Useful_Infomation_for_Scholars_New_to_the_World_of

USEFULINFORMATIONFORSCHOLARSNEWTOTHEWORLDOFSCIENCEYu-ChiHo,XiaohongGuan,Xi-RenCao,WeiboGong,PeterB.Luh,HouminYanPrefaceChinaisbeingrapidlyintegratedintotheworldcommunitywithincreasinginfluencesandplaysamoreandmoreimportantroleintheworldarena.Meanwhile,Chinesescholarsandstudentsbecomemoreandmoreactiveininternationalacademia.Publicationsandprofessionalparticipationshavebecomeakeymeasureofscholarlyaccomplishment.Withthisnewtrend,itbecomeincreasinglyimportantthatChinesescholarsandstudentsgetfamiliarwith,andabidebytheinternationalstandardwhenwritingpapers,submittingthemforpublication,dealingwitheditors,andapplyingforfunding.Coincidentally,variousincidentsforwhichwehavepersonalknowledgeorhaveheardfromreliablesourcespointtosomeproblemsthatsomeChinesescholarshavewithinternationalprofessionalsocietiesandeditorialboards.SuchproblemsariselargelybecausetheculturaldifferencebetweenEastandWestbutarealsofueledbysocialincentivesinChineseacademiaconcerningquantitativemeasureforperformance.TheoldChineseproverbof“inquiringcustomsuponenteringanewterritory”isfullyapplicablehere.Thusitisperhapsusefultorecountthe“conventionsandprotocols”ofinternationalacademiaandthecollectiveexperienceofmorethan100yearsininternationalpublicationsandprofessionalsocietyworkoftheauthorsforthebenefitofnewChinesescholarsandstudentswhoareinterestedinanacademia(vs.administrative)career.WehopetheinformalnotescollectedbelowwillbeofrealusetoyoungChinesescholarsandstudents.ThisbookletiswritteninbothEnglishandChineseandwewouldliketopublishitinbilingualformat.Inthisway,thisbookletitselfcouldserveasanexampleforreaderstocomparethedifferentpresentationinChineseandEnglishwhenpreparingapapertobepublishedinaninternationaljournal.Ourlastremarkistotheorderoftheauthorshipofthisbooklet:thefirsttwoauthorsarelistedbasedontheircontributions,andtherestarelistedalphabetically.TableofContentsChapter1PublishingpapersandPresentingSpeeches1.1Howtosharecreditandcitereferences1.2Howtogetapaperpublishedinaninternationaljournal1.3HowtogiveatechnicaltalkChapter2ProfessionalParticipation2.1Howtoserveasanassociateeditor2.2Howtoapplyforresearchfunding2.3Howtodoresearchandpickaresearchtopic----ConversationwithProfessorYu-ChiHoChapter3MiscellaneousNotesChapter1PublishingPapersandPresentingSpeeches1.1HowtoShareCreditandCiteReferencesInscientificandliterarywritingsitismostimportant“togivecreditwherecreditisdue.”Afterall,thisiswhatanauthorlivesonandtheonlycurrencyinscholarlyendeavor.Violationofthisbasicdictumcanresultinsevereconsequences.Themostextremeexampleisplagiarismwhereoneauthorstealsmaterialfromanotherandclaimstobehis/herown.Whendiscovered,thepunishmentisveryharshatleastintheWest.However,therearelesserformsof“plagiarism”or“notgivingcreditwhereitisdue”andotherauthoringtransgressionsthatareduetoculturaldifferencebetweenEastandWestthatcanresultinmisunderstandingandbadfeelings.AllenteringfreshmanatHarvardUniversityaregivenadocumentinstructingthemontheetiquetteofwritingapaper,propercitingofreference,andgivingattribution.Inordertohavefreesharingofideasandatthesametimerespectfortheintellectualpropertyrightofscholars,somebasiccommonunderstandingneedtobeunderstoodamongallpersonsparticipatinginscholarlydiscussionanddisseminationofideas.Ifoneisreportingtheresultsofanotherorthingsonelearnedfromanother,thenitiscustomarytoEXPLICYTLYacknowledgethesource.ItisNOTsufficienttowriteacoupleofparagraphsoftext,whicharebasicallyrephrasingofotherpeople’swordsandprovidingasimplenumberedreference,suchas[xx].Thiscreatedtheimpression,intentionalorunintentional,thatthewordsandideasaretheauthor’sowncreationandthereferencedauthorisonlyofminorimportance.Furthermore,ingeneralonedoesnotreportonesown“learningexperience”inapapersubmittedforpublicationconsiderationunlessyouareprovidingNEWsignificantinsights.Eventhen,youshouldexplicitlyacknowledgethepriorityoftheideasofother.Althoughbygivinganumberedreference,youcanargueyouarenotplagiarizing,itwillneverthelessreflectbadlyonyou.Aknowledgeablereviewerofyourpaperwillnotletyougetawaywithit.Theoffendedauthor,mostprobablywhowillalsobethereviewerofyourpaper,willnotforgiveyou.Thelong-termconsequencesofsuchpracticearemuchworsethatanytemporarybenefitonemayderivefromsuchanact.Ifyouwishtothanksomeonewhohashelpedyouinthewritingordevelopmentofyourpaper,thenthankhimproperlyandsincerely.Neverthankapersonbygivingtheimpressionthatshe/hehaspersonallyapprovedyourpaper.ThismaybeasignofrespectintheEast.Butitisbadform.Thus,oneoftenseesattheendofacknowledgementanadditionalphrase“…allremainingerrorsaresolelytheresponsibilityoftheauthor.”Oneshouldnotbemadetotakeresponsibilityforapaperunlesshis/hernameappearsasoneoftheauthors.Onemorething.Itisimportanttotreatotherpeople’sideaandintellectualpropertywithrespectandcare.Apublishedpapercanbefreelypassedaroundandsharedwithoutauthorizationfromtheoriginalauthor.Afterall,apublishedpaperisinthepublicdomain.Butadraftorroughideasacolleaguesharedwithyouforcommentanddiscussionwithinalimitedcircleshouldbetreatedwithcare.Inparticular,aPowerPointdocumentortranspare