Data science is not only about numbers and how to crunch them; it is also about how to communicate project results with the various audience. Scientific journals and conferences are an excellent venue for getting a wider audience reach and gathering valuable comments. The talk will answer the questions: How to structure a scientific paper in data science? What are relevant venues for showcasing your work to gain the most relevant reach? To demystify the process of scientific writing, the case study will be presented: Messy process: Story of the birth of one data science paper.

1. Writing scientific papers
about data science
projects
Prof.Dr.Sc. Mirjana Pejić Bach
University of Zagreb, Faculty of Economics and Business

2. Education Roadmap
Faculty of Economics & Business –
Zagreb
Cybernetics & Finance (1993)
Faculty of Economics & Business –
Zagreb
MBA (1996)
Faculty of Economics & Business –
Zagreb
PhD (2003)
MIT Sloan School of Management
– System Dynamics
(1996)

3. Teaching Roadmap
Data mining / Data
science (2003-today)
System dynamics
(2010 –today)
Simulation games
(2007 - today)
Statistics
(1993-1996)

4. Sceintific Resarch Areas
Data mining / data
science
Technology acceptance
/ Digital divide
Statistical modelling
Editorial work /
Reviewer

7. Publish or perish

8. Language No formal education

9. Types of
scientific
publications
Conference
Proceedings
Scientific journal
articles
Books / Book
chapters
White papers /
Preprints (e.g.
arcivx, SSRN)

10. How to write a scientific paper?
Search on the topic “how to write a scientific paper” in Web of Knowledge ©
database [11-05-2022]
5,630 papers published
More than 500 journals (e.g. International journal of science education,
Research in science education, Science education, Scientometrics, and Journal
of Research in science teaching)
50+ countries (England, Canada, Spain, Netherlands, Germany and ltaly)
Prof.dr.sc. Mirjana Pejić Bach

11. Why write scientific
articles?

12. Curiosity
Business
/ societal
need
New
service or
product
How is new
knowledge in
data science
generated?

13. Reasons for writing scientific articles
Increase knowledge - your own and others'
◦ Publication of results that are valuable
◦ Advancing science
Intellectual property protection - formal and informal
Expert reputation – establishing your position in a specific field
Scientific reputation - recognizability and citation
◦ Contact with a larger potential number of readers
◦ Scientific progress
◦ Doctoral study
◦ Scientific titles
◦ Teaching titles

14. How to write a scientific
paper in data science?

15. Pejić Bach, M. (2015). How to write and publish a scientific paper: A closer look to eastern European economics, business
and management journals. Business Systems Research: International journal of the Society for Advancing Innovation and
Research in Economy, 6(1), 93-103.

16. Competence: Ask a
relevant question

17. The goal to showcase your work
•Algorithm / Method
•Project
•Application
The goal to increase your knowledge

18. What has aleady been done by others?

19. Landscape of data
science research

20. Methodology
Web of Knowledge search
Analysis
• Bibliometric analysis
• Text mining

21. Search queries
Query Results
"data science" (Topic) 7,906 research papers
( "data science" OR "data mining" OR "big data" OR "artificial
intelligence" OR "AI" OR "statistical learning" OR "cluster
analysis" OR "decision trees" OR "artificial neural
networks" OR "ANN" OR "association rules" ) (Topic)
462,448 research papers
( "data science" OR "data mining" OR "big data" OR "artificial
intelligence" OR "AI" OR "statistical learning" OR "cluster
analysis" OR "decision trees" OR "artificial neural
networks" OR "ANN" OR "association rules" ) (Topic) and Highly
Cited Papers and 2021 (Publication Years)
734 research papers

22. Bibliometric
analysis

23. Number of publications per year

24. Top 10 cited papers
1. Deep learning in neural networks: An overview
2. Mastering the game of Go with deep neural networks and tree search
3. Diagnostic Criteria for Multiple Sclerosis: 2010 Revisions to the McDonald Criteria
4. Representation Learning: A Review and New Perspectives
5. Dermatologist-level classification of skin cancer with deep neural networks
6. GEPIA: a web server for cancer and normal gene expression profiling and interactive analyses
7. The Materials Project: A materials genome approach to accelerating materials innovation
8. Internet of Things: A Survey on Enabling Technologies, Protocols, and Applications
9. Google Earth Engine: Planetary-scale geospatial analysis for everyone
10. Identification of human triple-negative breast cancer subtypes and preclinical models for
selection of targeted therapies

25. Scientific areas with the highest number
of papers

26. Top countries according to the number
of papers

27. 0 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 6000 7000 8000
REMOTE SENSING
JOURNAL OF INTELLIGENT FUZZY SYSTEMS
INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ADVANCED COMPUTER SCIENCE AND…
INFORMATION SCIENCES
APPLIED SOFT COMPUTING
ENERGIES
NEUROCOMPUTING
WEED TECHNOLOGY
IEEE INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON BIG DATA
COMMUNICATIONS IN COMPUTER AND INFORMATION SCIENCE
NEURAL COMPUTING APPLICATIONS
SCIENTIFIC REPORTS
PROCEEDINGS OF SPIE
PROCEDIA COMPUTER SCIENCE
APPLIED SCIENCES BASEL
SENSORS
ANNALS OF NEUROLOGY
SUSTAINABILITY
PLOS ONE
ADVANCES IN INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS AND COMPUTING
EXPERT SYSTEMS WITH APPLICATIONS
LECTURE NOTES IN ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE
ANNALS OF THORACIC SURGERY
IEEE ACCESS
LECTURE NOTES IN COMPUTER SCIENCE
# of publications

28. Text mining

29. Methodology
Text mining is the process of exploring and analyzing large
amounts of unstructured text aided by software that can
identify concepts, patterns, topics, keywords and other
attributes in the data.
1st step – word and phrases extraction – Where is the
concern?
2nd step – topic extraction using cluster analysis – What
issues are in the focus?

30. Topic ( "data science" OR "data mining" OR "big
data" OR "artificial intelligence" OR "AI" OR "statistical
learning" OR "cluster analysis" OR "decision
trees" OR "artificial neural
networks" OR "ANN" OR "association rules" )
(462,448 papers)
Highly cited papers
(7906 papers)
Higly cited papers in 2021
(734 papers)
Results from Web of Science Core Collection

31. VosViewer analysis

32. Example paper: Contreras-Valdes, A., Amezquita-Sanchez, J. P.,
Granados-Lieberman, D., & Valtierra-Rodriguez, M. (2020).
Predictive data mining techniques for fault diagnosis of electric
equipment: A review. Applied Sciences, 10(3), 950.

33. Example paper: Bandara, E., Ng, W. K., De Zoysa, K., Fernando, N., Tharaka, S.,
Maurakirinathan, P., & Jayasuriya, N. (2018, December). Mystiko—blockchain meets big data.
In 2018 IEEE international conference on big data (big data) (pp. 3024-3032). IEEE.

34. Example paper: Andrea, I., Chrysostomou, C., & Hadjichristofi, G. (2015,
July). Internet of Things: Security vulnerabilities and challenges. In 2015
IEEE symposium on computers and communication (ISCC) (pp. 180-187).
IEEE.

35. Example paper: Mookiah, M. R. K., Acharya, U. R., & Ng, E. Y. K. (2012).
Data mining technique for breast cancer detection in thermograms using
hybrid feature extraction strategy. Quantitative InfraRed Thermography
Journal, 9(2), 151-165.

36. Example paper: Brock, J. K. U., & Von Wangenheim, F. (2019). Demystifying AI: What digital transformation leaders
can teach you about realistic artificial intelligence. California Management Review, 61(4), 110-134.

37. Example paper: Bahrammirzaee, A. (2010). A comparative survey of artificial
intelligence applications in finance: artificial neural networks, expert system and
hybrid intelligent systems. Neural Computing and Applications, 19(8), 1165-1195.

38. Example paper: Müller, M., Salathé, M., & Kummervold, P. E. (2020). Covid-twitter-bert:
A natural language processing model to analyse covid-19 content on twitter. arXiv
preprint arXiv:2005.07503.

39. Course: Target the right
journal / conference

40. Course: Targeting the right journal /
conference
 Select 2 to 3 journals / conferences for publication
 the paper matches the topic of the journal
 experience of other familiar authors that already published in the
journal
 mission statements of the journals
 members of the editorial bord
 journal quality
 Minimize rejections - quality of the paper = quality of the journal
 The best papers – The best journals
 Other worthy journals
 preliminary research
 narrow-topic articles
 quick publication
 a last-resource option if the paper gets rejected in highly-cited
journals

41. Avoid predatory journals and
conferences
What is meant by predatory Journal?
Predatory Journals take advantage of authors
by asking them to publish for a fee without
providing peer-review or editing services.
Because predatory publishers do not follow
the proper academic standards for publishing,
they usually offer a quick turnaround on
publishing a manuscript.
More info:
https://mdanderson.libanswers.com/faq/206
446
https://beallslist.net/

42. Conferences in Croatia & Slovenia
Central European Conference on Information and Intelligent Systems
• https://ceciis.foi.hr/
MIPRO – indexed in Scopus
◦ http://www.mipro.hr/
International Symposium on Operations Research in Slovenia – indexed in Scopus
◦ https://sor.fov.um.si/
International Conference on Operational Research (KOI)
◦ https://hdoi.hr/koi-2022/

43. International conferences
https://www.ieee.org/conferences/
https://aisnet.org/page/Conferences

44. Scientific
journals

45. The most reputable publishers
PAID FOR SUBSCRIPTION PUBLISHERS
Springer
Palgrave Macmillan
Routledge
Cambridge University Press
Elsevier
Nova Science Publishers
Edward Elgar
Information Age Publishing
Princeton University Press
University of California Press
Emerald
OPEN SOURCE PUBLISHERS
PlusOne
Sciendo
Mdpi
Frontiers
Most of paid-for-subscription publishers also publish open access journals and papers

46. Composition: IMRAD
outline

47. Composition: IMRAD framework (1)
Different types of scientific papers
case studies
survey reports
theoretical papers
review papers
IMRAD framework
(1) Introduction (What problem was studied?)
(2) Methods (How was the problem studied?)
(3) Results (What are the results?)
(4) Discussion (What do the findings mean?)
Prof.dr.sc. Mirjana Pejić Bach

48. Title of the paper - understandable and informative, not too long
Abstract - background, purpose, results, methods and conclusion of the paper
Keywords - carefully select
Introduction section
1st paragraph - the current knowledge on the topic
2nd paragraph - direction toward the purpose of the paper
3rd paragraph - the purpose of the paper and it states briefly methodology that has been utilized in
the paper
4th paragraph - other sections of the paper
Convince the editor and the reader that the paper is worth of publishing and
reading.
Composition: IMRAD framework (2)
Prof.dr.sc. Mirjana Pejić Bach

49. Composition: IMRAD framework (3)
Literature review
elaborate the current knowledge
Methods section
the process author carried on in
order to finish the research,
quantitative and qualitative
research or combine together
Results section
present the facts revealed by the
research and not their
interpretation
Discussion section
hardest to write and its deficiencies
are the most often reason for the
papers being rejected
Summarize the findings of the research
– 1st paragraph
Compare the results being expected
from previous research or experience –
2nd paragraph
Propose practical implications of the
results – 3rd paragraph
Explain key limitations of the research –
4th paragraph
Suggest paths for the future research –
5ht paragraph
Prof.dr.sc. Mirjana Pejić Bach

50. Publication integrity

51. Research
integrity
Research
governance
Ethics
Productivity
Plagiarism
Research
conduct
Analysis and
methods
Image
manipulation
Statitsics and
data
Errors
Data
duplication
and reporting
Source: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-03959-6

52. Plagiarism Overview
Plagiarism is using someone else’s ideas or words without giving them proper credit. Plagiarism
can range from unintentional (forgetting to include a source in a bibliography) to intentional
(buying a paper online, using another writer’s ideas as your own to make your work sound
smarter). Beginning writers and expert writers alike can all plagiarize. Understand that
plagiarism is a serious charge in academia, but also in professional settings.
If you are...
a student — consequences can include failing grades on assignments or classes, academic
probation, and even expulsion.
a researcher — plagiarism can cause a loss of credibility, legal consequences, and other
professional consequences.
an employee in a corporate or similar setting — you can receive a reprimand or lose your job.
https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/index.html

53. https://owl.purdue.edu/owl/avoiding_plagiarism/index.html

54. Example similarity
report from
iThenticate software

55. Content: Write the
paper

56. Writting scientific papers for beginners
Step 1:
◦ Find an article that serves as a prime example in terms of subject matter and structure there may be
similar topics
Step 2:
◦ Determine the working title of the article
Step 3: Create an article structure
Step 4: Write
◦ 1. introduction, 2. methods, 3. results, 4. discussion
Step 5: Write a summary and specify keywords

58. How to Write a Paper for Publication Franklin L. Rosenfeldt , John T. Dowling,
Salvatore Pepe and Meryl J. Fullerton

59. Technologies to speed up writting
Mendeley
Zotero
Qiqqa
ReadCube Papers

60. • Read scientific papers

• Find example of paper on a similar topic in targeted
journal

• Examine how the paper is organized

• Make an outline for the content of the paper in the
form of a bullet list of the future paragraphs and even
sentences

• Start to write
Prof.dr.sc. Mirjana Pejić Bach

61. Messy process of
writting the paper
in scientific journal
PEJIC-BACH, M., BERTONCEL, T., MEŠKO, M., & KRSTIĆ, Ž. (2020). T EXT
MINING OF INDUSTRY 4.0 JOB ADVERTISEMENTS. INTERNATIONAL
JOURNAL OF INFORMATION MANAGEMENT, 50, 416-431.

62. Timeliness for journal writting
1.Shorter conference
papers
• 2-3 months
Longer conference
papers for top
conferences
• 6 months to 1 year
Local journals
• 6 months to 1 year
Top journals
• 1,5 to 3 years

63. Process (2,5 years)
COMPENTENCE:
1st phase – 3 months
◦ Topic of the paper – jobs in industry 4.0
◦ Data source – job advertisments
◦ Methodology – text mining; software – Provalis
2nd phase – 3 months
◦ Data collection
◦ Initial analysis
COURSE:
Journal selection – published similar papers
◦ Parallel process
COMPOSITION
1st draft of the paper following IMRAD
• 3 months
CONTENT
2nd draft of the paper
• 2 months
Final 1st version of the paper
• 6 months
Review process 3 rounds
• 1 year

64. The best way to learn about something
is to write about it!
Good luck!