Presentation on how to publish high-impact scientific research by Dr. Stefan Hildebrandt and Dr. John Uhlrich as Editors-in-Chief of the journals Solar RRL and Energy Technology at Wiley-VCH. The presentation was held at King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST), Saudi Arabia on the 10th of February 2019 as part of the KAUST Research Conference on 3rd Generation photovoltaic technologies and beyond. https://ksc.kaust.edu.sa/Conference-2019/Pages/About.aspx

1. © 2019
Publishing Scientific Research &
How to Write High-Impact Research Papers
Dr. Stefan Hildebrandt
and
Dr. John Uhlrich

2. © 2019
1) About Wiley-VCH and the
energy/sustainability journal portfolio
2) Metrics and Impact Factors
3) The psychology of editors and reviewers
and demystifying the publication process
4) Writing for scientific success
5) Q & A
Today’s Talk

3. © 2019
Publishing Scientific Research
(… with Wiley-VCH)
Stefan
Hildebrandt
Editor-in-Chief
Solar RRL
physica status solidi
(pss)
Annalen der Physik
(AdP)
Advanced Quantum
Technologies (QUTE)
Wiley-VCH Berlin

4. © 2019
• PhD students?
• Post-Docs or beyond?
• Who has already published something?
• Have you had the opportunity to act as a
peer reviewer for a submitted research
manuscript?
• Who can imagine a career in publishing?
Who are you?

5. © 2018
John Wiley & Sons
South Korea
Founded in 1807 in New York City by John Wiley
To this day family-owned in the 6th generation
Approx. 5,000 staff worldwide
Wiley Online Library has 130 million users
1,600 journals, 1200 society partners
Company headquarters are in Hoboken (New Jersey)
Wiley-VCH (Germany) has been part of Wiley since 1996

6. © 2019
Weinheim office
Berlin office

7. © 2019
• Wiley-VCH, Ernst & Sohn, GIT
• Weinheim, Berlin, Zürich (CH)
• 530 employees (450/70/14)
– ~ 70% female - 30% male
– Average age ~ 42 years
– Average time with Wiley-VCH ~ 10 years
– Foreign employees 40%
from 24 different nations
• Primarily chemists, followed by materials scientists, physicists, biologists,
mathematicians
Our Offices

8. © 2019
Wiley-VCH Journal Genealogy

9. © 2019
1600 journals, books
And More...

10. © 2019
The Wiley-VCH energy and
sustainability journal cluster

11. © 2019
The Big 3

12. © 2019
Advanced Materials (AM)
Very broad readership of
materials scientists,
chemists, physicists,
engineers, life scientists,
biomedical engineers
Interdisciplinary high-
priority materials research
Outstanding results related to
the intrinsic properties of novel
materials: breakthroughs of broad
interest, novel concepts and devices
Deputy Editors
Lorna
Stimson
Peter Gregory
Editor-in-Chief
Communications!
Journal Facts:
Impact Factor: 21.95
Weekly issues
low acceptance rate
Duoduo
Liang
Jos
Lenders

13. © 2019
From January 2019 Editorial:
• Covers breakthrough/significant results in solar cells (esp.
organic)
• Communications/Reviews in diverse energy research
Advanced Materials (AM)

14. © 2019
Advanced Functional Materials (AFM)
Very broad readership of
materials scientists,
chemists, physicists,
engineers, life scientists,
biomedical engineers
Interdisciplinary high-
priority materials research
• Different article formats (Full Papers, Feature Articles)
• Now also accepts transfers of selected AM
submissions
• Highest submission numbers among materials science
journals, even more selective
Deputy Editors
Hakim
Meskine
Jörn Ritterbusch
Editor-in-Chief
Full Papers!
Journal Facts:
Impact Factor: 13.325
Weekly issues
low acceptance rate
Jos
Lenders
Emily
Hu
Same as
Advanced
Materials

15. © 2019
Advanced Science (AS)
Fundamental and applied
research in all areas of
science (materials, physics,
chemistry, medical, life
sciences, engineering)
Interdisciplinary premium
Open Access journal
• Growing fast in submissions and impact after 5 years
• High quality, selective (despite of being open access)
• Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)
• List article publication charge: $5000, increasing
number of discounts, funder agreements, consortial
or national licenses covering OA, waivers
• Global Challenges as less selective publication
Deputy Editors
Kirsten Severing
Editor-in-Chief
Open Access
Journal Facts:
Impact Factor: 12.441
Bi-weekly issues
low acceptance rate
Anne
Pfisterer
Prisca
Henheik

16. © 2019
Advanced Science (AS)
Fundamental and applied
research in all areas of
science (materials, physics,
chemistry, medical, life
sciences, engineering)
Interdisciplinary premium
Open Access journal
• Growing fast in submissions and impact after 5 years
• High quality, selective (despite of being open access)
• Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY)
• List article publication charge: $5000, increasing
number of discounts, funder agreements, consortial
or national licenses covering OA, waivers
• Global Challenges as less selective publication
Deputy Editors
Kirsten Severing
Editor-in-Chief
Open Access
Journal Facts:
Impact Factor: 12.441
Bi-weekly issues
low acceptance rate
Anne
Pfisterer
Prisca
Henheik

17. © 2019
Devised by Eugene Garfield, founder of ISI
→ today part of Clarivate Analytics
Journal Impact Factor (IF)

18. © 2019
Devised by Eugene Garfield, founder of ISI
→ today part of Clarivate Analytics
1955
Journal Impact Factor (IF)

19. © 2019
The journal impact factor is the average number of times articles
from the journal published in the past two years have been cited in
the JCR year. The impact factor is calculated by dividing the number
of citations in the JCR year by the total number of articles published
in the two previous years.
time
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Articles
published
A1 A2
C12
Citations
published
Journal Impact Factor (IF)

20. © 2019
The journal impact factor is the average number of times articles
from the journal published in the past two years have been cited in
the JCR year. The impact factor is calculated by dividing the number
of citations in the JCR year by the total number of articles published
in the two previous years.
time
2005 2006 2007
Articles
published
40 60
100
Citations
published
Journal Impact Factor (IF)

21. © 2019
 Average Impact Factors vary from subject to subject
• Median IF: Median value of all IFs in category
• Aggregate IF: IF of category calculated as if entire category
were one journal
Impact Factor is relative

22. © 2019
The immediacy index is the average number of times an article is
cited in the year it is published. The immediacy index is calculated
by dividing the number of citations to articles published in a given
year by the number of articles published in that year.
time
Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Articles
published
A3
C3
Citations
published
Journal Immediacy Index

23. © 2019
The immediacy index is the average number of times an article is
cited in the year it is published. The immediacy index is calculated
by dividing the number of citations to articles published in a given
year by the number of articles published in that year.
time
2005 2006 2007
Articles
published
100
60
Citations
published
Journal Immediacy IndexAnd more journal indices …
Journal Cited Half-Life
5-Year Journal Impact Factor
Eigenfactor Score
Article Influence Score
Nature Index
Google Scholar h5-Index
Google Scholar h5-Median
CiteScore
SJR (SCImago Journal Rank)
SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper)
Islamic World Science Citation Center's
Journal Citation Report

24. © 2019
1) Arbitrary 2-year window, citation practices depend upon the
field and on the specific work
2) Crude average over skewed power-law citation distribution of
articles
3) Overinterpretation and misuse of the Impact Factor values:
doesn’t say anything about the quality of an individual work
(E. Garfield (2006): "The use of journal impacts in evaluating
individuals has its inherent dangers.")
4) Incentives for poor research practice, manipulation and
unethical behavior (on the parts of both publishers, authors
and reviewers)
Problems with IF-based assessment

25. © 2019
Publishing by the numbers
On the journal level: Impact Factor
- measures level of citation of articles in a given journal
On the article level: Altmetrics
- measures the attention an individual article
receives on social media and in the news
On the author level: Hirsch Index (h-Index)
- h published articles, each cited at least h times
Nothing replaces reading the article itself!

26. © 2019
Now to the more specific
energy and sustainability cluster …

27. © 2019
Advanced Energy Materials (AEnM)
Photovoltaics, batteries,
supercapacitors, fuel cells,
hydrogen generation and storage,
thermoelectrics, water splitting,
photocatalysis, solar fuels,
thermosolar power,
magnetocalorics, piezoelectronics
Interdisciplinary premium
journal on materials used
for energy harvesting,
conversion and storage
• 2017 Impact Factor almost reached that of AM
• 2018: Special issues on Sodium‐Ion Batteries, and
Organic Photovoltaics (Guest Editors: Feng Gao, L. Jan
Anton Koster, Thuc‐Quyen Nguyen, Natalie Stingelin)
Deputy Editors
Till von Graberg
Editor-in-Chief
All article types Journal Facts:
Impact Factor: 21.875
Weekly issues
low acceptance rate
Guangchen
Xu
Anna
Troeger
Carolina
Novo da Silva

28. © 2019
Solar RRL
Photovoltaics, solar cells,
materials, devices, systems,
photocatalysis, solar fuels,
photothermal and
photoelectrochemical solar
energy conversion
Covers all areas
of solar energy conversion
• Launced 2017, spin-off from pss (Rapid Research Letters)
• Priority handling, fast turnaround and publication
• Initially many transfers from Advanced and others
• Strong focus on third generation PV systems
• Increasing coverage of photocatalysis and others
• WoS: Covered in Emerging SCI, SCI expected in 2019
Editors
Stefan Hildebrandt
Editor-in-Chief
All article types
Journal Facts:
Impact (est.): >5.9
Monthly issues
medium acceptance
rate
Lulu
Ma
Anna
Troeger
Carolina
Novo da Silva

29. © 2019
More on Solar RRL
From
January 2019
Editorial

30. © 2019
More on Solar RRL
From
January 2019
Editorial
Special issues planned for 2019:
• Perovskite Solar Cells and Optoelectronics
(ongoing, open for submissions)
• Nanomaterials for Light-Driven Reactions
(in preparation)

31. © 2019
Even more on Solar RRL
Cover gallery 2018

32. © 2019
Interdisciplinary journal on
systems, solutions,
technologies, applications
for sustainable living
(cf. UN's Sustainable
Development Goals)
Advanced Sustainable Systems (AdSu)
Climate action, renewable
energy, sustainable food and
agriculture, urban development
and sustainable living, ecology,
cradle-to-cradle processing,
social and economic challenges,
policy and governance
• Launched in 2017
• Still small but growing
• Addresses new and strongly interdisciplinary
communities, going far beyond materials science
Editors
All article types Journal Facts:
Monthly issues
medium acceptance
rate
Christine
Mayer
Prisca
Henheik
Till
von Graberg
Jörn Ritterbusch
Editor-in-Chief

33. © 2019
• Honestly assess the
importance/impact and
scope of your work
• Journal Impact Factor is not
everything!
• What are the implications
of your research?
• How important will others
find your research?
– In your field?
– In related fields?
• Publication fees? Open
access?
• Speed of publication?
• What is the scope of your
candidate journal?
• Who reads your candidate
journal?
Selecting the Journal

34. © 2019
Who am I?
• Chemical Engineering, PhD University of
Wisconsin, USA
• Interface Chemistry of Hybrid Photovoltaic
Materials/Devices
• Postdoc 2009-2011: Fritz Haber Institute, Berlin
Department of Chemical Physics (H.J. Freund)
• Surface Science for Model Catalysis
• 2011– 2012:
– Editor, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional
Materials
• 2012-present:
– Editor, Energy Technology

35. © 2019
Who am I?
• Chemical Engineering, PhD University of
Wisconsin, USA
• Interface Chemistry of Hybrid Photovoltaic
Materials/Devices
• Postdoc 2009-2011: Fritz Haber Institute, Berlin
Department of Chemical Physics (H.J. Freund)
• Surface Science for Model Catalysis
• 2011– 2012:
– Editor, Advanced Materials, Advanced Functional
Materials
• 2012-present:
– Editor, Energy Technology

36. © 2019
•Covering the technical aspects of
applied energy research
–Generation
–Conversion
–Storage
–Distribution
•Companion journal of other related
Wiley titles (Advanced Energy
Materials, ChemSusChem, etc.)
•Listed in important databases
(ISI, Web of Knowledge, Scopus)
•Impact Factor (2017): 3.175
•Online publication (no color fees)
Launched in 2013
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. John Uhlrich
Special Issue (2017): http://bit.ly/Perovskite-ENTE
The sequal is planned in conjunction with ICMAT-2019, Singapore
Dual Special Issues: Energy Technology and Advanced Energy Materials

37. © 2019
•Covering the technical aspects of
applied energy research
–Generation
–Conversion
–Storage
–Distribution
•Companion journal of other related
Wiley titles (Advanced Energy
Materials, ChemSusChem, etc.)
•Listed in important databases
(ISI, Web of Knowledge, Scopus)
•Impact Factor (2017): 3.175
•Online publication (no color fees)
Launched in 2013
Editor-in-Chief
Dr. John Uhlrich
Special Issue (2017): http://bit.ly/Perovskite-ENTE
The sequal is planned in conjunction with ICMAT-2019, Singapore
Dual Special Issues: Energy Technology and Advanced Energy Materials

38. © 2019
https://scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/2018/02/06/focusing-value-102-things-
journal-publishers-2018-update/?informz=1

39. © 2019
Some highlights
46. Search engine optimization.
50. Dealing with data.
55. Media relations and publicity.
56. Social media distribution and management.
58. Integrating new standards.
60. Hosting and archiving.
73. Managing and protecting
editorial records.
101. Work together to solve more general
access and fairness issues.
86. Provide training in emerging publishing
markets. (but not just emerging markets!)
34. Copy-editing, proofreading, and styling of
materials.
27. Ethics investigations.
26. Management of peer review process.

40. © 2019
“If your research does not generate papers, it
might just as well not have been done.
‘Interesting and unpublished‘ is equivalent to
non-existant.“
“Realize that your objective in research is to
formulate and test hypotheses, to draw
conclusions from these tests, and to teach
these conclusions to others. Your objective is
not to ‘collect data‘.“
George Whitesides, “Whitesides‘ Group: Writing a
Paper“, Essay in Advanced Materials, 2004, 16, 1375 .
Why publish at all?

41. © 2019
Don't underestimate how hard it is or
how long it takes to write a good paper.

42. © 2019
Is the novelty
high enough?
Difference to
prior work?
Important to the
whole readership?
Important to
researchers
in this field?
After the initial check for scope and length is done,
the manuscript is examined more closely:
the most
important
hurdle!
„Publishing space is
limited – choose a journal
whose readership will be
keen to see your results!“
What Editors Look For (Manuscript Suitability)

43. © 2019
Conclusions section of manuscript
While reading new manuscripts, editors will especially look at:
Cover letter “If I‘m interested, my
readers will be, too!ˮ
Keywords
Literature references
Visual information
Abstract
Where will the Editor look?

44. © 2019
Cover Letter: The Worst Type

45. © 2019
• Why is this topic important?
• Why are these results significant?
• What is the key result? (breakthrough!)
• Why is it an advance on previous work?
• Why are you submitting to this journal?
• Why will this journal’s readers read it?
• Provide reviewer suggestions
Together with the conclusions section of your paper, the cover
letter is one of the first things the editor will see, so make it
count!
Tip: Keep the letter as concise as possible – the longer it is, the
easier it becomes to overlook something important.
Maximizing Success: Writing the Cover Letter

46. © 2019
• Why is this topic important?
• Why are these results significant?
• What is the key result? (breakthrough!)
• Why is it an advance on previous work?
• Why are you submitting to this journal?
• Why will this journal’s readers read it?
• Provide reviewer suggestions
Together with the conclusions section of your paper, the cover
letter is one of the first things the editor will see, so make it
count!
Tip: Keep the letter as concise as possible – the longer it is, the
easier it becomes to overlook something important.
Maximizing Success: Writing the Cover Letter
Solar Cell Example:
We have fabricated a solar cell with high efficiency and stability,
using earth-abundant materials, by using a simple synthetic method,
nontoxic precursors, using a scaleable fabrication procedure, with a
unique combination materials that increase our fundamental
understanding of photovoltaic devices.

47. © 2019
Manuscript rejected on reports
Manuscript submitted
Editors examine &
make initial decision in house
Manuscript sent out
for external peer review
Editor makes decision
based on reports
Manuscript is accepted as
is or with minor revisions
Manuscript transferred
to the publication workflow
Manuscript rejected on reports
but reinvited if
major revisions promising
Manuscript rejected on topic,
novelty, or quality
Revisions requested
if possible in short time
Manuscript rejected on format
but reinvited (e.g., shorten)
Peer Review Editorial Workflow

48. © 2019
• Present data honestly and accurately, not
fabricate or falsify data
• Reference and cite properly, not plagiarize or
ignore related work
• Avoid fragmentation and redundant
publication
• Inform the editor of related manuscripts under
consideration or in press
• Submit to only one journal at a time
• Disclose conflicts of interest
Author Responsibilities

49. © 2019
• Ensure efficient, fair, and timely manuscript processing
• Ensure confidentiality of submitted manuscripts
• Make the final decision for accepting or rejecting
• Base decision to accept or reject only on the merits of
the manuscript
• Not use work reported in a submitted manuscript for
their own research
• Ensure fair selection of referees, including those
suggested or requested for exclusion by author
• Respond to suggestions of scientific misconduct
• Deal fairly with author appeals
Editor Responsibilities

50. © 2019
• Treat it as a discussion of your paper from one of the top
experts in your field.
• Don’t take it personally – it is not an attack on you!
• Be thorough and a little self-critical; remember that the referee
is trying to help you improve your work and its presentation.
• Remember that everyone is human! Take every criticism as
an opportunity for improvement; this is a “trial run“ for how
your work may be perceived after publication.
How to Read a Referee Report
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2017/01/18/15-steps-to-revising-journal-articles/

51. © 2019
• Treat it as a discussion of your paper from one of the top
experts in your field.
• Don’t take it personally – it is not an attack on you!
• Be thorough and a little self-critical; remember that the referee
is trying to help you improve your work and its presentation.
• Remember that everyone is human! Take every criticism as
an opportunity for improvement; this is a “trial run“ for how
your work may be perceived after publication.
How to Read a Referee Report
http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2017/01/18/15-steps-to-revising-journal-articles/
https://www.theguardian.com/higher-education-
network/2017/mar/31/dear-anonymous-peer-reviewer-
your-criticism-made-me-a-better-researcher

52. Credit: Nick Kim (www.nearingzero.net)
Stay Calm 

53. © 2019
1. Have something to say.
2. Say it.
3. Stop as soon as you have said it!
4. Give the paper a proper title!
Source:
John S. Billings:
An Address on
our Medical
Literature.
Br Med J (1881)
2:262-268.
The Four Basic Rules

54. © 2019
Titles and abstracts are searchable separately from the
main paper in databases and online
Therefore to increase your paper’s “discoverability”:
give it a specific and concise title
include many appropriate keywords
“search-engine optimization”
Title & Abstract

55. © 2019
What effect?
Which metal(s)?
What type of coupling reaction(s)?
Which aryl alcohols?
Specific
Concise
Contains many keywords
Effect of Metal Catalyst on the
Outcome of Coupling Reactions
with Aryl Alcohols
Ruthenium Trichloride:
An Effective Catalyst for C-H
Activation with 2,4-Disubstituted
Aryl Alcohols
Targeting Your Title

56. © 2019
DOI: 10.1126/science.355.6320.102
Telling a Story

57. © 2019
DOI: 10.1126/science.355.6320.102
Answer 3 Questions:
• What is the Status Quo?
– Too little: Risk losing a large audience who may
not be experts on this topic.
• What is wrong with the Status Quo?
– Too little: “Why do we need yet another paper
on this topic?“
• How does this work go beyond the Status
Quo?
– Too little: The novelty of your work is not clear.
Telling a Story

58. © 2019
• Don‘t forget to factor in time to work on
the presentation of your work
• Have a friend/colleague read your
manuscript; read your own work again
after setting it aside for a couple of days
• Have a native speaker proofread for
language, if available (editorial services
are also available)
http://wileyeditingservices.com/en/ www.ChemistryViews.org
A Few More Tips
http://wileyeditingservices.com/en/

59. © 2019
1) Unpublished work is lost and properly communicating science
takes effort
2) A simple writing style is best!
3) Optimize your content for internet use
4) Peer review isn’t perfect but it is the best we have
5) Competition is hard, so make your work stand out
6) Take an active role in promoting your work
Conclusions

60. © 2019
Questions?
jjuhlrich@wiley.comJohn Uhlrich
Stefan Hildebrandt shildebr@wiley.com