John Gibbins, PhD

Senior Editor

Kyushu University Department of Agriculture

Session 3 – Academic publishing

Kyushu University

6 November 2014

Seminar series

Oct 23 Effective presentations

Oct 30 Reviewing the literature

Nov 6 Academic publishing

Nov 13 Research and publication ethics

Nov 20 Effective writing

Nov 27 Manuscript structure

Dec 4 Communicating with journals

Dec 11 Peer review and revisions

Importance of publishing

Section 1

Customer Service Importance of publishing

Why English?

International language of academics

International reputation

Career advancement

Overseas research

Customer Service Importance of publishing

Publication success = Academic success

S

Publication Metrics and Success on the Academic Job Market van Dijk et al. Current Biology. 2014; 24: R516-R517.

• >25,000 researchers in PubMed • Determined which factors positively correlated

with becoming a PI

Publication rate Especially in first few years

Impact factor Become PI more quickly

Citations Can help those with low IFs

University rank Especially post-doc > PhD

Gender Men have better chances

Customer Service Importance of publishing

Writing a manuscript – 4 common myths

S

My manuscript is a written record of my findings

My findings speak for themselves, even if the manuscript is written poorly

Good English means only grammar and spelling

Complex words makes my writing more impressive

Customer Service Importance of publishing

Writing a manuscript – 4 common myths

S

My manuscript is a written record of my findings

My findings speak for themselves, even if the manuscript is written poorly

Good English means only grammar and spelling

Complex words makes my writing more impressive

Your manuscript is to communicate your findings

You need a well-written manuscript to effectively communicate your findings

Complex words makes your writing more difficult to understand

Good English means clear English with high readability

Publishing process

Section 2

Publication process The submission process

Accepted—publication!

Editor Author

Peer review

Reject

Results novel? Topic relevant?

Revision • New experiments • Improve readability • Add information

Publication process Type of journals

Broad vs narrow- focused journals

International vs regional journals

Broad (General) Findings have implications across fields

Narrow (Specialized) Findings have field-specific implications

International Findings have worldwide implications

Regional Findings are restricted by geographical

or ethnic boundaries

Activity 1

You have completed a study demonstrating a more efficient method of producing yin choy (苋菜 or red spinach), an agricultural product in China.

• Based on the aims, which of the following Journals is not a suitable target and why?

• What would you need to emphasize in your manuscript to make it appropriate for these specific journals?

1. Chinese Journal for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology 2. The Journal of Agricultural Science 3. China Agriculture Economic Review

Activity 1

Chinese Journal for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology

Journal aims: “Chinese Society for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology publishes papers concerned with cell dynamics and genetic features of plant growth…”

Your study: A more efficient method of producing yin choy (苋菜 or red spinach), an agricultural product in China.

Activity 1

Chinese Journal for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology

“Chinese Society for Plant Cell and Molecular Biology publishes papers concerned with cell dynamics and genetic features of plant growth…”

Not a suitable target journal. The manuscript would need to be about cell biology or genetics and plant

growth

Activity 1

The Journal of Agricultural Science Journal aims: “The Journal of Agricultural Science publishes papers concerned with the advance of agriculture and the use of land resources throughout the world…”

Your study: A more efficient method of producing yin choy (苋菜 or red spinach), an agricultural product in China.

Activity 1

The Journal of Agricultural Science

“The Journal of Agricultural Science publishes papers concerned with the advance of agriculture and the use of land resources throughout the world…”

Need to emphasize how your study is applicable to the production of other vegetables found worldwide

Activity 1

China Agricultural Economic Review

Journal aims: “China Agricultural Economic Review publishes research on the economics of agriculture, rural development, natural resources and the environment. …”

Your study: A more efficient method of producing yin choy (苋菜 or red spinach), an agricultural product in China.

Activity 1

China Agricultural Economic Review

“China Agricultural Economic Review…provides a unique and insightful approach to documenting and disseminating research into the economics of agriculture, rural development, natural resources and the environment. …”

Need to emphasize the economic value of your method compared with that of other commonly used methods

Publication process

Research Article

Short Communication Case Report Technical Note Review Article Editorial Letter to the Editor

Brief report about a specific finding

Most common; full-length paper

Brief report about a specific patient

Brief report about a new methodology

Summary of recent advances in a field

Brief discussion about an interesting topic

Brief discussion about a published article

Type of articles

Publication process Publication models

Subscription-based

• Mostly free for the author • Reader has to pay

Open access • Free for the reader • Author usually has to pay

Hybrid • Subscription-based journal • Has open access options

Publication process Open access

http://www.biomedcentral.com/bmcbiol/about#openaccess

Online-only

Subscription journals –

publisher is the copyright

holder

¥270,000!

Publication process Predatory journals

Some OA journals are not good

Easy way to get money from authors

• Promise quick and easy publication • Often ask for a ‘submission/handling’ fee

If you are ever unsure, please check the Beall’s List of Predatory Publishers

http://scholarlyoa.com/2012/12/06/bealls-list-of-predatory-publishers-2013/

Publication process Predatory journals

http://ijras.org/

Publication process Predatory journals

http://ijras.org/

Publication process Trustworthy journals

Reputable publisher Springer, Elsevier, Wiley, PLoS, etc.

Editorial board International and familiar

Indexed Indexed by common databases

Authors Do you recognize the authors?

Fees Only paid after acceptance

Activity 2

While working on your research project, you optimized one of the methods used in your experiments. You are very excited how well it works after your optimization! You think it would be good to (A) publish this new technique first, and then publish the research project later. You ask your colleague about it, but he recommends that you continue with your research project, and then publish all the findings together in a one larger paper (B). What are the benefits of publishing (A) versus (B)? If you choose (A), what type of articles would you write? What type of article would (B) be?

Activity 2

Option (A): • First publish paper about methodology • Second publish research project

Why types of articles?

1. Technical Note/Methodology Article 2. Research Article/Brief Communication

Why choose (A?) • Main reason: Time to submission.

Competition • Method important for the field/health

Activity 2

Option (B): • Wait and publish everything together

Why types of articles?

• Research Article

Why choose (B)?

• No competition • Usually can submit to higher IF journal • Will have higher impact in the field • Will have more citations

What journal editors are looking for

Section 3

What journal editors want

What do international journal editors want?

Interesting to journal’s readership

Increase impact

High quality research

Original and novel research

Clear and concise English

Real-world applications

What journal editors want

Relevant topic

Significant results

Logical presentation

High readability

Addresses an important problem researchers are facing

Findings that advance the knowledge in the field

Information and results clearly presented in a logical manner

Ideas are easily understood

Qualities of a highly cited article

What journal editors want

Submissions

Plagiarism

Data manipulation

Authorship

Only submit to one journal at a time

Paraphrase and cite all sources

Do not fabricate or falsify data

• Study design • Data acquisition/analysis • Writing of the manuscript

Publication ethics

Conflicts of interest

Disclose any financial or personal relationships

Identifying research trends

Section 4

Research trends Where to identify research trends?

S

Journals

• Most read/cited • Special issues • Editorials • Review articles

Meetings

• Section topics • Oral presentations • Testing ground for

appeal

Research trends Journals

S

Most read/cited articles

Research trends

S

Special issues

Journals

Research trends

S

Editorials

Journals

Research trends

S

Review articles

Journals

Research trends Conferences

S

Section topics

Research trends

S

Section topics

Conferences

Research trends

S

Attendees reactions

Response to other’s oral and poster presentations Which topics are of current interest

Response to your oral and poster presentations How interesting is your topic?

Many people present at conferences before writing their manuscripts

Conferences

Activity 3

I have a research article that I want to publish. There are two journals that I am considering submitting my manuscript to, journal (A) and journal (B). Each group will be the editorial board for one of these journals.

Journal (A) is a subscription based, high impact and broad journal.

Journal (B) is a open access, low impact and specialized journal.

Why should I submit my manuscript to your journal and not the other? What does my paper need to be considered by each journal?

Activity 3

Journal (A): Subscription based, high impact and broad journal.

What is required for publication?

1. High quality and high interest manuscript

2. Must be relevant to several disciplines

Benefits of (A?) • Cheap • High visibility • Wide target audience range

Activity 3

Journal (B): Open access, low impact and narrow journal.

What is required for publication?

1. Must be a topic of relevance to the field

Benefits of (A?) • Viewed by anyone for free • Reach a specific target audience • Many citations may make up for low IF

True or False

1. As long as your figures and data are clear, the English is not important to understand the significance of your work.

2. The quality of an open-access article can be equal to that of a subscription-based journal.

3. Conferences are a good place to identify new trends in your field.

4. Early in your career, it is important to publish many review articles to establish yourself as an expert in the field.

5. There are several things authors can do to make the publication process quicker.

6. Open access means that it is free to publish.

T

T

T

F

F

F

Thank you!

Any questions?

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John Gibbins: jgibbins@edanzgroup.com