The venerable Christopher Craighead sharing strategies for crafting an effective front end in your manuscript at the Daugherty Logistics Doctoral Symposium at the Global Supply Chain Institute at the University of Tennessee. ~Mr. Supply Chain® #AlwaysBeLearning #SupplyChain
The largest financial decision that most people make is buying a house. People typically decide whether they want to buy a house within the first 8 seconds.
Similarly, reviewers typically look at your intro and your references. Clues in the reference section: sloppy formatting, references that do not include well-regarded authors and journals in the field.
You need to be careful about pushing back against reviewers. Unless they are asking for something that crosses an ethical boundary or weakens the research, you are probably better off just doing what they ask. Remember, they are trying to help you.
You never get a second chance to make a first impression.
Key terms and constructs should be informally defined in the introduction, and formally defined in the body of the paper.
Write the abstract first. This forces you in 200 words to lock in the story. The intro is an expansion of the abstract. The result of the paper is delivering on the abstract. The abstract will be rewritten many, many times.
The abstract needs to do three things: Differentiating Actions: 1. Illuminating Importance 2. Setting the Stage 3. Showcasing Contributions
Eliminate from the introduction anything that does not add value and that does not relate directly to the work.
Falling Prey to the Pitfalls in the Paper's Front End: • Lackluster Motivation - "No one has done this yet" • Overzealous Referencing - Creates a "saturated" impression • Bait and Switch - Disguised as a hot or more exciting topic • Opaque Roadmap - Lack of clarity on the paper's focus • Exaggerated Claims - Misrepresents what the paper actually delivers • Camouflaged Contribution - Lack of (or vague) explanation of the paper's value add