The Mechanics of Scientific Publishing, Peer Review, and Ethics in Publishing

This brief talk will be a condensed version of a short-course given at UNAM in Mexico City last year. I will discuss what your editor is looking for and what exactly it is that he or she does. This will, of course, deal with scientific content, but also with questions of attribution of textual material used and the avoidance of any possible implications of plagiarism or duplicate publication. It will be emphasized that communication is an essential part of the scientific endeavour. If you cannot communicate what you have done (verbally and in writing) then you haven�t done it! Whether we like it or not, English has become the world-wide language of communication and a working knowledge is a great, if not essential, part of your preparation to be a working scientist. If you don�t have it, a friend or colleague with good English skills is a very important asset. To write well requires not only language skill, but an understanding of how to write briefly and concisely in a manner that will inform and interest a reader who is not a specialist in your narrow sub-field.

Michael is Professor of Physics in the Physics Department at StFX, and does research in Solid State Physics. His research areas are in neutron scattering and magnetic structures of rare-earth and transition metals, especially incommensurate and density-wave structures, as well as dilatometry at cryogenic and very high temperatures. Together with Jan Genossar of the Technion, he developed the tilted-plate capacitance displacement sensor, which allows angstrom resolution at temperatures exceeding 1000 C. Since Autumn of 2006 he has been the editor of the Canadian Journal of Physics. In 2005 he was coordinator of Canadian efforts for the World Year of Physics 2005 (as declared by the United Nations) for the Canadian Association of Physicists (CAP). A highlight of this year in Canada was the lecture tour by Clifford Will on "Was Einstein Right?", together with performances by the Borealis String Quartet of a string quartet commissioned for the World Year of Physics by the CAP. The quartet was composed by Aaron Hryciw, a student of Canadian composer, Malcolm Forsyth's, at the University of Alberta, who was also a PhD candidate in physics at that time. An article in Physics in Canada of January 2006 summarizes the World Year of Physics activities.