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KERALA
AGRICULTURAL UNIVERSITY
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KAU -
University of Florida Training Workshop on
Scientific Writing in Agriculture and Natural Resource Management
20 – 25
October 2008
Kerala
Agricultural University KAU P.O., Thrissur 680 656, Kerala
Communication
of research findings is fundamental to progress in any scientific
endeavour. The astounding value of
publications in professional accomplishments has led to the maxim “publish or
perish”. Agricultural and natural
resource management (NRM) sciences are no exception to this general rule. An important criterion that determines the
quality of research is the reputation of the journal in which it is
published. Therefore publishing in
highly rated journals is important to the scientists as well as their research
institutions. In order to publish in
good-quality journals, the research should not only be good, but the research
results should be written up and presented well.
Scientific
writing is an area in which Indian agricultural scientists are seldom trained;
most of them find it an intimidating challenge to prepare their manuscripts for
high-quality journals. Just like any
other area of professional expertise, scientific writing is a skill that can
only be perfected by constant and dedicated efforts, and the norms of
scientific writing are somewhat discipline-specific. Nevertheless, there are some common principles that are
fundamental to all disciplines. The
objective of this workshop is to draw the participants’ attention to such
common principles and help them develop the skills for writing scientific
papers for good-quality journals. The
workshop will be focused on early-career scientists in agricultural and NRM
disciplines; but it will be useful and open to mid-career professionals as
well.
This
workshop is primarily about writing papers for publication. Writing research grants proposals and open
access publishing, however, would be its additional focal themes. That is, there will be modules for writing
articles for publication, preparation of documents for research funding, and on
aspects relating to open access publishing, which is currently catching
up. The module on writing articles for
publication will discuss the concept of scientific research papers, how to
prepare it, besides providing an overview of the peer review system. The remaining two modules will cover aspects
relating to research funding support and online manuscript submission,
editorial, and publishing systems.
Resource persons
Dr. P.K.R. Nair,
Distinguished Professor and Director, Center for Subtropical Agroforestry, and
Fulbright Senior Fellow, School or Forest Resources and Conservation,
University of Florida, PO Box 110410 Gainesville, USA (www.sfrc.ufl.edu/nair.html),
and Editor-in-Chief of Agroforestry Systems (1994 to 2005), and Fulbright
Senior Fellow will be the principal resource person. Prof. Nair has conducted similar workshops in a number of places,
including ICFRE, Dehra Dun, during the late 1990s.
Dr. Vimala Nair,
Professor, Soil and Water Science Department, University of Florida,
Gainesville (Associate Editor, Journal of Environmental Quality, 1999
– 2004; winner of the journal’s Outstanding Associate
Editor award, 2003) and Dr. B. Mohan
Kumar, Editor, Journal of Tropical Agriculture, and Professor, Kerala
Agricultural University, will be additional resource persons.
Sponsors
Indian
Council of Forestry Research and Education, Dehra Dun
Kerala
Agricultural University, Vellanikkara
Participants
Admission
is limited to 30 scientists in agriculture and NRM disciplines, attached to the
national and state research institutions, and universities in India: Computer
literacy is an essential pre-requisite for attending this workshop. It is desired that the participants arrive
with their own laptop computers.
Outcome
The
participants will have a clear understanding of the essentials of preparing
manuscripts for publication in high-quality research journals and other
scientific media.
Venue
The
workshop will be organized at the Kerala Agricultural University, Thrissur
(http://www.kau.edu/). KAU is the home
of the Journal of Tropical Agriculture (JTA), the first ever agricultural science journal in India with an
online submission, review, editorial, and tracking system (http://www.jtropag.in/index.php/ojs).
The
weather in Thrissur in late October will be pleasant (max. temp ~31OC;
min. temp ~23OC). Thrissur is also the cultural capital of Kerala
with many tourist attractions in and around. The famous Munnar hills and
Periyar Tiger Reserves are within a distance of about 125 km and the port city
of Kochi (Cochin), 75 km away.
Workshop
Format
The
workshop will include presentations, panel discussions and hands-on training
sessions.
Workshop Dates
Registration:
on or before 25 August 2008. Registration form can be downloaded from here. (MS
Word 27KB)
Workshop:
October 20 to 25, 2008.
Registration
fees
Rs 1500
per individual as demand draft payable to the Organizing Secretary at the State
Bank of Travancore, KAU campus branch, Vellanikkara, Thrissur. This would cover the cost of conference
materials, local transport, refreshments, and working lunches served during the
workshop.
Accommodation
Limited
university accommodation (on payment basis) is available on a first-come-first-
served basis. Accommodation to other participants will be arranged in the
nearby hotels (tariff ranging from Rs 350 to 1250/- per day).
Organising
committee
Patron:
Sri. KR Viswambharan, Vice-Chancellor, Kerala Agricultural University,
Vellanikkara, KAU
Chair: Dr.
D. Alexander, Director of Research, KAU
Members:
Dr.
Jobi V Paul, Registrar, KAU
Dr.
M.K. Sheela, Director of Extension, KAU
Dr.
K. Harikrishnan Nair, Dean (Agriculture), KAU
Dr.
P.K. Ashokan, Associate Dean (Forestry), KAU
Dr.
P.K. Rajeevan, Associate Dean (Horticulture), KAU
Organizing
Secretary: Dr. B. Mohan Kumar, Professor and
Head (Silviculture and Agroforestry), KAU.
Principal
Contact
Dr.
B. Mohan Kumar, Professor and Head, Department of Silviculture
& Agroforestry, College of Forestry, Kerala Agricultural University KAU
P.O., Thrissur, Kerala 680 656, India
Phone
(office) 0487-2370050 (ext. 208); Fax 91-487-2371040
E-mail: bmkumar.kau@gmail.com; bmkumar@ufl.edu