Publishing Procedure and Presentation at Conferences, Journals Vladimír Ulman, Igor Peterlík, Jan Obdržálek FI MU DUVOD, October, 2015 Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 0 / 26 Conferences vs. Journals The two main types of publication media Conferences: Rapid dissemination of currently examined ideas Reporting “smaller” results Meeting people at social events Journals: Reporting important (finalized/almost finalized) results Longer validity of results expected Automatically distributed to subscribers (global impact) Understanding the purpose of each varies in different scientific fields The term ’a good conference/journal’ varies as well Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 1 / 26 Conferences: Choosing the Right One Availability Ask colleagues where they publish Check publication lists of competing/cooperating groups Check your favourite papers Where they were published Where relevant cited literature was published Check citation databases and search engines with proper keywords: Google, WOS, http://arnetminer.org/ http://academic.research.microsoft.com/ Check field specific list of conferences: Wikipedia, e.g., http://imagescience.org/ Check publisher or society calendars: http://www.iasted.org/conferences/ Springer, LNCS series Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 2 / 26 Conferences: Choosing the Right One Eligibility Institution evaluate the conference quality Masaryk University relies on some metrics (rankings) Ranks worth considering: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_ science_conferences http: //core.edu.au/cms/images/downloads/conference/ 08sort%20acronymERA2010_conference_list.pdf http://www-inf.it-sudparis.eu/~nguyen_n/ conferences/conference_ranking http://thomsonreuters.com/ conference-proceedings-citation-index/?subsector= scholarly-search-and-discovery Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 3 / 26 Conferences: Choosing the Right One Eligibility at FI MUNI According to prof. Hlinˇený’s grant (2013): Any top CS conference should meet 2 out of 4 following requirements: Rating >40 at http://academic.research.microsoft. com/RankList?entitytype=3&topDomainID=2 Rank A or A+ at http://lipn.univ-paris13.fr/~bennani/CSRank.html Rank 1 or 2 at http: //www.cs.ucla.edu/~eklee/paper/CS_conf_rank.htm Rand 1 or 2 at http://www3.ntu.edu.sg/home/assourav/crank.htm Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 4 / 26 Conferences: Choosing the Right One Eligibility at FI MUNI According to the Evaluation of Employees (2015): A good conference is such that is included in at least one of the ranks below with ranking A, B, 1, or 2: CORE: http://www.core.edu.au/index.php/conference-rankings(rankAneboB) CHAN: http://www-inf.it-sudparis.eu/~nguyen_n/conferences/ conference_ranking(rankAneboB) BHOWMICK: http://www.ntu.edu.sg/home/assourav/crank.htm(rank1nebo2) MICROSOFT: http://academic.research.microsoft.com/RankList? entitytype=3&topDomainID=2(FieldRating>=13) WIKI: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_computer_science_ conferences(pˇrítomnostvseznamu) OTHER: konference je objektivnˇe svou kvalitou srovnatelná s konferencemi dle pˇredchozích žebˇríˇck˚u Metodika FI 2013: https: //is.muni.cz/auth/do/fi/katedry/eval_katedry/Ranking_FI_2013.docx Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 5 / 26 Conferences: Choosing the Right One Which Are Appropriate There are many criteria to consider Impact on the audience of the presentation: Single- vs. multi-track, oral vs. poster presentation Typical number of participants Page number limit, full (long) vs. short paper vs. extended abstract Organization behind the event, publisher Acceptance ratio, deadline extensions, committee members Variance of topics in the CFP vs. your paper scope Recommendations of your colleagues and supervisor Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 6 / 26 Conferences: Choosing the Right One Which Are NOT Appropriate Recently we’ve started to dislike: WSEAS, IASTED, and INSTICC organizations Generally: Watch out for strings in CFPs: “multi-conference”, “Orlando Florida”, “World Congress” SciGen story: http://pdos.csail.mit.edu/scigen/ Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 7 / 26 Conferences: To be avoided. . . From: IIIS Summer conferences Subject: 3rd CFP for Summer Conferences in Orlando and Australia We would like to inform you about the deadlines for this 3rd Call for Papers, and to invite you to submit an abstract or draft paper to the following conferences being organized in the summer 2014 in Orlando, Florida, USA, and in Wollongong, NSW, Australia. CALL FOR PAPERS (for both conferences): July 15 - 18, 2014 - Orlando, Florida, USA The 18th World Multi-Conference, Systemics, Cybernetics and Informatics: WMSCI 2014, www.iiisconferences2014.org/wmsci June 30 - July 4, 2014 - Wollongong, NSW, Australia International Conference on Complexity, Cybernetics, and Informing Science and Engineering: CCISE 2014, www.iiisconferences2014.org/ccise For WMSCI 2014, submissions for virtual participations will also be accepted, besides the usual submissions for face-to-face presentations. ... Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 8 / 26 Conferences: To be avoided. . . From: IIIS Spring Multi-Conference Subject: 2nd CFP Education, Society, ICT and Complexity We would like to invite you to submit a draft paper or an abstract to the *spring Multi-Conference* being organized by the International Institute of Informatics and Systemics (IIIS) in Orlando, Florida, USA, on March 10 - 13, 2015. The following are the submissions deadlines of some the events being jointly organized (These deadlines are also posted *along with the respective webs sites URLs* at ... December 3rd, 2014 for The 6th International Conference on Society and Information Technologies: ICSIT 2015 December 3rd, 2014 for The 6th International Conference on Education, Training and Informatics: ICETI 2015 December 3rd, 2014 for The 5th Ibero-American Conference on Complexity, Informatics and Cybernetics: CICIC 2015 November 20th, 2014 for The 6th International MultiConference on Complexity, Informatics and Cybernetics: IMCIC 2015 ... Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 9 / 26 Conferences: To be avoided. . . From: Internet Medical Society Subject: Medbrary, the online medical library (registration is free) Please, let me introduce myself, I am Dr David Ryan, from Internet Medical Society. I am contacting to introduce you Medbrary.com, the online medical library that we are developing. Although we are still launching the site and recruiting both publishers and subscribers, we expect to have more than 10000 publications and about 4000 subscribers early next year. ... How could they say the last sentence? Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 10 / 26 Conferences: The Review Process Timeframe Paper bidding: 2 days – 1 week Reviews: 4–5 weeks Rebuttal (optional): 1 week PC discussion: 2–3 weeks Full version: 1–2 weeks Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 11 / 26 Conferences: The Review Process Reviewers PC members, ∼ 2 − 20 papers each Many distributed to subreviewers PC member is responsible for the subreviewers, participates in the discussion Paper assignment PC bids for papers, few days after submission deadline Can be accelerated by the abstracts first policy Conflict of interest must be declared Each paper requires 2–4 reviews! Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 12 / 26 Conferences: The Review Process Nowadays almost exclusively ”distributed” The first pass: remove clear accepts and rejects Ask for additional reviews if necessary Some papers initiate a long discussion Gray zone: somebody must fight for the paper Luck always plays a role in success. . . Rebuttals: not for adding new material but respond to reviewers’ comments! Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 13 / 26 Conferences: The Review Process — Tips and Tricks Check who is in the programme/review committee Cite their work (usually relevant if the conference is chosen appropriately. . . ) Check time-zone of the submission server to find out how much you can be late. . . Fill metadata ahead of the deadline (e.g., a day earlier): may require a modification of the text → e.g., limitation of number of words in the abstract may take a considerable amount of time → e.g., find correct categories, sub-topics may require discussion with the co-authors → e.g., propose 4 reviewers. . . Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 14 / 26 Presentations: Importance and Impact Presenting your research is an extremely important moment of your work Both content and form matter It can change your career (important people are listening to you) Moral: never underestimate the presentation of your work Prepare continuously, even if no presentation is on the horizon (it will come soon): Look for examples (internet, events at MUNI, passive attendance), https://www.ted.com/ Listen to presentations as if you were going to ask a question, Explain what you are doing to people you now (exciting research) You do not really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother. (A.Einstein) Focus on both the slides and the talk (oral presentation) before the conference starts! Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 15 / 26 Preparing Presentations: Things to Consider Prepare your slides before leaving for the conference: It allows for rehearsing before leaving (in lab, with friends), You will be busy at the conference (sessions, social events, jet-lag) The presentation ought to tell the story of your paper Select the most important points of the paper (reviews can help) according to time you have for the talk Do not add new results w.r.t. the paper (only rarely, and not in details if necessary) Take into account the community you are going to face: Adjust the motivation, description of context and background Choose proper vocabulary (e.g. linear, non-linear can mean 5 different things in different communities) Get familiar with the program and guidelines (usually known several weeks ahead): Length of the talk: usually between 10 and 30 minutes (invited talks, keynote lectures much longer) My rule: one slide per minute (or less) Switch on the slide numbering (for the audience, questions) Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 16 / 26 Preparing Presentations: Grammar, Typography Double check the grammar when preparing slides: Look-up words in a good dictionary Check phrases (corpus, Google can help. . . ) Use spell-checker (typos are huge on slides) Be consistent (British vs. American English) Be careful about style: Sans-serif fonts, not smaller than 30 pt (depends on slide resolution...) Avoid exclamation marks (!), minimize question marks (?), use correct quotation marks Avoid complicated equations and schemes; if they are necessary, be sure to have enough time to explain Attract audience attention: A picture is worth a thousand words Or you waste one slide (if the picture is not self-explaining) Use simple plots, graphs, clearly visible Try animations and videos (but be reasonable, effort vs. gain) Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 17 / 26 Preparing Presentations: The Talk Rehearse, rehearse, rehearse (before leaving for the conference): By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail. (B.Franklin) Be careful about the pronunciation of frequently used words. http://dictionary.cambridge.org: IPA, audio Become familiar with the place and people before the talk: Test your equipment (laptop, micro) before the session start. Say a word or two to the session chair before the session starts. Be careful about any jokes or “funny” slides: The audience’s reaction can be different from your expectations which could make you uneasy. Some “jokes” can be controversial in given context, country, culture. Questions and discussion after talk Be polite to the inquirer (“thank you for asking this question”); it seems that the question allows you to be more precise in your presentation. If you do not understand, excuse yourself and suggest a face-to-face discussion after the session. If you are “under attack”, suggest a discussion after the session. Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 18 / 26 Presentation at journals Journals Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 19 / 26 Conferences vs. Journals Reminder from the last session The two main types of publication media Conferences: Rapid dissemination of currently examined ideas Reporting “smaller” results Meeting people at social events Journals: Reporting important (finalized/almost finalized) results Longer validity of results expected Automatically distributed to subscribers (global impact) Understanding the purpose of each varies in different scientific fields The term ’a good conference/journal’ varies as well Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 20 / 26 Journals: Choosing the Right One Which Are Available By access Traditional — subscription based (serials crisis) Open access (outside funding vs author pays) Hybrid open access Delayed open access The “big three” Elsevier Springer John Wiley More than 42% in CS! Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 21 / 26 Journals: Choosing the Right One Which Are Available By contributions Longer (10–50 pages) Include all details Also check the IF! Taxonomy of journal papers Regular paper Special issue For a conference/workshop (selected papers only) Anniversary (person/area) For active new topics Survey Short paper Editorial Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 22 / 26 Journals: Choosing the Right One Which Are NOT Appropriate Those published by Hindawi Those who desperately invite you to publish :-), e.g.: Date: Wed, 14 May 2014 08:57:36 +0530 From: "Managing Editor (SDI)" To: xulman@fi.muni.cz Subject: Journal of Scientific Research and Reports : An OPEN peer reviewed journal Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 23 / 26 Journals: The Review Process Editorial board Active members Ceremonial members Associate/assistant editors By topics Additional advice to editors Chief editor(s)/Editor-in-Chief Two types of editors Academics (may, or may not be paid) Professional editors (should have at least postdoc experience) Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 24 / 26 Journals: The Review Process Differences from conferences Takes much longer (months/years) Much more thorough Guided by the editor Multiple iterations Decision is not binary (accept/reject) Possible (and typical) outcomes: Accept, no changes Accept, minor changes (no extra refereeing needed) Accept, subject to major changes (new round of refereeing) Reject Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 25 / 26 Books and the Others You can also publish a book, once you negotiate a deal with some publisher. More likely, you may get invitation to publish a chapter in a book. You can publish an extended version of the conference paper as a journal paper. You can publish an extended version of the conference paper as a technical report, if you feel the need. http://www.fi.muni.cz/reports/ Ulman, Peterlík, Obdržálek (FI MU) Conferences and Presentations, Journals DUVOD, Autumn 2015 26 / 26