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With these specifications:

• Include 3 to 5 highlights.
• Each individual Highlight should be a maximum of 85 characters long, including spaces.
• Only the core results of the paper should be covered.

Biochimica et Biophysica Acta (BBA), Bioenergetics, Volume 1807, Issue 10, October 2011, 1364-1369  

• A conformational two-state mechanism for proton pumping complex I is proposed.
• The mechanism relies on stabilization changes of anionic ubiquinone intermediates.
• Electron-transfer and protonation should be strictly controlled during turnover.

Learning and Instruction, Volume 21, Issue 6, December 2011, 746-756  

• Fading of a script alone does not foster domain-general strategy knowledge.
• Performance of the strategy declines during the fading of a script.
• Monitoring by a peer keeps performance of the strategy up during script fading.
• Performance of a strategy after fading fosters domain-general strategy knowledge.
• Fading and monitoring by a peer combined foster domain-general strategy knowledge.  

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Free APA Journals ™ Articles

Recently published articles from subdisciplines of psychology covered by more than 90 APA Journals™ publications.

For additional free resources (such as article summaries, podcasts, and more), please visit the Highlights in Psychological Research page.

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How To Write Highlights for an Academic or Scientific Paper

Posted by Rene Tetzner | Sep 7, 2021 | Paper Writing Advice | 0 |

How To Write Highlights for an Academic or Scientific Paper Although some academic and scientific journals have a long tradition of requesting summaries of key findings from the authors of articles accepted for publication, highlights are, for the most part, a relatively recent development in scholarly publishing. Elsevier first introduced highlights in some of its scholarly journals less than a decade ago, with its other journals and many produced by other publishers soon picking up this feature as well. The increasing popularity of highlights for research articles can be explained by their usefulness and appeal for both readers and authors in an online publishing environment. Readers are able to find and view in an extremely concise format the results presented in a published manuscript and thus determine very quickly whether they want to read the paper or not. With the Elsevier Research Highlights app, they can easily do this on their smartphones and even have the articles they wish to read sent to their inboxes. Authors benefit because their papers are given the advantage of greater visibility and discoverability, which can lead to more readers and higher citation counts. In addition, condensing the key elements of a research article into a few highlights can help an author focus more effectively on the primary contributions of his or her research.

The content, length and format of highlights for a research paper differ somewhat among academic and scientific journals, so one journal may simply want a bulleted list of keywords or key phrases, whereas another will require a thorough summary of the research results in the form of a brief paragraph. Elsevier journals ask for a list of bullet points that communicate the core findings of an article, conveying the essence of the research as well as its distinctiveness, but eliminating the background, methodology and other information that might appear in an abstract. Between three and five highlights are usually required, with each one not exceeding 85 characters, including spaces. The Elsevier model may be a good one to use if the journal to which you are submitting a paper indicates that highlights are desirable but provides no specific instructions or guidelines. Yet varying preferences mean that it is always wise to take a close look at the highlights in papers the journal has recently published, particularly any papers that are very similar to your own. In some cases, highlights will not be required until a paper is accepted for publication, so be sure to note when highlights should be submitted as well what form they should take.

Regardless of the exact format of the highlights required, they will almost certainly need to be concise in order to condense a great deal of complex information into a very little textual space. Shortening phrases, simplifying vocabulary, eliminating redundant words and using the active voice will help with observing word and character limits, and replacing long words with shorter synonyms will also help with the latter. These are good writing strategies when addressing a wide or general audience in any case, and this tends to be a desirable goal in highlights for a research paper, as does avoiding jargon and highly technical language. Do note, however, that a few journals will want authors to assume an audience of specialist readers for their highlights, in which case the guidelines will probably specify this. Keywords and key phrases are often encouraged in highlights, but nonstandard abbreviations are best avoided and must be spelled out when first used if they prove necessary. Highlights are usually written in full sentences even when they are presented as bullet points, and it is essential to write clearly and correctly if you wish to communicate effectively with potential readers and hold out the prospect of an excellent paper, so errors in spelling, grammar, punctuation and logic must be eliminated. A logical approach to highlights that begins with clarifying the nature of the research, proceeds with clear statements about the most important results and finishes with outlining the paper’s contribution to the field will generally prove successful.

Keeping both your readers and your research firmly in mind as you write your highlights is vital. Simplifying language and tucking everything you need to say into short and engaging highlights can lead to oversimplifying or exaggerating research findings, especially since the highlights must stand alone without any of the explanations, nuances and complications offered in the main paper. It is therefore imperative to give your highlights serious thought, ensuring that they accurately represent for readers the primary or most exciting results presented in your paper, and also that the paper itself lays emphasis on the findings prioritised in your highlights. For this reason, highlights are best drafted after the paper is written, and some authors will even go back after the highlights are written and revise their papers to achieve a clearer focus on the highlighted results. The process of writing appropriate highlights can therefore enable effective editing and help an author produce a better paper. However you choose to work at writing the highlights for your academic or scientific paper, remember that they will probably be the first thing after the title that a prospective reader encounters and they may even appear in the journal’s table of contents, so you want your highlights to make the best possible impression and lead readers to a paper that lives up to their claims.

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Value of the Influence of Research Highlights on Academic Papers

• Conference paper
• First Online: 04 July 2022
• Cite this conference paper

• Yue Liu 8 ,
• Dejun Zheng 8 ,
• Haichen Zhou 9 &
• Shaoxiong Fu 8  

Part of the book series: Communications in Computer and Information Science ((CCIS,volume 1593))

Included in the following conference series:

• International Conference on Knowledge Management in Organizations

598 Accesses

This study explores the differences between highlight papers and non-highlight papers from the perspective of academic influence as a crucial insight for evaluating scientific research. Three dimensions are considered: journals, papers, and research highlights. We selected 8 academic journals in the field of library and information science, which are published by Elsevier and indexed by SSCI, and analyzed 5,020 academic papers published therein from 2011 to 2020. The results of our empirical study demonstrate that all journals acknowledge the existence of research highlights, although not all online academic papers provide them. In recent years, the number of highlight papers has increased annually, and more importantly, the proportion has also grown steadily. The ETA square coefficient of citations is higher for highlight papers compared to non-highlight papers. Furthermore, in the training of the innovation recognition model, the effect of the training model that uses the research highlights of academic papers with high citation frequency is better, although the PRF value has a smaller difference.

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Liu, Y., Zheng, D., Zhou, H., Fu, S. (2022). Value of the Influence of Research Highlights on Academic Papers. In: Uden, L., Ting, IH., Feldmann, B. (eds) Knowledge Management in Organisations. KMO 2022. Communications in Computer and Information Science, vol 1593. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-07920-7_5

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Research highlights are usually commissioned from recognized experts in a particular field. Suggestions and ideas for articles may be submitted by email .

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Writing meaningful Highlights in scientific papers

One novelty in scientific papers in the last decade was Elsevier’s introduction of highlights. Are authors paying sufficient attention to highlights writing?

Highlights are 3 to 5 short sentences containing core findings of the research described in the paper. Highlights are available only online with the purpose of driving a person’s attention toward reading the paper. Therefore, when we’re invited to review a paper, the core findings are one of the first things we need to review and … what a mess!

Instead of core findings we read a short version of the title, operating conditions, etc. It’s like we’re reading an abstract divided into short sentences. So I wondered, is it possible to find guidelines to write more meaningful highlights by ourselves, instead of paying someone else to do it for us?

I find highlights a very important step in scientific articles. Thus, these are my 6 “Highlights” for writing more meaningful highlights based on experience, Journals’ recommendations and the little advice we can find in the web.

1. Understand Highlights Meaning

When I read the highlights in a paper I review, my first question was –  “do authors understand what highlights mean?”

I think if authors realized how important highlights are, they would pay a lot more attention to them. Besides the title, highlights are the first thing a person reads while searching the web for any publications in a certain field. It’s my opportunity as an author, or co-author, to capture someone attention to read my research.

Things are changing in the scientific articles publishing industry, and there is a movement toward the relevance of having more “reads” of your paper, rather than publishing in high impact factor journals.

If you understand what highlights may represent in leading people to read your paper then you realize how important it is to know their meaning.

According to Elsevier, the publisher which introduced highlights, these convey the core findings and provide readers with a quick textual overview of the article . Highlights describe the essence of the research (e.g. Results, conclusions) and highlight what is distinctive about it.

Core Findings.

Quick overview.

The essence of research. 

These are the keywords to understand highlights meaning. The challenge is how to express them in sentences shorter than a tweet…

2. Clear view of the nature of your research

When details in our research work are challenging, we tend to focus our writing describing them. Details are important, especially if challenging, because someone else might want to reproduce your experience and needs those details. But the details of your thought process, or experiments are not the nature of your research. Therefore, they shouldn’t be highlights.

The nature of your research is your WHY .

What is the ultimate question your research is trying to answer?

Why are you researching on a certain topic in the first place?

What drives your research?

Some topics are easier than others, but having a clear view of the WHY in your research is essential for writing meaningful highlights.

3. Realize people know little about your topic

I remember speaking to a small audience and feel I’m not making myself understood. This is a common flaw. Even if you have one, two or more experts in your field in front of you, when presenting an article at a conference, you should always assume there’s someone in the audience who is not an expert in your field. And when you prepare your presentation, you are speaking to this person, not the experts.

Highlights audience is the world. Therefore, you are 100% sure people which know little about your topic will read your highlights. You must write to them. 

This is a major challenge because, ideally, you should be able to express the complexity of your topic in simple, clear and concise words. A way to test these highlights is asking a friend from another field for an opinion.

4. Evidence your contribution in the field

I struggle when people literally waste their highlights with things that don’t provide the nature of their research or evidence their contribution. Let me give you an example. 

If I write 

“a hollow-cone spray is used in an impinging process occurring on a flat surface”

Why is this a highlight? Actually, this is close to what I read recently in a paper I reviewed. In all research about impinging sprays, isn’t it logical this impingement occurs in a surface? Why is this a highlight? The surface can be flat, curved, dried, wetted, structured or not, but this sentence does not explain the nature of research, nor expresses any contribution in the field. 

If we wanted to change this sentence to something more meaningful, it could be 

“Hollow-cone sprays in cooling processes address heterogeneities in temperature field.” 

The sentence is not perfect, but it has 85 characters (after 2 iterations) and contains the nature of research. It introduces the type of sprays; if they’re used in cooling processes, it means their impact on a surface is logical; and it states the purpose of that impact, which is cooling the surface and addressing heterogeneities in temperature fields, thus pointing to the challenge. Let me repeat, this is not a perfect example, but illustrates what I mean.

Another example where a small change can make a difference, at least from my viewpoint. Again, close to what I’ve read recently.

“The effect of drop dynamics, surface temperature and spray height on the liquid film formed after spray impact.”

First, it’s too long, so it needs to be shorten. But it contains what’s included in the paper’s scope, when the journal requires the core findings. Suppose the authors found these three parameters produced an effect on the outcome, a small change can resolve the issue,

“Drop dynamics, surface temperature and spray height affects liquid film formation.”

While the highlight in the first example contextualised the reader, spray cooling involves the formation of liquid films. And through this highlight, the reader knows which parameters affect the outcome and, if interested, he will read the paper to know how.

5. Be clear, concise, and go straight to the point

A non-negligible number of papers I reviewed doesn’t pay much attention to the 85 characters limitation. It forces us to seek clarity in our statements. Be concise in the words used to convey meaning. And go straight to the point because that’s what highlights are for, right? Lead the potential reader to make a quick assessment whether he should read the paper or not.

A good exercise is to distance yourself from your paper. Put yourself in the reader shoes and be critical. Would you read this paper about a topic in your field with these highlights?

6. Use simple terms

This is probably the greatest challenge. But it is important to understand what we mean by simple terms. Some research topics involve words which are not simple because their part of the lexical used in the field. Simple terms come naturally when we have a mature and clear view of our main breakthroughs.

Highlights help you refine the message in your research, evidencing only what really matters. And when we express what matters in simple terms, a reader should experience clarity and the desire to know more. 

These reflections are not exhaustive and I hope these “guidelines” motivated you to be more careful in writing meaningful highlights.

QUESTION: Are there any other suggestions, based on your experience, that would help authors write more meaningful Highlights?

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Volume 30, Number 9—September 2024

Research Letter

Thelazia callipaeda eyeworms in american black bear, pennsylvania, usa, 2023.

Suggested citation for this article

We identified a Thelazia callipaeda eyeworm in an American black bear in Pennsylvania, USA, on the basis of its morphological features and molecular analysis. Our finding highlights emergence of a T. callipaeda worm sylvatic transmission cycle in the United States.

Thelaziosis is an emerging zoonotic disease caused by nematodes of the genus Thelazia (Spirurida, Thelazioidea). In the United States, 3 zoonotic species have been identified: Thelazia gulosa ( 1 ), T. californiensis ( 2 ), and most recently T. callipaeda ( 3 ). In Asia and Europe, T. callipaeda is considered the main agent of thelaziosis in humans, domestic animals, and wild animals ( 4 ). Over the past decade, the geographic distribution and prevalence of T. callipaeda infection has increased worldwide in scale and intensity ( 4 ). The first autochthonous case in the United States was reported in 2018 in a domestic dog ( Canis lupus familiaris ) from New York with a history of unilateral epiphora and blepharospasm. Since then, additional cases in domestic dogs and cats have been reported, predominately from the northeastern United States ( 3 , 5 ).

T. callipaeda eyeworms are found in the conjunctival sac and lacrimal duct of the definitive host. They are transmitted when a male zoophilic secretophagous Phortica variegata fly ingests first-stage larvae from the host’s lachrymal secretions. In the vector, the first-stage larvae develop to the infective third-stage larvae in the testes, migrate to the mouthparts, and are transferred to another host during subsequent feeding on lachrymal secretions ( 4 ).

The role of wildlife in the epidemiology and emergence of T. callipaeda eyeworms is not completely known. In Europe, cases of T. callipaeda eyeworm infection have been detected in a wide range of hosts, including wild carnivores, omnivores, and lagomorphs ( 6 , 7 ). Wild canids, particularly red foxes ( Vulpes vulpes ), seem to play a large role in maintaining the sylvatic cycle in thelaziosis-endemic areas of Europe ( 7 ). However, knowledge of the sylvatic transmission cycle of T. callipaeda eyeworms, along with their environmental and anthropogenic factors, remains limited. Considering the emergence of those zoonotic nematodes in non–thelaziosis-endemic areas and the need for more information about their ecology and epidemiology in the United States, we report a case of T. callipaeda eyeworm infection in an American black bear ( Ursus americanus ) and identify a new geographic location of transmission.

In November 2023, an adult, female American black bear was legally harvested in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania. During processing of the bear for taxidermy preparation, multiple linear nematodes were observed behind the third eyelid. Nematodes were extracted and submitted for identification. Two additional harvested bears from Monroe and Pike Counties, Pennsylvania, were also reported to have similar ocular nematode infections, but specimens from those bears were not collected.

• Figure 1 . Morphologic features of adult female Thelazia callipaeda eyeworm isolated from an American black bear in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, USA, 2023. A) Anterior end showing the large, deep,...

We identified 9 female and 4 male adult nematodes from the bear as T. callipaeda on the basis of morphologic and morphometric features ( 8 ). The nematodes were characterized by the presence of a cup-shaped buccal capsule and cuticular transverse striations, as well as the location of the vulvar opening anterior to the esophageal-intestinal junction on the female worms ( Figure 1 ). Female nematodes were 1.16–1.46 cm long and 0.36–0.42 mm wide; male worms were 0.82–1.06 cm long and 0.31–0.42 mm wide. The number of transverse cuticular striations ranged from 160 to 400/mm in the cephalic, midbody, and caudal regions.

Figure 2 . Phylogenetic relationship of Thelazia callipaeda isolate from an American black bear in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, USA, 2023 (GenBank accession no. PP739308), and other species of ...

We extracted genomic DNA from a midbody fragment of a female adult worm and amplified, sequenced, and analyzed the partial cytochrome oxidase c subunit I ( cox 1) gene, as previously described ( 2 ). We generated a 623-bp cox 1 sequence (GenBank accession no. PP739308), which showed 99%–100% maximum identity with T . callipaeda sequences available in GenBank. Phylogenetic analysis was performed by using the maximum-likelihood method and confirmed the taxonomic identification of T . callipaeda . The isolate clustered with all previous isolates from domestic animals in North America and with some isolates from Europe ( Figure 2 ), indicating circulation of the newly introduced pathogen in wildlife habitats and transmission from domestic animals to wildlife.

The presence of adult T. callipaeda eyeworms in an American black bear suggests the establishment of a sylvatic transmission cycle in the United States and expansion of the number of definitive host species used by the zoonotic nematode. In the past decade, wild carnivores have been identified as primary definitive hosts associated with the sylvatic cycle in thelaziosis- endemic and non–thelaziosis-endemic areas of Europe and Asia ( 7 ). American black bears are the most widely distributed species of bear in North America, inhabiting diverse regions throughout Mexico, Canada, and the United States ( 9 ). Given the bears’ extensive geographic distribution and frequent and close interaction with humans and pets ( 10 ), thelaziosis in the black bear population raises concerns about the rapidly increasing incidence and geographic range of T. callipaeda eyeworms in the United States. Although further research into the extent to which black bears play a role in the maintenance of the sylvatic cycle and transmission of T. callipaeda eyeworms is needed, the presence of the zoonotic nematode in such a wide range of hosts implicates exposure and risk for transmission to threatened and endangered species and direct or indirect risk for transmission to humans and domestic animals.

Dr. Sobotyk is an assistant professor of clinical parasitology and director of the Clinical Parasitology Laboratory at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA. Her research focuses on zoonotic helminth infections in domestic and wild animals and improvement and development of diagnostic techniques for detecting parasitic infections of veterinary and public health relevance.

Acknowledgment

We thank the Pennsylvania Game Commission and Dillon Gruver for their continued support. We also acknowledge Shawn Lamparter’s Wildlife Design for recognition and prompting submission of the specimens.

• Bradbury  RS , Breen  KV , Bonura  EM , Hoyt  JW , Bishop  HS . Case report: conjunctival infestation with Thelazia gulosa : a novel agent of human thelaziasis in the United States. Am J Trop Med Hyg . 2018 ; 98 : 1171 – 4 . DOI PubMed Google Scholar
• Sobotyk  C , Foster  T , Callahan  RT , McLean  NJ , Verocai  GG . Zoonotic Thelazia californiensis in dogs from New Mexico, USA, and a review of North American cases in animals and humans. Vet Parasitol Reg Stud Reports . 2021 ; 24 : 100553 . DOI PubMed Google Scholar
• Schwartz  AB , Lejeune  M , Verocai  GG , Young  R , Schwartz  PH . Autochthonous Thelazia callipaeda infection in dog, New York, USA, 2020. Emerg Infect Dis . 2021 ; 27 : 1923 – 6 . DOI PubMed Google Scholar
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• Manoj  RRS , White  H , Young  R , Brown  CE , Wilcox  R , Otranto  D , et al. Emergence of thelaziosis caused by Thelazia callipaeda in dogs and cats, United States. Emerg Infect Dis . 2024 ; 30 : 591 – 4 . DOI PubMed Google Scholar
• Papadopoulos  E , Komnenou  A , Karamanlidis  AA , Bezerra-Santos  MA , Otranto  D . Zoonotic Thelazia callipaeda eyeworm in brown bears ( Ursus arctos ): A new host record in Europe. Transbound Emerg Dis . 2022 ; 69 : 235 – 9 . DOI PubMed Google Scholar
• Otranto  D , Dantas-Torres  F , Mallia  E , DiGeronimo  PM , Brianti  E , Testini  G , et al. Thelazia callipaeda (Spirurida, Thelaziidae) in wild animals: report of new host species and ecological implications. Vet Parasitol . 2009 ; 166 : 262 – 7 . DOI PubMed Google Scholar
• Otranto  D , Lia  RP , Traversa  D , Giannetto  S . Thelazia callipaeda (Spirurida, Thelaziidae) of carnivores and humans: morphological study by light and scanning electron microscopy. Parassitologia . 2003 ; 45 : 125 – 33 . PubMed Google Scholar
• Garshelis  DL , Scheick  BK , Doan-Crider  DL , Beecham  JJ , Obbard  ME . The American black Bear ( Ursus americanus ). The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species. Washington (DC): International Union for Conservation of Nature. 2016 :e.T41687A114251609.
• Di Salvo  AR , Chomel  BB . Zoonoses and potential zoonoses of bears. Zoonoses Public Health . 2020 ; 67 : 3 – 13 . DOI PubMed Google Scholar
• Figure 2 . Phylogenetic relationship of Thelazia callipaeda isolate from an American black bear in Coolbaugh Township, Monroe County, Pennsylvania, USA, 2023 (GenBank accession no. PP739308), and other species of Thelazia available...

Suggested citation for this article : Sobotyk C, Dietrich J, Verocai GG, Maxwell L, Niedringhaus K. Thelazia callipaeda eyeworms in American black bear, Pennsylvania, USA, 2023. Emerg Infect Dis. 2024 Sep [date cited]. https://doi.org/10.3201/eid3009.240679

DOI: 10.3201/eid3009.240679

Original Publication Date: August 14, 2024

Table of Contents – Volume 30, Number 9—September 2024

Please use the form below to submit correspondence to the authors or contact them at the following address:

Caroline. Sobotyk, University of Pennsylvania, School of Veterinary Medicine, Matthew J. Ryan Veterinary Hospital, Rm 4034, 3900 Delancey St, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6051, USA

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