PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: What reviewers look for in your submission

This post is part of the series PhD Talk for AcademicTransfer: posts written for the Dutch academic career network AcademicTransfer, your go-to resource for all research positions in the Netherlands.

These posts are sponsored by AcademicTransfer, and tailored to those of you interested in pursuing a research position in the Netherlands.

If these posts raise your interest in working as a researcher in the Netherlands, even better - and feel free to fire away any questions you might have on this topic!

In the past, we've mostly looked at the topic of academic writing from the perspective of the authors. From working on a writing habit, sustaining writing habits, working on several papers at the same time, writing academic books, setting the scene for deep work and writing and focused flow, and using a template for planning your time that facilitates writing and plan a semester accordingly.

Today, we are looking at academic writing from a different perspective. As a journal paper reviewer (see my Publons profile here), what do I look for in a submission?

The elements that I look for in a review fall into two categories:

1. General aspects of the scientific method and paper presentation.
2. Technical and editorial details of the paper.

Therefore, I usually compose my reviews in two parts: a few paragraphs discussing the general aspects, and then a table with pages and line numbers of specific elements that I want to discuss.

The specific elements, of course, change from paper to paper, and I can't give you recommendations on that. On the other hand, the general aspects are things you can check for yourself before submission. Ask yourself the following questions before you submit your manuscript to increase your chances of success at acceptance (after review or rounds of review):

• Who is my audience? Who are you writing your paper for? If you are writing for researchers only, are you including all relevant details so that an interested researcher can continue your work? If you are writing (as well) for industry practitioners and/or government officials and policy makers, have you included recommendations for practice? Are you submitting your manuscript to the right journal in terms of audience?
• Is my abstract written correctly? An abstract follows a specific style (see my post on how to write an abstract). Make sure your abstract complies with these elements.
• Does the introduction explain the broader context of the study? Why are you studying a certain topic? What is its broader relevance and impact on society? This information should be contained in your introduction paragraph. Do not mix your introduction paragraph with your literature review - it tends to result in sloppy structure.
• Did you include a literature review? Have you presented your literature review in the right way, and not as an annotated bibliography? Did you cover all relevant references? If you did the work some time ago, did you check the current literature to see if any recent papers were published on your topic that may need to be included?
• Did you describe your methods in sufficient detail? Which methods did you use to address your research question? If you used experiments, have you described all the relevant details of your experiment? If you used a model, have you shown all characteristics and assumptions used in your model? If you derived a theory, have you included all relevant steps? Why did you study certain parameters? Can you place your work within the existing literature?
• Have you discussed your results properly? Don't make the mistake of only reporting your results. Make sure you provide interpretation for your results. How do your results fit within the available body of knowledge? Are your results as expected? If not, can you explain what happened? Can you discuss your results in comparison to existing theories?
• What are the direct implications of your work? Can you formulate recommendations for practice and/or for policy makers? Do you need to do more experiments?
• Is your summary and conclusions section written in the right form? Did you summarize the contents of your paper? Did you highlight the main findings and conclusions from your work? Make sure you don't introduce new contents in this section. Are all conclusions supported by the material presented in the paper?
• How is your writing? Did you ask colleagues and/or native English speakers to read your work? Did you proofread thoroughly for grammar, style, and punctuation? Poor writing will make it difficult for the reviewer to understand the message you want to convey.
• Did you check your figures and tables? Are all references to figures and tables done correctly in the text? Are the figures and tables in the correct style and format? Have you submitted your figures with sufficient resolution? Are your figures and tables clear, and do they contain all relevant information?
• If relevant, did you add a list of notations? If you are using parameters and formulas, you should include a list of notations for easy reference.

On reviewing loads

I recently ran a poll on Twitter asking academics how often per year they review a paper. The topic did not spark that much discussion, but quite a number of people dit vote in the poll. What I learned is that the majority of people review a few papers per year, whereas some receive a few papers per month.

I found these results interesting, since I am receiving more and more invites to review papers. I enjoy reviewing papers, since it means that I get to read the latest work out there, but at the same time, it's a time-consuming task. And I have the bad habit to postpone reviewing for the weekend, since it feels more like a personal responsibility.

Here are some of my stats from Publons:

How to review a journal paper

At some point during your PhD or in your years after your PhD, you will be asked to review a paper. I've done a fair amount of reviews by now, and have started to keep track of the reviews I write about a year ago by using Publons. You can see my Pulons profile here.

If you receive an invitation to review paper, you need to ask yourself the following questions:
1. Do I have sufficient technical knowledge to review this paper? If not, can I recommend a colleague?
2. Do I have enough time to write this review by the deadline?
3. Do I have a conflict of interest that prevents me from writing an unbiased report?
If you have the time and knowledge it takes to review the paper, and no conflict of interest, you can go ahead and review the paper.

As you read the paper, you need to keep in mind how you will review the paper. A typical review report follows a certain standard form. If you know which elements you need to discuss in your review report, you can pay attention to these while you read the paper. Besides your standard written review report, you may also be asked to fill out an evaluation form on the review website. This post deals only with the basic elements your review report should contain.

A review report usually contains the following elements, often in this order as well:

1. The general information. You can write for example on the first line "Comments on a paper submitted to Journal", followed by the title and then the Manuscript ID.
2. The first heading should be "General comments". In this section you write your review report, in which you focus on the strengths and weaknesses of the presented study.
3. The first paragraph should be a summary in your own words of the manuscript. You can also discuss the possible readership for the manuscript. Is it interesting for researchers, or can it be of value to practitioners?
4. In the next paragraph, discuss if the introduction introduces the topic in the appropriate manner. If not, give suggestions for improvement.
5. Then, discuss the literature review in a paragraph. Are all topics discussed in the manuscript adequately placed within the literature with a thorough literature review?
6. Discuss the methods. Which methods are used? Are the methods appropriate? Are the methods explained in a clear manner? Can you spot weaknesses in the applied methods?
7. How did the authors interpret their results? Are they providing a satisfactory explanation for their observations? How do these observations fit within the body of knowledge of your research field. Are the results used for the development of recommendations? Are these recommendations practice-ready. If there are gaps in the interpretation or possibilities for implementation, point these out.
8. Evaluate the summary and conclusions section. There should be no new information in these sections, and they should be clear for reading.
9. Discuss the writing/language. If the manuscript suffers from serious editorial issues, suggest the authors to send it to a professional proofreading office.
10. Discuss the figures and tables. Are they clear? Do they follow the guidelines of the journal?
11. Write a conclusion of your review report. Summarize in one paragraph your decision (accept, minor revisions, major revisions, reject) and give the main reasons for this decision.
12. The second heading of your review report should read "Technical/Editorial comments." Add a table with detailed technical and editorial comments below your general comments section. You can use the following columns: Page - Lie - T/E - Comment to organize your more detailed comments.

If you want some more inspiration about how to review a paper, you can read the guidelines of Hugh Davis, Shriram Krishnamurthi , and Barak Pearlmutter. Veronika Cheplygina focused on how to become a reviewer, and Science magazine has an interesting article with the experiences of different scholars in reviewing journal papers.

2015 in review: 10 best books I read in 2015

In 2014 I read 105 books. I didn't repeat this feat in 2015, but I still read a fair amount. I took more time to chew through some books I'd wanted to read for a long time, but I didn't get any further in The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, which I've started reading when I was still living in the Netherlands.

I didn't read much at the beginning of the year. My Kindle broke down at the very end of 2014, and Amazon refused replacing my device, even though the issue with the screen freezing is a known problem. I waited until my birthday in August to get a new reader, the Kobo Aura, and upon getting this device I started reading more again,

You can see all the books I read in 2015 here, in my Goodreads profile.

10. Born Survivors - Wendy Holden



The story of three women who were carried off to the concentration camps while pregnant, and gave birth to "miracle babies" - who are still alive today. Holden shows us all the horror of the war without any sugar coating. Deeply unsettling.

9. The Miniaturist - Jessie Burton



Set in 17th-century Amsterdam, this book tells the story of a house crumbling down under the weights of its secrets, and a miniaturist who is capturing this all without knowing them.

8. A scholar's guide to getting published in English - Mary Jane Curry



A must-read for non-native English speaking scholars. You can find my full review here.


7. The Cellist of Sarajevo - Steven Galloway



Set during the Yugoslavia war, this book gives us a glimpse of how the war shattered people's lives, but not their human spirit. Heart-breaking.

6. A tree grows in Brooklyn - Bettie Smith



A classic for all the right reasons. It's a classic coming-of-age story of a poor young girl, with a keen sense for observation.

5. The Opposite of Loneliness - Marina Keegan



I've read a fair share of fiction and non-fiction / memoirs by young American women this year, but virtually all of them seemed to talk about experiences I simply could not relate to. Marina Keegan's writing instead is something that transcends countries and times. There's a lot to improve about her writing, and I'm convinced she would have gone on to become a great writer, if she hadn't passed away.

4. All the light we cannot see - Jonathan Doerr



What the war did to the dreamers... Another deeply moving novel about a blind girl in Francec during the war and a German orphan who wanted to become a scientist but instead had to join the army.

3. Belgie: een geschiedenis zonder land - Rolf Falter



Not translated (yet?) to English, but this book gives an overview of the Belgian history since Julius Caesar first mentioned the Belgians. It's a history of, mostly, 2000 years of war and helps to place some of the current tendencies in perspective.

2. Louis Paul Boon - De Kapellekensbaan



I read this in Dutch, and it took me more than half a year to chew through it. The language is difficult to read in the Dutch version, since he writes in merely dialect. The constant changing of topics takes a while before it all comes back. And then, the deep misery of poor Flanders in the 19th century is hard to swallow. But the book itself is a masterpiece, and I'm glad to find that it has an English translation.

1. Fates and Furies - Lauren Groff



Lauren Groff is one of my favorite contemporary writers. While the main theme of her books seems to be disillusion and dreams being halted, her language is her main quality: deeply poetic and very rich.

2015 in review: 10 best CD releases

I published my list of 10 favorite CDs of the past year for the first time in 2014. Since I'm constantly listening to review copies of CDs, since this year for Darkview, I like looking back on the year and compiling my list of best CDs that were released this year.

First of all - there are some records that I missed this year. I haven't heard the new Paradise Lost, Apocalyptica, Steve Wilson and My Dying Bride - albums for which I have high expectations.

With this limitation in mind, let's look at my top 10 of 2015:

10. Isenmor - Land of the Setting Sun

Maybe this album doesn't deserve to be in this list. There are other albums that I wanted to include, and it was a hard choice. Land of the Setting Sun in itself is not a spectacular album, but I wanted to mention Isenmor for the potential the band has. With two violinists, their sound is at times unique. I'm nominating them more based on my expectations for their future than for their amassed curriculum. You can read my full review of the album here.



9. Moonspell - Extinct

Ah, Moonspell - ever since I was a teenager I have loved you. And you have never let me down. With Extinct, they have produced yet another solid album. You can read my full review here.



8. Jess and The Ancient Ones - Second Psychedelic Coming: The Aquarius Tapes

Jess is back with some more psychedelic rock. I loved their EP Astral Sabbat, and their second album is spot-on again. You'll see Jess as well again later in this list. Her voice is amazing.



7. Draconian - Sovran

Draconian have been around since 1994, and I had lost track of them. But their latest release Sovran is a nice album. It's not very surprising or new or anything, but it just is smooth on the ears and reminds me of the better beauty and the beast albums from the 90s.



6. Manegarm - Manegarm

While a lot of folk/pagan metal sounds the same, I have a special like for Manegarm. It's hard to explain why, it's their energy and melodic parts that set them aside, I think. Their latest release is again a lot of fun.



5. Sabbath Assembly - Sabbath Assembly

Sabbath Assembly originally only interpreted hymns of the Process Church. Sabbath Assembly is their first album in which they move away from the set texts of the Process Church rituals and create their own, worship-like music. It's a success. (Warning: the videoclip is somewhere between absurd and disturbing).



4. Kamelot - Haven

More power metal than in some of their previous albums: Kamelot have gone for a trip down memory lane, and I'm quite enthusiastic about the result. You can read my full review here.



3. The Exploding Eyes Orchestra - I

Here we have Jess again - the singer from Jess and the Ancient Ones. While she sounds different on this recording, her vocal is work is splendid as ever. The Exploding Eyes Orchestra brings smoky bars to live and rocks away like no other. You can read my full review here.



2. Luciferian Light Orchestra - Luciferian Light Orchestra

Therion are taking a break to write a metal opera, but that didn't stop Christopher Johnson from writing music. Luciferian Light Orchestra is Therion thrown back to the seventies, and it really works. You can check out my full review here.



1. Amorphis - Under the Red Cross

Under the Red Cross is the best album made by one of the most versatile bands out there. When I heard this album for the first time, I immediately knew this was going to be my album of 2015. I wrote it as such in my full review of the album, and I'm stating this here again.

2014 in review: the 10 best CD releases

Just as in 2013, I have been reviewing a number of new CD releases over the last year for Grave Concerns e-zine, and, while you might be already tired of the end-of-year lists that pop up everywhere on the internet in December, here I would like to present you with my top 10 of CD releases of 2014:

10. In Flames - Siren Charms

I'm a massive fan of Gothenburg death metal, but I'm not 100% convinced of the "new" direction In Flames have been following recently. Not their best album ever, but I like In Flames. A lot. And I enjoy listening to their latest album.



9. Pink Floyd - The Endless River

The swansong album of my favorite band ever. the psychedelic edge is gone, and some might say that only navel-gazing is left - but I can't deny I love that typical Pink Floyd sound. Maybe it's more nostalgia than anything I like about this album.



8. Epica - The Quantum Enigma

You can't go wrong with an Epica album, right? Great female fronted metal - the stuff I grew up with. Not much new in this album, but put a few good riffs, Simone's vocals and some choirs, and I'm happy.



7. Pet the Preacher - The Cave & The Sunlight

Best stoner rock album of the year. Pet the Preacher did not reinvent stoner on this album, but they did cross-over into the realm of post-rock a little bet. Catchy stuff. You can find my full review of this album over at Grave Concerns.



6. Fluisteraars - Dromers

Best black metal album of the year. Or should I say: post-black? Fluisteraars are a Dutch band, with their own take on the swooningly emotional metal from bands like Opeth and Primordial. You can find my full review over at Grave Concerns.



5. Diabulus in Musica- Argia

Best symphonic metal album of the year. This Spanish band has surprised me with their fresh energy and great compositions.



4. Schwarzblut - Gebeyn Aller Verdammten

Because some music just sounds better in German: Schwarzblut! Tanzen! I love how they bring German poetry and electronic / gothic music together into their gesammtkunstwerk.



3. Blood and Sun - White Storms Fall

Neofolk done just right, and married to dark americana. Blood and Sun are a deeply Appalachian band, and deeply rooted in old American traditions. Not just a side project of some metalheads. Read my full review here.



2. Sabbath Assembly - Quaternity

Ever since I first heard my review copy of "Ye Are Gods", I've been intrigued by Sabbath Assembly, who are using the liturgical material of the Process Church into their releases. Quaternity centers around the Christ, Jehovah, Satan and Lucifer. Read my full review here.



1. Messenger - Illusory Blues

Hands down the best album of the year. Kristoffer Rygg from Ulver said "Fuckin' well done" about this album - and I have nothing more to add. Or if you want some more explanation, my full review is here.

Evaluation of my goals for 2014

At the beginning of 2014, I wrote quite an ambitious list of goals for 2014. Since I shared this list publicly, I wanted to take a moment to discuss what happened to all these goals. Somewhere in April, I already tweeted that I replaced this entire list by the simple goal of surviving the semester without passing out under a pile of homeworks-to-be-graded.

Things changed this year, life is fluid - but let's see how I did:

My academic goals for 2014 are the following:
- try a month of writing daily from 6am to 8am

Didn't happen. I ended up going to the gym in the early morning, and never did the writing-in-the-morning experiment. Maybe I'll try this out in 2015.

- start up a laboratory at the university where I'm currently employed

Yes! It's up and running in its very first stage, and we had the official opening celebration in November. The space is temporary and too small, but the lab is running great with 2 parallels of the Construction Materials Lab class that I was teaching in the Fall, thesis projects, a research project, students who are preparing for the national concrete competition, and we will also host said competition at our institution. We're on a roll!

- get involved in a bridge design project

Yes! Get prepared for pictures of this bridge as it gets built next year.

- teach awesome courses to my students

Leave out the awesome, and that's what I did: 3 courses per semester, 4 new courses this year. It's a LOT of work *__*.

- organize a science communication course

I made the syllabus, got everybody enthusiastic.... and then the authorities realized they needed me to teach civil engineering courses, because we are too few professors.

- graduate 4 thesis students

I have 1 student officially registered this Fall semester, and a few people getting ready to graduate under my supervision, but this plan has been slower than I thought.

- write a grant proposal

Didn't happen - I need to do this in 2015. I've been surfing on Delft projects, and joining projects that were thrown at me because of m knowledge, but I have been more in a reactive than in active mode in that regard.

- submit at least 6 journal papers for review (priority number 1!)

I submitted 6 new papers (2 of which got accepted in the mean time), worked on reviews of 4 papers submitted in 2013 (2 of which got accepted in the mean time). I have more papers to write about my dissertation work, and after that about the research projects I did last summer.

- learn Spanish

I didn't take an official course, I didn't work through the books I bought - but I understand what people say, and sometimes I speak a bit.

Overall: Even though I steered away from some goals, I think it's been an interesting year. My focus shifted from purely research to teaching, research, outreach and more, and I had to make quite some course correction this year to fit everything in. It's been a learning process, and given the fact that I'm adjusting and learning all this, I think it is sort of OK how I've been doing.

My health/personal goals for 2014 are the following:
- get back onto the FLO living protocol for eating and time management

Postponed to 2015....

- try a month of going to the gym daily at 6am

Yes - I've been pretty much doing this the entire Fall semester. 6am yoga classes, 6:15am weight lifting - I've been in the gym early most days. But sometimes I am tired.

- eat vegan for a month

I joined the Vegan Challenge in April, and felt amazing - so I've kept eating a "95% plant-based diet". I occasionally eat eggs when I travel when there are no other options. I'm moving away from animal-based clothing, products and all that, and replacing all my toiletries by cruelty-free versions.

- revisit the Silva course

Didn't happen, postponed to 2015.

- find friends in my new city Quito

Working on it (and as an introvert, I'm not too good at this): I am playing in a band, taking yoga classes, started a meetup group (and closed it again, but am working on finding a tribe in a different way at the moment), get along well with some of my colleagues, and hang out with my sister-in-law every now and then. But when shit hits the fan, I call my mom or friends at home, because they are really close to me, and I don't easily find people like them.

- give up refined sugar for 40 days

I'm a chocolate junkie. I eat an entire bar of chocolate a day, or more. I'll try this in 2015, but I'm scared I'll be super cranky.

- buy an apartment

Not yet - I need to be working for a year in the country, registered in social security (which I only have since January) to apply for a loan. Plus the 30% down payment they require here is a little unpleasant. And housing is surprisingly expensive here.

- exercise daily

Maximum 6 days out of 7, because I need a rest day once a week. But yes, since March, I've joined a gym, and I've been going strong.

- meditate daily

I used to meditate first thing in the morning, but that doesn't happen if I need to wake up at 5:30 am to take a class in the gym at 6 am... Other options would be to meditate before I sleep (but I always get to bed too late, especially if I want to wake up at 5:30 am the next day to go to the gym), or right when I come home from work (which would be a great way to change gears in my mind, but somehow, there's always a hungry cat, dirty litter box, mess in the kitchen or what not waiting for me when I enter the house...).

- journal daily

Moderate success: not daily, but I've been consistently journaling. I had a block in my heart and writing for a few months when my dad passed away at the end of August.

- read 60 books

I'm writing this post on the last day of November, and so far I've read 91 books this year. Maybe I'll make it to 100 books.


And for PhD Talk, I'd like to do the following:
- transform PhD Talk
- write a book
- teach a social media workshop
- write 10 guest posts for other blogs

None of this happened - with changing jobs, adjusting to Ecuador and all that, I decided I'd put my plans with PhD Talk in the fridge in the mean time.

And a few fun activities that I want to do:
- go hike in a national park

Best hike I did: hiking down to Papallacta from La Virgen, through the national park of Coca-Cayambe.

- run a race

Didn't happen... hopefully in 2015!

- play more music

Yes - I booked a seat for Mr. Cello Lantsoght on my flight from Brussels to Quito last summer, joined a band, and I've even started to study some new sheet music (something I haven't done in the last 10 years...).

- go horseriding in nature

Yes, although they kept the horse guided - so no "real" horseriding yet.

- volunteer a couple of days on an organic farm and forest-keeping project

No, that will be for 2015... I got sick so often in 2014 (salmonella and other food-borne diseases) that I shooed away from going to the Amazon rainforest until I can stomach tap water in the highlands.

- get involved with the local TEDx community

TEDxQuito took place while I was in Europe, so I didn't volunteer for the event.

- write a bundle of poems and publish them

Not a single poem... postponed to 2015!

- go for a singing weekend

No, I can't find anything like that in Ecuador - so I'm hoping to join one in Europe during the summer.

- study an NLP course

I started a self-study course, but didn't get any further than 1 video.

- climb the Cotopaxi volcano

I visited the volcano, but I still get dizzy before even reaching the refugio on the volcano from which the real climbers depart on their trek to the top.

- attend a meditation workshop

Postponed to 2015...

- do one handscraft project

I made candles with my sister-in-law a couple of times, and it was fun!

- go on a yoga weekend

I joined the Ecuador yoga festival for a weekend, and it was amazing: my first time to the beach since moving to Ecuador, and I learned so much.

- draw 7 mandalas

I drew 1 so far - the rest will be for 2015.

All in all: I needed a lot of energy for starting my new job and adjusting to a new country, and I've been working very hard. Hopefully, in 2015, I can relax a little more, explore more of the country, and spend more time doing creative work.

Replacing Blockify by EZBlocker

Over two years ago, I wrote about ways to improve your Spotify experience (free ways so you can avoid the subscription cost, of course!). Spotify is growing more and more, and is now seemingly the standard for streaming music. The post is thus still relevant, and maybe even more widely applicable. Of the software I discussed in that post, Blockify is not getting updated anymore, and ads slip through more and more.

With Blockify off the radar, it was time for me to look for a replacement. Paying to get rid of the ads just is not something I would want to consider. If I pay for music, it is for CDs, with artwork, a booklet and maybe even a digipack with stickers and whatnot of the band. But just paying to get rid of ads and not even supporting a certain band? No thanks...

After a bit of looking around on the internet, I found EZBlocker. Just like Blockify, EZBlocker is an ad-muting little helper, that makes sure you won't get disturbed when an ad pops up but simply brings a pause in between two tracks, muting the ad into the background. EZBlocker is incredibly easy to use, and is by now a standard feature on my laptop. Highly recommended if you work with music!

Eurocode design sheets for structural engineers

Every now and then, I review structural engineering software here at PhD Talk. The last review is from a time ago, and dealt with Codeform and Codeproof, sheets that help designers and that are based on the Eurocodes.

Today, I'm reviewing Carlo Sigmund's Eurocodes Spreadsheets. This January, the Eurocode Spreadsheets are available for sale, and I've had the chance to have a look at these sheets before they were released to the market.

To software of the Eurocode spreadsheets is aimed at students, novice engineers as well as licensed professional civil engineers, designers and architects.

If you want a quick idea of what the design sheets look like, watch this video:



Let's now look at the advantages and disadvantages of the software

Advantages

Helps interpreting the Eurocodes

As the spreadsheets contain all the requirements from the Eurocodes, and let the user select what is applicable for the design he/she is working on, the software has taken on the task of sorting out those issues of where the Eurocodes aren't really clear. As you can see in the following screenshot, if you select, for example, your consequences class, the sheet will continue with the associated reliability index and safety factors.



Additional information

Here and there, the sheets have a built-in textbook function, which describes some concepts that might not be familiar to all practicing engineers. An example is the explanation of a gamma distribution:



Ready to be printed for reports

The sheets have a printing functionality, so that you can simply click the button and get a printed version of the sheet, which can be added to a design report.

Teaches you to use the Eurocodes

For those designing engineers who didn't grow up with the Eurocodes, and need to make the step from previoulsy used national codes to the Eurocodes, the suite of spreadsheets can be a great tool to learn using the Eurocodes. With the additional information, as well as with the fact that the sheets help the designers interpret the codes, the sheets can be a great tool to understand what the requirements of the Eurocodes are.

Comprehensive software

The software is very comprehensive. It is organized per Eurocode, and of every Eurocode it contains all the subcodes and annexes. There's nothing left to the designer to go and look up in the code. In fact, for all that is programmed, the sheets function as an interactive version of the code.

Disadvantages

Not geared towards member design

Since the sheets are organized in exactly the same way as the Eurocodes themselves, the sheets are not fully geared towards member design. The goal of the sheets is to facilitate design (manual or through finite element software), and as such helps the designer make the choices for, for example, input of the right load and resistance factors. However, the designer will have to either cobble together pieces of the spreadsheet to help him with member design, or take some information from the sheets and then use that as input for a design calculation.