Writing and reviewing in biomedical engineering, 1.5 or 3 credits

Att skriva och granska vetenskapliga artiklar inom medicinsk teknik

Course information

Language of instruction: English
Course period: All year with course starts in February and September 2024
Course structure: Online with possibility for on-site meetings

Recommended prerequisites

The student has a research topic related to biomedical engineering, having either a biological or engineering focus
The student conducts experimental studies on devices, instruments, or in vitro or in vivo studies as a part of your PhD project
The student has completed at least 2 years of the PhD studies
The student has at least one manuscript in preparation at the time of course start, which is estimated to be ready for in-course reviewing within 6 months

These prerequisites are guiding when selecting students for the course.

Learning outcomes

After the course, the student should be able to:

Describe the writing and reviewing process of scientific journals
Demonstrate the ability to communicate a manuscript with an editor, including writing a cover letter
Demonstrate the ability to write peer-review comments and reply to peer-review comments with high quality and professionalism
Discuss and motivate publication strategies and ethical considerations related to scientific publishing
Identify the common publication strategies in their own field

Learning outcomes for doctoral degree

By providing understanding of and training on academic publishing, the following learning outcomes for a doctoral degree are targeted:

- “scholarly analysis and synthesis as well as to review and assess new and complex phenomena, issues and situations autonomously and critically” This is trained through in-depth analysis of manuscripts and through critical feedback on manuscripts from the peers as well as responding to such comments during the in-course peer-review process.
-“the ability in both national and international contexts to present and discuss research and research findings authoritatively in speech and writing and in dialogue with the academic community and society in general”
In this course, the students will learn and practice how to write cover letters, reviewer comments and how to respond to reviewer comments for scientific journals in a professional manner. Dialogues are set up between the in-course authors and reviewers.
-”the ability to identify the need for further knowledge, identifying scientific gaps and responding to queries on such gaps”
As a part of the in-course reviewing process, the reviewer is searching for potential scientific gaps in the reviewed manuscripts and, if any such gaps are suspected, the author will respond to such queries.

The course also trains PhD students on understanding their research field, support the learning of others through peer-reviewing and discussions, as well as reflecting on ethical aspects of publishing and the purpose of publishing.

Course contents

This course gives the participants theoretical and practical training on the following aspects of writing and reviewing a manuscript: general paper structure, journal submission process, peer review process, journal selection criteria, cover letter writing, general structure of reviewers’ comments, writing and replying to review comments with high scientific quality and professionalism. Further aspects of publishing such as publication strategies and ethical considerations of scientific publishing are discussed as a part of the course

Instruction

Peer-reviewing is practised by letting the students submit their own manuscripts to the teacher, who is acting as the editor and recruits in-course reviewers. The teachers give feedback on structure and professionalism of cover letter, reviewer comments and authors response, but the scientific content is discussed between the author and the reviewer. An introduction session gives a general introduction on article structure, interactions with journals and peer-reviewing, as well as explains what is expected from the students in this course. During the seminars, the students come prepared and actively discuss questions related to publishing for a more in-depth understanding.

Assessment

1.5 hp course version:

Participate in the introductory session
Actively participate in at least 2 discussion sessions
Complete 1 authors task, i.e. submit 1 own manuscript and cover letter for review, and respond to review comments from in-course reviewing
Complete 2 reviewer tasks, i.e. review 2 submitted manuscripts from the peer students

3 hp course version:

Participate in the introductory session
Actively participate in at least 3 discussion sessions
Complete 2 authors task, i.e. submit 2 own manuscript and cover letters for review, and respond to review comments from in-course reviewing
Complete 4 reviewer tasks, i.e. review 4 submitted manuscripts from the peer students

Course examiner

Maria Tenje, maria.tenje@angstrom.uu.se and
Cecilia Persson, cecilia.persson@angstrom.uu.se

Department with main responsibility

Department of Materials Science and Engineering

Contact persons

Sofia Johansson (sofia.m.johansson@angstrom.uu.se) and
Hannah Pohlit (hannah.pohlit@farmaci.uu.se)

Application

Submit the application for admission to: Sofia Johansson (sofia.m.johansson@angstrom.uu.se)
Submit the application not later than: 31st January for start in February 2024,
31st August for start in September 2024