“Publication is more on collaboration.” – Dr. Leodoro Labrague
CGS Multipurpose Hall – The two-day event held last July 25-26, dubbed as Workshop on Writing & Publishing in ISI Journals hosted by the Center for Engineering, Science & Technology Innovations (CESTI), assembled a total of fifty-six (56) faculty, staff, and researchers coming from the College of Engineering, College of Arts & Sciences, College of Nursing & Health Sciences, College of Education, College of Industrial Technology, SSU-Paranas Campus, and SSU-Mercedes Campus.
Day 1 – The event started at around 9 am. The workshop was graced with the presence of the University President, Dr. Marilyn D. Cardoso and VP for Academic Affairs, Dr. Felisa E. Gomba. The program kicks off with the talk of Dr. Gomba, emphasizing the importance of such events like this workshop, to further cement the ultimate goal of the University to be recognized among the top 200 SUCs within Asia. Workshops like this will promote a community which is publication-oriented, writing and publishing although is a tall task, the fruits of such undertaking are worth conducting of. Do not underestimate the power of publication, Dr. Gomba added.
Dr. Cardoso, highlighted the important milestones that the University has achieved under her governance. External funded projects and on-going projects subject for funding were also a subject of her speech. Everyone was challenged to contribute and improve not only for self gain but more importantly for the University in general. Dr. Cardoso, thanked everybody who participated in the event more so, acknowledging their commitment to pursue such a commendable act of progress.
Workshop Proper – In the morning session, Dr. Labrague presented her talk regarding the (1) Essentials of Publishing, wherein he introduced the benefits and accolades he received in publication, what he learned and his humble beginnings. Next topic of his was (2) Writing Title, Abstract, & Keywords, in which he dissected the pros and cons of constructing such important articles. After which, a workshop was initiated among five groups of collective participants. Each group were given an ample amount of time to work things out and eventually present their outputs for Dr. Labrague’s critiquing.
In the afternoon session, a talk regarding (3) Introduction was clearly explained by Dr. Labrague. He informed the participants the basic construction of an effective introduction. Added inputs were also disseminated after each group present their outputs. Dr. Labrague instruct every group to critique and assess the introduction section of the manuscript handed to them. Dr. Labrague was impressed with the quality of answers that the participants had given considering the amount of time rendered for such lecture.
Day 2 – Started at around 9:30 am. Dr. Rhea Jane Rosales led the morning session with her talk of (4) Ethical Considerations that an author must be minded of whenever writing a paper. She added that the importance of ethics should be realized and implemented due to the sensitive information and data gathered from the samples of the study. ISI journals have high standard in ensuring that the paper meets ethical considerations and failure to comply would backfires the author’s manuscript credibility.
Dr. Labrague immediately discuss the (5) Methods Section, considered to be the most crucial part of the entire manuscript considering that here lies the important section and vital information that the paper has to offer. He also reminded the participants that a wrong methodology will definitely led to false results. After the lecture, a workshop was done focusing on the critiquing of the methodologies utilized by the sample papers given per group.
The next topic centered on the (6) Tables & Figures. Dr. Labrague mentioned that some ISI journals have limit and count for tables and figures. He also gave emphasis on writing the discussion of the table or figures. Divert from redundancy of information. As much as possible write the major points in the figure and explained it concisely. Next topic was all about the (7) Statistics and Statistical Tools. Dr. Labrague firmly stressed that an author must avoid describing the outcome of a study as “good” or “bad”. “unexpected” or “expected” and “uninteresting” or interesting”. Preferably use terms such as “positive” or “negative” for it is more a result-based and afar from self-opinionated interpretation of results.
Last topic was all about the (8) Preparing for References and Citations. Journal guidelines should be checked before preparing the reference section. Proper paraphrasing of quotes in citations. Sources cited from the text should be listed in the reference section using an appropriate reference style. There are two major referencing styles (1) APA/Harvard Style for Referencing and (2) Vancouver Style for Referencing. Workshops eventually followed, participants were made to critique the articles handed to them focusing on references and citations.
Additional topic towards authorship, choosing the right journal publication, dealing with the reviewer’s comments and overview of manuscript processing was also discussed. Dr. Labrague warned the participants especially the novice authors to be vigilant and careful in submitting their papers to suspicious journals, politically termed as “predatory journals”. Journals of this kind charges the author with publication fee, promises fast review of paper, and high acceptance rate. Wherein fact, ISI journals have high rejection rate, assures high quality journals submission, took 3-4 months’ average, constitutes several layers of review process, and if accepted, an evaluation process to ensure everything within the paper is true and valid.
The event was closed by Prof. Jesus T. Racuyal, the Research Director for the Center for Fisheries and Aquatic Resources, Research & Development. Prof. Racuyal had a brief presentation about the importance of supporting local researchers and researches to establish an ecosystem that is diverse and multi-cultured in nature. Similar with the Silicon Valley in the US wherein it supports and maintains an ecology of high-quality outputs. It is a challenge however this can be done if all will participate and do their parts. One step at a time.
To download all the presentations, click here.
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