1.
A view (and a career) from
the other side of scientific
publishing
JOURNAL EDITOR
Matteo Cavalleri – Editor-in-Chief
International Journal of Quantum Chemistry
John Wiley & sons, inc.

2.
How do journals work?
THE YOUNG SCIENTISTS’ VIEW?

3.
How do journals work?
THE SENIOR SCIENTISTS’ VIEW?
By Nick Kim (www.nearingzero.net); used with permission

4.
Why researchers
publish?
• Fame
• Recognition by peers
• Fortune
• Promotions
• Grant applications
• Establish precedence
• Responsibility
• Taxpayer-funded research
• Making your research
public
• “If your research does
not generate papers, it
might just as well not
have been done.” –
George Whitesides
• Papers provide the
shoulders that others
can stand on
BEYOND PUBLISH OR PERISH

5.
Why journals?
TRADITIONAL ROLE VS. TODAY
-REGISTRATION: Recording author precedence and merit
-VALIDATION: Quality control via peer-review
-DISSEMINATION: Sharing results and methods
-ARCHIVING: Maintaining records of publication
And more recently:
-SEARCH & NAVIGATION: Increasing the discoverability

6.
How do journals work?
THE PEER-REVIEW

7.
What is the peer-review
process?SINCE 1665, TOUCHSTONE OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
“Peer review is the critical assessment of
manuscripts submitted to journals by experts
who are not part of the editorial staff”-International
Committee of Medical Journals Editors
WHAT IT CANNOT DO (*)WHAT IT SHOULD DO
-Filter out bad/uninteresting work
-Make as sure as possible the work
is reported correctly
-Make sure results are interpreted
correctly, and convincingly
-Improve the quality of publication
-Detect fabrication
-Prevent duplicate publication
-Pick the most interesting papers
-Ensure quality
-Ensure the article is right for the
journal
(*) AUTOMATICALLY

8.
What is the peer-review
process?SINCE 1665, TOUCHSTONE OF THE SCIENTIFIC METHOD
“It seems paradoxical that scientific research, in many
ways one of the most questioning and skeptical of
human activities, should be dependent on personal
trust. The fact is that without trust the research
enterprises could not function”
- Arnold S. Relman
WHAT IT CANNOT DO (*)WHAT IT SHOULD DO
-Filter out bad/uninteresting work
-Make as sure as possible the work
is reported correctly
-Make sure results are interpreted
correctly, and convincingly
-Improve the quality of publication
-Detect fabrication
-Prevent duplicate publication
-Pick the most interesting papers
-Ensure quality
-Ensure the article is right for the
journal
(*) AUTOMATICALLY

9.
Peer-review is always
evolvingPEER-REVIEW TYPES
-ANONYMOUS: Most common
-DOUBLE BLIND: Medical journals
-OPEN: Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics
-SIGNED: Non-anonymous referees, BMJ
-TECHNICAL PEER-REVIEW ONLY: PLoS One, Scientific Reports, PeerJ,…
-MIX OF THE ABOVE: Independent/Interactive, “Frontiers In”, EMBO…
-NONE: Evaluation by community post-publication, arXiv, F1000,…
-INDIPENDENT FROM JOURNAL: Rubiq, Peerage of Science

10.
How do journals work?
THE PEER-REVIEW

11.
What editors look for?
INSIDE PRE-SCREENING
MOST JOURNALS
-Novelty
-Importance (in specific field / in related disciplines)
-Interest
ALL JOURNALS
-Scope
-Format (Communication, full paper, review…)
-Understandability
Editors are not always qualified to evaluate the technical merits of manuscripts.
This is the job of the referees.

12.
This how referees are
chosenPART SCIENCE & PART ART
-Editors’ knowledge & experience
-From related papers:
- cited manuscripts
- literature search
-Additional research:
- conference/lab visits
- web search (good ‘ol Google)
-Reviewer database:
- keywords, interest, history…

13.
Referees suggestions are
welcomePREFERRED & NOT-PREFERRED REFEREES LIST
-Not just the big names, please
-No collaborators, previous advisors, grant co-applicants, …
-Tell us about circumstances that may prevent impartial review:
- close competitors, who may “scoop” you
- other conflicts
…within reason…

14.
The cover letter is important
NO COVER LETTER = WASTED OPPORTUNITY
THERE IS MORE
-Disclose conflicts of interest
-List related papers in press, submitted- prepare to
provide copies!
-Provide reviewers suggestions
EXPLAIN TO THE EDITOR
-Why work is significant
-What is the major advance
-What is new, better on previous works
-Why the journal is the right on for work
The cover letter should take shape from the paper’s intro & conclusion
TIP: Get the journal/editor’s names right! Especially if not 1st choice…

15.
Accept, Reject or Revise?
THE EDITOR’S JOB
-REJECTION
- Without external referee reports (Editor)
- Based on reports
-REVISION
- Reconsideration or resubmission
possible after major revisions
-ACCEPTANCE
- Without changes (rare)
- With minor changes

16.
Beyond peer-review
FROM PAPERS TO JOURNALS
Author
Correction
Early View
Online
Publication
Issue Build and
checking
Issue
Publishing and
Distribution
TypesettingSubmission Peer review Copy-editing
Peer Review Article Publishing (Early View) Issue Publishing

17.
Publishing is changing, Right
nowONLINE & MOBILE RULES
-Print is on the way out
-EarlyViews, ASAP instead of issues
-DOI is more important than page numbers
-Read papers anytime, anywhere…online
-Get real data, enriched contents,
supplementary information, videos…
-Central stores, personalized journals,…
…could create new roles in science publishing…

18.
Publishing is changing, Right
nowNEW WAYS TO FIND PAPERS
-Papers discovered through alerts & searches of keywords, structures, … not
issues
-News sites – Chemistryviews.org, Materialsviews.org …
-Discussion sites, forum, Nature Network, Twitter & social media
-Paper commenting; e.g. PloS One
-Less use of issues, more Google Scholar, WoS, …
-New ways to discuss and evaluate work. Impact Factor on the way out?
-Conferences, Meetings,…

19.
Models of editorial office
IN-HOUSE VS. EXTERNAL EDITORS
EXTERNAL EDITORS
…all ACS & Elsevier titles, some
RCS, most Wiley journals…
IN-HOUSE EDITORS
…+ PRL, PRB, some RSC (PCCP),
some IOP titles (NJP, JP:CM)…

20.
Models of editorial office
IN-HOUSE VS. EXTERNAL EDITORS
EXTERNAL EDITORSIN-HOUSE EDITORS
Work full time on journal – can
dedicate more time and resources on
new developments
General view
Have own research group
Expert in specific field
BOTH: peer-review, decision making, dealing with appeals,
commissioning, conference participation and lab visits, writing news
stories, contributing to “input” marketing …

21.
In-house editor is a career
for PhDsTYPICAL BACKGROUND: ME
IJQC, October 2011
Most editors are PhD-trained
scientists…
…often with PostDoc
experience.
Own research experience is
invaluable!

22.
In-house editor is a career
for PhDsA REAL CAREER
IJQC, October 2011
Editorial Trainee

Editor
physica status solidi

Associate Editor
J. Pol. Sci.:Pol. Phys.

Editor-in-Chief
Int. J. Quantum Chem.

World Dominance?

23.
Types of editors
NOT JUST PEER-REVIEW
PEER-REVIEW EDITOR
-Scientific background
-Manages peer-review, makes decision
-Commissions content
TECHNICAL/COPY EDITOR
-Scientific backgrounds
-Handles accepted papers
-Copy edits, ensures best presentation of content to the public
-Eye for details, passion for language

24.
Other roles for scientists in
publishingJOURNALS, BOOKS & WEB
IN JOURNALS
-Publishing Editor (portfolio of titles, budgets, strategy, not involved in science)
-Editor of articles for broad audience, written by specialists (Nature’s News & Views,..)
-Science journalist (works as freelancer)
IN BOOK & THE WEB
-Book Commissioning Editor
-Web portal Editor (MaterialsViews.org, ChemistryViews.org,…)
Plus marketing, adverting and sales (Science education less crucial)

25.
Editor’s career pros & cons
WHAT’S HOT & WHAT’S NOT
…AND WHAT I WOULD DO WITHOUT
-Journal/process development can be slow and frustrating
-Angry authors are difficult to deal with
-Fraud/Ethical violations are not uncommon and very exasperating!
-Sometimes I miss coding, hacking hardware (being a “lab-rat”)
-Career progression after Editor-in-Chief not easy
WHAT I LOVE…
-It’s a career at the “center of science”
-Entrusted the knowledge of entire disciplines
-Bird-eye view over science, see best results 1st!
-Contact with the scientific community
-Add & participate at the scientific debate and progress
-Plenty of (international) travel
-Real possibility of professional growth

26.
What is a good editor made
of?PASSION & SKILLS
… BUT YOU WON’T LOVE IT IF YOU …
-love being in the lab and do research
-enjoy being the world expert in a specific subject
-don’t like changing topics several time a day
-hated writing your thesis
IT MAY BE THE JOB FOR YOU IF YOU …
-are passionate for science communication
-recognize the importance of publishing in the scientific process
-are curious about a broad range of topics & disciplines
-know the art of diplomacy and have people skills
-have analytical, and decision-making skills
-are creative, with an eye for detail (and the “next big thing”)
ENGLISH IS THE LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE
-Publishing not restricted to native speakers anymore
-BUT, you need to be fluent in communicating science with it

27.
Wiley is wonderful, really, …
…BUT OTHER PLACES ARE AVAILABLE
-Peer-review editors wanted:
-Other roles:
and more…

28.
Questions? Complaints?
MCAVALLERI@WILEY.COM & ON TWITTER: PHYSICSTEO
Find IJQC at http://www.q-chem.org

29.
For further reading
SEE ALSO: WWW.SLIDESHARE.NET/MCAVALLERI
• Peer review
• I Hames, Peer Review and Manuscript Management in Scientific Journals, 2007
• E Wager, F Godlee, T Jefferson, How to Survive Peer Review, 2002
• Sense About Science, Peer Review and the Acceptance of New Scientific Ideas (www.senseaboutscience.org.uk)
• Nature’s Peer Review Debate (www.nature.com/nature/peerreview/debate)
• Advanced Materials “Guide for Authors” (www.advmat.de)
• M. Biagioli, Emergences, Volume 12, Number 1, 2002act Factor and h-index
• JE Hirsch, PNAS 2005, 102(46), 16569 (DOI: 10.1073/pnas.0507655102)
• J Bollen, H Van de Sompel, A Hagberg, R Chute, PLoS ONE 2009 4(6): e6022. (DOI:10.1371/journal.pone.0006022)
• ISI Web of Knowledge (www.isiknowledge.com/)
• Journal Citation Reports
(thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/science_products/scholarly_research_analysis/research_evaluation/journal_cita
tion_reports)
• Publishing ethics
• EuCheMS Ethical Guidelines for Publication in Journals and Reviews (www.euchems.org/Publications/)
• ACS Ethical Guidelines (pubs.acs.org/ethics/)
• COPE – the Committee on Publishing Ethics (www.publicationethics.org.uk/about)
• Preparing the manuscript
• AM Coghill, LR Garson, ACS Style Guide, 3rd edition, 2006
• GM Whitesides, “Writing a Paper” Adv. Mater. 2004, 16, 1375 (DOI: 10.1002/adma.200400767)
• M. Rolandi, K.Cheng, S. Perez-Kriz, Adv. Mater. 2011, 38, 4343 (DOI: 10.1002/adma.201102518)
• Advanced Materials “Guide for Authors” (www.advmat.de)
• Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, 2003