Transcript How to Publish in SCIENCE - The Scientific Consulting

Publishing in Science:
Outliers,
Closers, &
Leaders
Pamela J. Hines, Ph.D.
Senior Editor
SCIENCE, AAAS
Washington DC
 WHO publishes in and reads Science
 WHERE are authors and readers
 WHAT to publish in Science
 WHEN is the research ready
 HOW to publish in Science
 WHY is it worth the effort
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WHO publishes in and reads Science
Content from a variety of sources
 Content welcome
- from anyone, anywhere, of
any age, without any previous
agreement
 Research papers
 Research Articles
 Reports
 Brevia
 Letters to the Editor
 Technical Comments
 Content usually - but not
always - invited by the editors
 Perspectives
 Review Articles
 Special Issues
 Editorials
 Book reviews
 Content usually written by
staff
The news pages
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.
WHERE are authors and readers
Professional sectors:
Readers: All AAAS members get Science
 Academia
 Non-profit
 Industry
 Teaching
 Policy
Nonprofit org.
6%
Independent
consult.
4%
Other
6%
Academic
50%
Government
8%
Health care
8%
Industry
18%
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Crossover rate: 42% of non-industry readers are nonetheless involved with industry
WHERE are authors and readers
Geographical locations:
Readers: All AAAS members get Science
19%
1%
0.1%
West Indies
2%
2%
Africa
3%
4%
Central America
9%
Middle East
South Pacific
non-US
81%
South America
50%
Canada
US
Asia
29%
Europe
~ 20% non-US
Of non-US subscribers,
~ 50% in Europe
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WHERE are authors and readers
Research papers are submitted
from all around the world
Authors need not be subscribers or AAAS members
Africa
Central America
South America
Australia
Middle East
Scandinavia
Canada
China
UK
Other Asia
Europe
USA
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WHAT to publish in Science
published manuscripts, 2003
Research
papers are
published in
all topics
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AIDS/HIV
ANTHRO
APOPTOSIS
BIOMEDICINE
BIOPHYSICS
BOTANY
CANCER
CELL DIV CYC
CELL NEURO
CIRCADIAN RH
COGN SYS
DEVEL BIO
DEVEL NEURO
DNA Events
ECOLOGY
ENZYMOLOGY
EPIDEMIOLOGY
EVOLUTION
GEN CELL BIO
HUMAN GEN
IMMUNOLOGY
INTEG PHYSIO
MICROBIO
NONHUMAN GEN
OTHER BIOCHEM
PHYSIOLOGY
PROT KINESIS
PSYCH BEHV
RNA EVENTS
SIGNAL TRANS
SOCIOLOGY
STRUCT BIO
TRANSCRIPTN
VIROLOGY
APP PHYSICS
ASTRONOMY
ATMOS
CHEMISTRY
COMP/MATH
ENGINEERING
GEOCHEM PHY
MAT SCI
OCEANS
PALEO
PHYSICS
PLANETARY SC
WHAT to publish in Science
What helps
 Work that represents a large step forward
 Solution to long-standing problem
 Broad implications
 Overturns conventional wisdom
 Clear presentation
 Interesting to specialists
 Accessible to non-specialists
 Optimizes the use of Science formats
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WHAT to publish in Science
What doesn’t matter
 The eminence of the authors
 The age of the authors
 The prestige of the institution
 Whether you contacted Science before submitting
 Whether you are from the USA
 Whether you are a member of AAAS
 The field of inquiry
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WHAT to publish in Science
What hurts




The LPU
Excessive or unfounded speculation
Repeat examples of a known phenomenon
Insufficient advance over previously published work
Common reasons for manuscript rejection
Topic is not of broad interest
Result is too small of an advance
Conclusions are not convincing
Interpretations are poorly supported
Insufficient mechanistic insight
Insufficient evidence of relevance
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WHAT to publish in Science
Papers in Science
are or are not
like other papers in Science?
 Features of papers that
might be similar
 Features of papers that
might be different
 Importance
 Topic
 Impact
 Technology
 Clarity
 Methods
 Language
 Domain
 Text length
 Authors
 Format
 Locations
 Supplements exist
 Country
 Research sites
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WHEN is the research ready
How to define quality?
Science looks for
Outliers
Closers
Leaders
Common reasons for
acceptance
 Important question
 Interesting or unexpected
answer
 Great science!
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HOW to publish in Science
Think like reviewers and editors:
 The importance
If the interpretation is correct, would this paper be interesting enough?
 The data
 Robust data?
 Appropriate controls?
 Original approach?
 The presentation
 Well written text?
 Well organized argumentation?
 Thoughtful discussion?
 Formats suitable for the journal (length, figures, references, sections) ?
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HOW to publish in Science
“Learning the Ropes of Peer Reviewing”
by E. Pain, in Science Careers web site, August 15, 2008
 Assess scientific rigor, significance, relevance, originality
 Confirm that you  Have the relevant technical knowledge
 Can meet the time limit
 Are free from conflicts of interest
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
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Support your opinions with evidence and clear arguments
Offer advice for improvement
Clarify which improvements are necessary, and which are optional
Be kind and gracious to the author
HOW to publish in Science
“What Editors Want”
by L. Worsham,
in the Chronicle of Higher Education, Sept. 8, 2008
 Only submit work appropriate for that journal.
 Replicate the style and tone of work from that
journal in your own article.
 Follow the journal’s style guide and submission
rules.
 Submit content free of errors.
 Place your work in the context of articles in the
field.
 Accept rejection: “Competition is fierce, so
maintain a positive attitude.”
L. Worsham is a professor of English.
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HOW to publish in Science
Submitting a manuscript to Science
 Should you enquire before? (“presub inquiry”)

Submit the manuscript
 Through Science’s web site
 Instructions to Authors, length limits, & SOM
 If manuscript is rejected, should you appeal?
 If manuscript is viewed favorably, should you revise?
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HOW to publish in Science
Over 200 manuscripts
submitted each week
What happens to
your manuscript?
Editorial and BoRE analysis
25%
75%
Advice from reviewers
Editorial analysis, revisions,
re-review, & editing
7%
Publication in Science
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93%
Manuscript
rejected
WHY is it worth the effort?
About Science and AAAS
 AAAS, founded in 1848 in Philadelphia with about
400 initial members.
AAAS: American Association for the Advancement of Science
 Science, founded in 1880 by Thomas Edison,
became the official journal of AAAS in 1900.
 Science retains editorial independence.
 AAAS is a non-profit organization (www.aaas.org).
 AAAS goals are to advance science and serve
society through initiatives in:
 science policy
 international programs
 science education
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WHY is it worth the effort?
Papers
submitted
year 2000
The rejection
rate
is tough:
4%
6%
~3%
~4%
20%
18%
75%
70%
rejected before in-depth review
rejected after in-depth review
published (biological)
published (physical sci)
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WHY is it worth the effort?
But the visibility is great:
 Science is in over 1400 libraries and universities around
the world
 Site licenses make the journal broadly available online
 Over a hundred thousand individuals have personal
subscriptions
 And they usually pass their copy on to on average 7
other people
Total readership, print plus on-line,
~1 million people every week
 Rapid targeted international growth
 About 28,000 subscriptions outside the US
 Subscriptions doubled in the past ten years
 Fastest growth in Asia and South America
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WHY is it worth the effort?
Access to Science papers
 Original research is freely available with
registration 1 year after publication
 Self-archiving: If an author’s grant agency
or institution requires deposition after 6
months in a public repository (such as
PubMedCentral) the accepted version can
be posted with a link to the final version of
the paper in Science
 Authors can link to the final version from
their website for free access
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WHAT to publish in Science et al.
The Science
family includes:
 Science Signaling
 Science Translational
Medicine
 Science Careers
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New
The editors at Science
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The American Association for the Advancement of Science
Future meetings
 Washington, D.C.
17-21 February 2011
 Vancouver, Canada 16-20 February 2012
 Boston, MA
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14-18 February 2013
AAAS seeks to advance
science and innovation
throughout the world for the
benefit of all people.
http://www.aaas.org/