
• hypotheses, by evaluating their common and
  divergent
• predictions (eg microchimerism in humans,
  twinning)
• (d) scrutinize a conventional wisdom, or write
  a critique of an existing
• (important) paper
• (e) evaluate a hypothesis, using data from the
  literature and databases

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• (2) Say it clearly and concisely in an organized
  manner
• INTRODUCTION
• state the question or topic
• describe alternative hypotheses
• provide overview of what has been done
  previously
• at end of Introduction, state what you will
  do/have done in the paper
• METHODS
• keep them as clear and simple as possible
• make sure they dovetail with the Introduction
  and Results
• for literature searches underlying
  review/synthesis papers, describe databases
• used, and how used
• RESULTS
• organize this section into subsections with
  subheadings
• be sure to relate the Results directly to the
  main questions
• use figures and tables effectively, for points
  that are hard to convey in words,
• and make figures and tables self-explanatory
  via labels and captions

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• Strategies for Planning, Researching, Writing and
  Editing a paper
• (1) Gather all the relevant literature - HOW?
• Web of Science
• go to http//www.sfu.ca/biology/qk/, click on Web
  of Science,

Click on advanced search
Choose your search terms, by topic and authors,
using various permutations
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Exploring the web of science database

• Useful links on the screen just above
• (a) times cited - click on, for more recent
  papers!
• (b) where can I get this? (via SFU library,
  google, etc)
• Now click on the blue title that you want, get
  this screen

• Very useful links
• (a) authors name
• (b) find related records
• (c) cited references
• (can also export to citation software
• from this screen)

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Exploring the Web of Science database Cycle
through the screens using different words to
search upon, checking the times cited and
cited references lists Save a set of PDFs and
Abstracts, organize into folders Other
especially-useful databases, for medical
literature PubMed Medline (EBSCO host) (access
via Library,
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In addition to WOS, PubMed and Medline, you
should search on more-specialized databases if
appropriate (eg PsychInfo for psychology, OMIM
for genetic disorders, etc) These database
searches are only your FIRST PASS Next, you need
to read your initial set of articles, to find
cited articles that the databases do not contain
(such as book chapters and books), or cited
articles in journals that are not covered by the
databases Searching based on your initial set of
articles is your SECOND PASS It is essential to
find ALL directly-salient literature
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NOW READ THE PAPERS! Take notes on each paper to
summarize main results NOW START TO OUTLINE YOUR
PAPER IN INCREASING DETAIL Your notes on each
article can usefully be organized by the outline
of your paper (that is, make the notes directly
in a text document on the computer) THREE
LEVELS OF OUTLINING (1) broad outline of
sections (2) subheadings for each section (3)
each paragraph IT CAN ALSO BE USEFUL TO WRITE
THE ABSTRACT BEFORE YOU START WRITING THE PAPER
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The Actual Writing Part Write by filling in the
detailed outline, paragraph by paragraph The
start of each section and paragraph must provide
suitable context and perspective for your reader
to understand the novel material you are
presenting Each paragraph needs a beginning
(providing context and perspective), a middle
that develops the concepts, and a logical
endpoint, that wraps up the paragraph and
provides for a logical transition to the next
paragraph or section See Strunk and White, The
Elements of Style, for writing advice Read over
every sentence yourself multiple times - is it
clear? necessary? Have a critical friend (or
enemy) read it too! Start early, but avoid
excessive length
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• Tables and Figures
• Use them liberally, to summarize information and
  convey
• visual and conceptual information -gt much easier
  for the reader
• to understand processes, patterns or conceptual
  alternatives
• that are presented as a distinct table or figure
• (2) However, be sure that each Table or Figure is
  self-contained,
• so the reader can gain the needed information
  without reference
• to details in the text itself -gt this is best
  accomplished with
• clear axes, labelling, and short captions that
  make a statement
• about the main point of the Table or Figure

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• The first draft of your paper is done!
• You submit the paper to the Journal of
  Evolutionary Health and Disease, Dr. B. Crespi,
  Editor-in-Chief
• The process
• I review the paper, noting how well you have met
  the criteria presented in this talk
• I provide explicit advice for editing and
  resubmission
• You revise the paper and provide a cover letter
  of two pages single-spaced maximum, explaining
  how you have done so
• I expect that at least a few of your papers will
  end up suitable for publication in a real
  journal!

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• Giving talks (12 minutes, then some time for
  questions),
• last few weeks of the semester
• The I Love Lucy effect problem, question,
  conflict,
• puzzle, upcoming event -gt development -gt
  resolution
• (2) START with the big picture and some context
  and
• background from previous studies
• (3) THEN explain your specific goal or
  hypothesis,
• in the context of the big picture
• (4) THEN discuss what you did, and your main
  results
• (5) THEN relate your results to the big picture
  question,
• in the context of previous studies (the
  resolution)
• (6) FINALLY discuss some ideas for future work
  that
• follow from what you did
• NOTE members of the audience must generate two
  good
• (insightful, critical, helpful) questions or
  comments about
• each talk, and hand them in at the end of class

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• BIG TALK ADVICE
• Balance text and graphics carefully - do not use
• too much of each
• (2) Keep your slides clear and simple, and neat
  (sloppy
• graphics is interpreted as sloppy science)
• (3) Practice the talk, to an audience, no matter
  how
• painful it is. Especially practice your
  transitions between
• sections of the talk
• (4) Seek to engage your audience with enthusiasm
  and
• intellectual fervor

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• BISC 441/880 and Beyond
• Career Advice for careers based in part on
• training in the biological sciences
• Academia
• Health Care
• Government
• Business, industry
• Consulting
• Career demography
• Eleven Essentials of graduate/professional school
• Five fatal flaws of graduate/professional school
• Reputation
• Postdoctoral fellowships and jobs

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• Career demography
• The bourgeousie effect the rich get richer -
  faster and earlier,
• via positive feedback
• Work in a lab, write a paper, and/or get good
  marks
• when young (e.g. undergraduate) -gt more likely to
  get next
• position or career benefit -gt more likely to get
  next
• position or career benefit -gt more likely to get
  next fellowship,
• award, grant, paper accepted, job
• SMALL INITIAL ADVANTAGE HAS HUGE PAYOFF
• WRITE! In academia, each paper
• published in good journal may be
• worth gt 10,000 in long term
• START NOW

Payoff
of papers 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
post-doc job
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• (2) Eleven Essentials of graduate/professional
  school
• (i) Know The Literature, in your field
• (ii) Write for paper publishing, not for your
  thesis
• (iii) Complete the task or paper that is nearest
  to completion first
• (iv) Eschew procrastination (20 more, faster -
  gain 1 year in 5)
• (v) Swim with the big fishes in the big sea
• (vi) Give talks here, go to Scientific meetings,
  give talks there -
• meet the people in your field
• (vii) Get money for research, little, then more
  and more
• (viii) Plan way ahead for graduate school or a
  postdoctoral fellowship (1-2 years)
• (ix) Learn new skills now, as you will have
  likely less time later
• (x) Begin to think like, and be, an independent
  researcher (your professors are not smarter, just
  older!)
• (xi) Make a web page, your window to the wide
  world

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• (3) Five fatal flaws of graduate/professional
  school
• What is a week in the like of a graduate
  student?
• The danger of long timelines
• (ii) The Agony of Writing, and Ecstacy of Not
  Writing.
• Train yourself to write regularly
• (iii) Juggling all those chain saws it is hard
  to be a teaching
• assistant, collect data, analyze, write, go to
  talks, easy to let
• the hard important tasks slide
• (iv) Focussing on (or aversion to) the Black
  Monolith of
• the Thesis
• (v) Perfectionism and getting things done

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(4) Reputation Papers Published Meetings
Correspondence Grants and fellowships
Colleagues Reviewing papers and grants all
adds up to your REPUTATION in the field - like
a first impression, these can stick
tightly Reputation for working in a particular
emerging important topic or with a novel,
powerful technology are best, as your name will
be closely associated with your topic and work
area
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• (5) Postdoctoral fellowships and jobs
• 4 or 5 published papers appear to be enough for
  getting
• an NSERC or equivalant post-doc (worth 80,000)
• (ii) Plan 1-2 years ahead, choose several of the
  best labs
• in your field to try to work in regardless of
  geography,
• and seek to visit the lab beforehand
• (iii) Research all of the Fellowships you are
  eligible for, and
• apply for everything

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• (5) Postdoctoral fellowships and Jobs
• Find out all you can about the position and what
  the
• Department really wants
• (ii) If you get an interview, do your homework
  thoroughly
• on the Department (or business, etc), especially
  on
• search committee members
• (iii) Make your job talk suitable for a general
  biology
• audience, but still as specific and rigorous as
  possible
• (iv) Social and political elements enter into the
  decision
• process
• (v) If you get a job offer, everything (start
  date, salary,
• teaching schedule, lab space, startup funds) is
  negotiable

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• WHAT WE HAVE LEARNED TODAY
• How to succeed with your paper and talk in BISC
  441/880
• (and in your later career)
• how to plan, write and revise
• your paper
• (2) how to plan, prepare and
• give your talk
• (3) how to succeed in an
• academic or other scientific or
• professional careers