On Research, with Alex M. Strasser, Part 2
On Research, with Alex M. Strasser, Part 2
Part 1 of this NMSC News post introduced the work of 2015 National Merit Eastman Chemical Company Scholarship winner Alex M. Strasser, a recent graduate of Texas A&M University with a passion for research in the field of materials science and engineering. Alex shared his thoughts and advice regarding undergraduate research in considerable detail, with the intention of inspiring other students to take advantage of possible research opportunities and further their pursuit of academic excellence.
The research process is currently on Alex’s mind, as he is completing a manuscript based on his findings from research in computational materials science. He has been studying photocurrents, which occur when nanomaterials produce electricity as they are exposed to light. “I study photocurrents that arise from an asymmetry in the material’s atomic structure,” Alex explains. “One material in particular, a Janus 2D material, has a unique out-of-plane photocurrent that has strong potential applications in nonlinear solar cells and advanced optical devices.” Alex will be listed as a first author on this manuscript.
Getting Started
Although Alex’s research is focused in STEM fields, much of his advice can be applied to research in any academic area. For example, an easy way to explore research possibilities is to work with a faculty advisor or mentor in that subject. “Professors want to work with interested students and are eager to find them,” Alex explains. “It is refreshing and energizing to professors, not bothersome, for anyone to be excited about their research.” He recommends finding professors by visiting department webpages and reading the research descriptions or previous publications of professors to glean their areas of interest.
Alex emphasizes the importance of being proactive when it comes to mentorship. The first step can be as simple as an email to a professor that expresses interest and includes a resume or curriculum vitae (CV). “I would start or end with a clear question,” Alex says, “such as ‘Would you be willing to meet with me to discuss joining your group?’”
Recalling his own entry into undergraduate research, Alex tells students not to take silence as an answer when it comes to contacting professors. “I sent my current advisor an email,” he recalls, “and then (with no response) tried to visit his office a couple times a few days later until I caught him in his office. Although he did not find the time to email me back, he later told me that this email gave him a great first impression and he wanted me to join his group, but my email just got lost in the overload.” However, after 2-3 emails with no response, Alex recommends trying a different contact method or move on to another professor aligned with your research interests
To students in fields where research centers around lab work, Alex offers the following advice:
Starting out as a grunt worker is normal and expected; just make sure that you take advantage of that opportunity to ask lots of questions and critically think about the research to try to come up with your own new ideas. This part is precisely what is so challenging about research; research is at the edge of human knowledge. A breakthrough might involve something you know that no one else on the face of the planet knows, and that is an exciting feeling.
Writing for Publication and Presentation
When preparing research findings for publication, Alex notes that “the first step to academic writing is academic reading in your field.” It is important to seek out examples of good academic writing and to peruse “the relevant publications that you need to be aware of and cite for your work.” On the topic of finding relevant articles, journals, and other publications, Alex says:
I would suggest an RSS feed aggregator such as The Old Reader (my personal favorite) or Feedly to follow specific journals of interest. Google Scholar is a great tool to create alerts on specific keywords. Finally, you can subscribe to a journal’s electronic Table of Contents that are sent out with each issue. I also use arXiv to keep up with preprints. I use a combination of all of these, and I also find random interesting articles from the academics I follow on Twitter.
Quality examples of academic writing will help when the time comes to put research findings down on paper. “Whatever you publish has to cohere as one line of reasoning from start to finish,” Alex reminds students. “Additionally,” he says, “having a ‘target journal’ in mind before writing is very helpful, as this controls what template you use, your theme, and your structure.”
Alex also explains that in some academic disciplines “it is common or even expected that some findings are submitted as a conference paper.” A paper presented at a conference can often be “modified, expanded, and made more robust” and later submitted to a journal for publication. For fields of study where conference papers are not common, “a conference venue can be a good place to showcase and solicit audience feedback or figures for an upcoming paper.”
Alex advises undergraduate students to speak to their advisors about conferences and journal publication. “I would not have been able to present at several conferences if I did not actively
seek them out,” he says, noting that a student’s ability to present at a conference is often dependent on funding.
The Peer Review Process
When the manuscript for an academic paper or article is complete, it must be prepared for publication. Alex provides an overview of the peer review process based on his experiences.
First, the manuscript is submitted to the journal, where it goes to an editor. The editor will do a brief run through to ensure it matches the scope of the journal, at which point it is assigned two to three reviewers. This should only take a few days. Getting reviews back can take anywhere from a couple weeks to several months (there are plenty of nightmare stories about this taking at least a year). At this point, a first-round provisional verdict is decided, whether it is to accept with minor revisions, accept with major revisions, revise and resubmit, or reject.
The decision along with detailed comments from each reviewer is given to the authors for them to review their manuscript. It is a common joke in academia that Reviewer #2 is…sometimes one who never reads the manuscript in the first place, so it is always best to take bitter criticism from the anonymous peer review process lightly.
Additionally, it always behooves the author to schmooze the reviewers a bit by 1) addressing each comment individually, 2) starting each reply with something similar to “The authors thank the reviewers for their (positive adjective) comment”, and 3) actually making most of the changes requested. It is inevitable that you may strongly disagree with the reviewer, and that is okay and happens. Be sure to be graceful and fully justify such disagreement.
There can be multiple rounds of these corrections, but hopefully not many more than two, then the manuscript is accepted and published. If it is rejected, then sometimes the editor can go ahead and submit the manuscript to another journal from the same publisher. If you wish to submit to a different publisher, then your manuscript is normally better than before because of the revisions from feedback, but it will also require modification to fit the new target journal’s theme, audience, and formatting requirements.
Alex’s enthusiasm for educating students about undergraduate research exemplifies NMSC’s commitment to promoting a deeper respect for learning and encouraging the pursuit of academic
excellence. Alex himself has become a shining example of the type of hardworking student NMSC wishes to honor through the National Merit Scholarship Program. After he completes his master’s degree in materials science and engineering at Texas A&M University, Alex intends to pursue a PhD in physics and become a professor. He will continue to conduct research and share his passion for materials science by teaching classes.
Alex Strasser’s Recommended Resources*
Resources for Online Research:
ArXiv Pre-Print Archive: https://arxiv.org/ Feedly https://feedly.com/i/welcome
Google Scholar https://scholar.google.com/
The Old Reader https://theoldreader.com/
Resources for academic writing:
https://blogs.plos.org/scicomm/2018/03/07/a-brief-guide-to-writing-your-first-scientific-manuscript/
https://www.editage.com/insights/10-point-checklist-to-identify-predatory-publishers)
https://www.mrl.ucsb.edu/~seshadri/Seshadri-PreparingFigures-2018.pdf https://ugr.ue.ucsc.edu/sites/default/files/jyi_guide_to_scientific_writing.pdf
The Visual Display of Quantitative Information by Edward Tufte
Citation Managers
EndNote https://endnote.com/
Mendeley https://www.mendeley.com/?interaction_required=true
Zotero https://www.zotero.org/
*NMSC is not affiliated with these sites or publications.