Transcript IoPP on-screen PowerPoint slides

From submission to publication
with IOP journals – a guide for
authors
Tim Smith, Senior Publisher
DPG Spring Meeting
25 March 2012, Berlin, Germany
[email protected], www.iop.org
Outline
 IOP Publishing
 Choosing a journal
 Writing and formatting your article
 The peer-review process
 Promoting your published work
 New Journal of Physics (NJP)
 Specific article criteria
 Video abstracts
 What are they and why bother?
IOP Publishing

The publishing arm of UK Institute of Physics
 A not-for-profit organisation

A leading publisher in physical sciences
 Oldest content dates from 1874

Over 60 journals including partner titles
 Journal of Physics range
 New Journal of Physics (on behalf of IOP and DPG)
 Physics World

Editorial offices in UK, USA, Russia, China, Japan,
Germany
The physics market
Number of Published Physics Articles 2002-2011
30,000

~140,000 articles in
2011
 Peaked in 2008

IOP has ~ 11%
market share of
physics research

Fall in 2011 due to
tightening of
quality standards
Elsevier,
25,000
AIP
Number of articles
20,000
APS
15,000
IOP Publishing
10,000
Springer
5,000
Wiley
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
2008
2009
2010
2011
IOP journals - readership
Annual full-text downloads to IOP content for the period 20022011
25,000,000

More than 22 million
downloads in 2011

Order of magnitude
increase in last 10
years

Dominant usage is to
the online version
20,000,000
Downloads
15,000,000
10,000,000
5,000,000
0
2002
2003
2004
2005
2006
2007
Year
2008
2009
2010
2011
Choosing where to submit – broad or niche?

Broad titles offer
 Large readership
 High Impact Factors
 Greater opportunity to reach researchers from other
fields
 “General Interest” element
Choosing where to submit – broad or niche?

Niche titles offer
 Smaller but more specialised readership
 More technical articles
 Represent different communities of physicists
 Same quality standards
Choosing where to submit – OA or subscription?




IOP Publishing is one of the largest OA publishers in
physics
 Gold OA and now ‘Hybrid OA’ titles
Free to read, but somebody has to pay!
 Are funds available?
Increased visibility (measured through downloads)
Author-friendly copyright
Writing and formatting your article - planning

Consider the best way to structure your article to maximise
visibility and impact

Title – an opportunity to catch the reader’s eye

Abstract – usually less than 200 words. Should succinctly capture the
main result and conclusions

Introduction – state clearly the object of the work, its scope and the main
advances you are reporting

Methods – give sufficient information to allow someone else to duplicate
your method

Results and discussion – clearly presented with potential implications.
State the impact of your results compared with other recent work

Conclusions – summarise key results and plans for future directions of
study

References - acknowledge the work of others and cite publications that
have influenced the direction of your study
Writing and formatting your article – writing and editing

Clarity
 Your paper must be easy to understand
 Bear in mind the expected audience
 Introduce ideas that may be unfamiliar early in the paper so that later
results can be understood
 All content should be relevant to main result

Figures and multimedia
 Carefully chosen, can greatly enhance the accessibility of your article

Editing process
 Re-read first draft – if necessary reconsider original plan to improve clarity
and conciseness
 Send your paper to colleagues and co-authors for feedback
 If necessary seek native English speaker for assistance

Cover letter
 state the significance and originality of your work
 how does your study advance on previously published work?
 conflicts of interest?
Peer review – why?

As a service to authors - peer review should improve the
paper!

To ensure that the paper is suitable for our journals based
on:
 Quality
 Originality
 Importance

Gain a seal of approval from independent experts

Quality rather than quantity (rejection rate for J. Phys.
journals >70%)
The peer-review process
How long will peer-review take?

We are aware of the importance of service to our authors

As a leading physics publisher, we aim to (on average):
 Process your paper within 1 working day
 Reach a first decision within 4 weeks of submission
 Publish your paper within 100 days of submission (if
accepted)

However, quality is paramount and we must ensure:
 Peer review is rigorous and fair
 That speed should not compromise this commitment
Is publication the end? No

Publication should be the start of the next phase – the
communication of your work
 Increase the visibility and citations to your work

What does IOP do to promote your work?
 Press releases through a dedicated press team
 Coverage in Physics World and our other community websites
 LabTalk and Video Abstract options
 ‘Recommended reader’ campaigns

What can you do?
 Highlight your work on personal/group website
 Use your network of colleagues/peers
 Use your own institute press office/media opportunities
Recent coverage for IOP content
Recent coverage for IOP content
New Journal of Physics

Launched in 1998 by IOP and the German Physical Society

The first peer-reviewed, open-access journal to cover the
whole of physics
 In 1998 the term “open access” did not even exist

Launched as a “novel experiment”
 Now considered to be pioneering
 Growing number of OA titles
New Journal of Physics – citation performance
NJP Impact Factor and Immediacy Index since 2002
4.5

Current Impact Factor
is 3.85
 The highest OA
journal in physics

3rd highest IF out of all
general physics,
original research
journals

Articles are
increasingly being
cited
 Immediacy Index
high in 2009 and
2010
1.4
Impact Factor
Immediacy Index
4
1.2
3.5
1
2.5
0.8
2
0.6
Immediacy Index
Impact Factor
3
1.5
0.4
1
0.2
0.5
0
0
"2002"
"2003"
"2004"
"2005"
"2006"
Publication year
"2007"
"2008"
"2009"
"2010"
New Journal of Physics – unique criteria

“……..research results should make substantial advances within
a particular subfield of physics. The impact of an NJP article
should be such that it will appeal to the journal's broad
readership…….”
 Authors will be redirected to an archival journal for incremental or
highly specialised work

Every submission is personally handled by a member of the
Editorial Board
 Preliminarily assess for suitability – breadth of appeal and likely
significance on field
 Oversee referee selection (at least two independent)
 > 75% of submissions are rejected
New Journal of Physics – article style

“…….. article abstracts, introductions and conclusions should
be accessible to the non-specialist, stressing any wider
implications of the work within physics.…….”

“…..authors are encouraged to take full advantage of the
electronic medium to include colour, video, audio or other
innovative presentation formats and links to more extensive
tutorial information or data……”

Article length flexibility
 authors are encouraged to include full background information

General Scientific Summaries and Video Abstracts
New Journal of Physics – General Scientific Summary

The GSS should be structured into the following three distinct
sub-sections

Introduction and background – a short and accessible
introduction to the topic aimed at providing a brief outline of the
current state of scientific knowledge in the field.

The main result(s) – a synopsis of the main result(s) reported in
the paper and a statement of how scientific knowledge on the
topic has been extended as a result of the study.

Wider implications – a summarizing statement that puts the
work into a broader context and highlights any wider implications
and directions for future study.
New Journal of Physics – General Scientific Summary
Video abstracts

Launched on NJP in February 2011
 Will be launched on other IOP journals in 2012

Unique new content stream aimed at:
 increasing the visibility of articles and authors
 conveying complex themes to a broad audience
 enable authors to go beyond the constraints of their written article
 enhancing the overall user experience

Aligned with NJP’s strategy to disseminate research as widely
as possible and embrace online medium
 Integrated as part of the archival full-text article

Free-to-view
 No additional charge for authors
 Usage terms recognise prevalence for online sharing and reuse
Video abstracts – an integral part of the article
Why make a video abstract?

A great way to explain your research to a broad
audience

Demonstrate your experiments running in real time

Illustrate complex theoretical phenomena through
practical demonstrations

Showcase simulations and visualisations with verbal
narration

Convey your enthusiasm for the work in a way that your
written article cannot

Raise your visibility
Top tips

Video abstracts should last no longer than 4 minutes
 Structure your video to tell a story
 Retain the attention of viewers all the way through

Include a mix of content/styles
 Practical demonstrations, animations, interviews, lab
tours
 Include multiple presenters and film group discussions

Choose the location carefully and remove all
background noise
 Include a transcript to maximise accessibility

Be creative - let your enthusiasm and personality come
across!
Video abstracts – early results

>70 published since February 2011
 Monthly growth since November 2011

>27,000 views

> 400 views per video abstract

Articles with a video abstract so far receive (on average)
five times more downloads
 Videos drive readership
Video abstracts – author quotes
“Video abstracts are a great way to communicate some
of our enthusiasm and excitement, which tends to get
lost in a scholarly publication.” Carlo W J Beenakker,
Leiden University, The Netherlands
‘”Video abstracts allow the presenter to get across the
key message of their article in an open and accessible
way. A visually striking abstract, as well as being fun to
make, can really make an article stand out from the
crowd.” Alex Chin, Universität Ulm, Germany
“By featuring the people behind the science, video
abstracts have the potential to convey inspiration and
enthusiasm, and thereby the significance of scientific
results, beyond the concise text of articles.”
Achim Kempf, Waterloo University, Canada
Video Abstracts – more information and guidelines

www.njp.org/videoabstracts
Thank you!
Pick up our ‘Introductory guide for
authors’ this week at booth FOG7 in
the exhibition area!