How to publish your article in an open access journalMaria KowalczukBiology EditorBioMed Central

• The ‘life’ of a paper – what editors and reviewers look for

• How to get your research published

Planning ahead

Things to consider before submission

Choosing a journal

Preparing to submit

• Tips on writing a good paper.

Overview

• After this workshop, you should:

Understand what editors look for

Understand the peer review process

Gain insight into the editorial decision making process

Know what information your manuscript should contain

Confidently plan your future publications.

Objectives

The ‘life’ of a paper

Production PublicationRejection

Submission

Peer Review

Revision

Accept or Transfer

• Does the work fit the journal’s scope?

• Is the science sound?

• Is it new/interesting?

• Is it a big enough advance for this journal?

What does an editor look for?

• Ensures that published articles are scientifically sound

• An opportunity to improve your work – not an inconvenience

• If rejected: take criticism on board before submitting to another journal!

Why peer review?

• Independent experts At least two Different reviewers may advise on different aspects (clinical

elements, statistics) Chosen by the editor Authors can suggests or exclude peer reviewers

• Constructive feedback helps: Editor to make a decision Authors to improve their manuscript.

Peer review

• Quality Soundness of research Suitability of methods and analyses Appropriateness of the conclusions Reporting/clarity of the message Language/presentation

• Contribution to the literature Novelty Importance/interest

• May also comment on Suitability to the journal‘s scope Research and publication ethics.

What do peer reviewers look for?

• Closed peer review Single blind Double blind

• Open peer review Reviewer identity known Reports published

Models of peer review

Open peer review

• Peer reviewers often disagree with each other

• Editor makes a decision

• Editor may seek further advice

• Editor may overrule reviewers

• Editor, not reviewers ultimately decides what is published.

After peer review

Decision after peer review

Accepted Well assessed

Scientifically sound

Meets journal threshold

Rejected Out of scope Below threshold Needs extensive revisions Inappropriate controls,

methods or statistics Data do not support conclusions No ethical approval Misconduct

Revisions Further

experiments needed

Discuss limitations

Ensure data support conclusions

Separating ‘scientific soundness’ from ‘interest levels’

Rejection – reasons why

Scientific soundness

Results are not sound

Interpretation is fundamentally flawed

Ethical concerns

Manuscript cannot be published (in current form)

Interest levels

Not in scope for this journal

Not a big advance

Not of interest to this journal’s readership

Manuscript suitable for a different journal

Transfer offered

• Manuscripts rejected on ‘interests’ levels may be transferred to another journal

• Peer reviewer‘s reports also transferred • Faster publication.

Rejection on ‘interest’ level

• The ‘life’ of a paper – what editors and reviewers look for

• How to get your research published

Planning ahead

Things to consider before submission

Choosing a journal

Preparing to submit

• Tips on writing a good paper.

Overview

• Plan your publication from the start

• Choose the right journal

• Prepare a ‘good’ manuscript

• Take on board reviewers’ comments.

How to get your research published

Key sections in research articles reflect scientific process: • Background• Methods and materials• Results• Discussion• References

Planning ahead

Experimental design – get it right:

[Background]

What is your hypothesis or research question?

What are the aims of your study?

[Methods and materials]

Which methods are appropriate

to answer your questions?

Planning ahead

Experimental design – get it right: [Research/data] What are the right controls?

Are the sample sizes (n) large enough?

Which statistical tests?

Planning ahead

Experimental design – get it right:

[Discussion/interpretation]

What do the results really show?

How does this fit with existing knowledge?

What is new about the findings?

Have you considered the limitations?

[References]

Database searches, e.g. PubMed,

GoogleScholar, Scopus

Whose research would be affected by this and why?

Planning ahead

• Agree on authorship early

• Use ICMJE criteria

• Provide author contributions in manuscript

• Provide correct email addresses for all authors

• Tell the Editor about any changes

• All authors must agree in writing to any changes

Authorship disputes can lead to delays

Authorship

Someone who has only been involved in:• Acquisition of funding• Collection of data• General supervision

Contributors who do not meet the authorship criteria should be listed in the Acknowledgements

Authors should have made substantial contributions, according to ICMJE.

Who should not be an author?

Publication and research ethics

Consequences of unethical behavior:

• Unable to publish in the future

• (Some) journals ban authors

• Loss of reputation

• Loss of employment

• Studies without ethical approval (where needed) are rejected.

Honestly evaluate your findings:

• How big an advance are your findings?

• How high can you realistically aim?

• Are they of broad interest outside of your field?

Check aims and scope of several journals:

• Who reads them?

• Who publishes in them?

• What type of studies have they published recently?

Choosing a journal

Finding the major journals that publish studies in your area of research

Journal prestige:• Impact factors

• SciMago rankings

• Editorial board

Choosing a journal

High threshold

Low threshold

Interest levels vary between journals

Choosing a journal

Journal-specific policies

Ethical policies:

• particularly relevant for medical journals

• trial registration

Availability of data:

• deposition of raw microarray and proteomic datasets

• software availability

Availability of related submitted manuscripts.

One chance to make a good first impression

At submission:

• Thoughtful cover letter

• Well written abstract

• Manuscript including all relevant information

• Provide author details (email addresses for all authors)

• Providing all the required information will expedite initial decision of whether to peer review.

Preparing to submit

• Author contributions

• Competing interests

• Ethics approval

• Animal ethics

• Consent to participate

• Consent to publish

• Standards of reporting

• Trial registration.

Editorial checklist

Cover Letter

• Personal

• Scientific question

• Key findings

• Recent relevant articles

• Significance in the field

• Why this journal

• Any additional information?

Writing the abstract

Specific information about: • Aim(s) of the study• Main methods and materials • Key results • Conclusions

Indexing and searching:• Use keywords that attract readers

Unclear abstract:• The importance of the work is missed• Invited reviewers decline to review.

Formatting the article

• Read the Instructions for Authors

• Format it correctly

• Write clearly and concisely.

Figures, tables AND legends

• Illustrate main results

• Logical layout

• Labeled and described in legend

• Stand alone captions.

Suggesting peer reviewers

Some journals ask you to suggest potential peer reviewers for your paper

Who can you suggest?

• Suggest reviewers who have sufficient expertise to assess the methods and study design

• Suggest experts from your reading or references

• Do not suggest close collaborators

• No publications together in last 5 years

• Not at your institution.

• Online submission form

• Submitting author takes full responsibility for ‘agreeing’ to terms and conditions

• Ensure all co-authors have approved the manuscript

• Sit back and wait – the hard work is done!

Submission

• The ‘life’ of a paper – what editors and reviewers look for

• How to get your research published

Planning ahead

Things to consider before submission

Choosing a journal

Preparing to submit

• Tips on writing a good paper.

Overview

Tip 1 for writing a good paper

Read many papers

• Know the field

• Join a journal club

• Read outside of your area to develop broad scope – think about quality

• Be aware of reporting guidelines.

Tip 2

Be objective about your work

.......Editors and reviewers will be

• Manuscript structure

• Controls and statistical tests

• Collaborators and co-authors

• Aims: what are you trying to show / prove?

A clear vision of your project will shape a paper

Tip 3

Write in good English

• Complex language is not needed

• Poorly written manuscripts get rejected

• Consider using a professional copy-editing service.

Tip 4

Decide early on where to publish• This will help shape your study, based on the goals needed for

publication in your target journal

• Will help define the form of study and advance required

• Look at journal’s aims and scope page.

Tip 5

Quality is everything

• Try to publish in as high a quality journal as you can

• One great study is better than several lesser quality ones

• Avoid trying to publish lots of research papers that provide small amounts of new data from a single research project.

Tip 6

Become a reviewer!

• Get used to how to critically assess science – it will help you to assess your own study

• Ask your supervisor if you can help with the next review they do

• You’ll become familiar with issues that reviewers raise as you see other reports.

Respond to reviewers and editors

• Ensure you understand what reviewers and editors are asking for

• Provide a full, and concise point-by-point response

• If you disagree with an issue, provide a clear rationale backed up with references

• Give clear indication where revisions in the manuscript have been made.

Tip 7

Tip 8

Learn to live with rejection!

• All scientific careers are faced with rejection

• Take reviewers advice and improve the study / manuscript

• If you are invited to resubmit, do the revisions that the reviewers request.

Any Questions?

Maria KowalczukBiology Editor

Research Integrity GroupBioMed Central

Maria.Kowalczuk@biomedcentral.com

Thank you!