Career in scientific publishing publishing (….with post-graduate degree) Min Cho, Ph.D. Associate Editor Nature Publishing Group Nature Publishing Group University of Pennsylvania Do not distribute without permission
Career in scientific publishingpublishing
(….with post-graduate degree)
Min Cho, Ph.D.,Associate Editor
Nature Publishing GroupNature Publishing Group
University of Pennsylvania
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Scientific editing as a careerg
What does a scientific editor doWhat does a scientific editor do, exactly?
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Core tasks of a manuscript peditor
….is in the manuscript selection process.
(i.e. does the journal publish a submitted manuscript or not?)or not?)
Scientific editing as career
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Core tasks of a manuscript peditor
Read new manuscript submissions Is the- Read new manuscript submissions – Is the conclusion scientifically justified?
L d h di i i h h di d k- Lead the discussion with other editors and make initial editorial decision; to review or editorially reject?
- Manage manuscripts through external review; assign reviewers, make decisions, write letters.
- Check accepted manuscripts pre-publication
Scientific editing as career
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Papers go inPapers go in...
Publication
Papers come o t
Publicationprocess
Papers come out...
Editorial Process
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Papers go inPapers go in...
Publication
Papers come o t
Publicationprocess
Papers come out...
But what happened inside the box???
Editorial Process
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Editorial flowchartReturned to
author Accept
New submissionRevision
Editor decision
Original submission dateHow the
brain works Reject/major
Peer review
Editor decision
New submission daterevisions
RejectReject
Editorial Process
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What types of papers are published?yp p p p
Primary research articles: Brief Communications, Articles, Technical reports ResourceTechnical reports, Resource
Review material: News & Views, Perspectives, Reviews, Focuses, Book Reviews
News material: NN has none (some NPG sister journals do)
Opinions: Editorials, Correspondence, Commentaries
Nature also regularly publishes Essays and short science fiction!
Types of Manuscripts
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What are we looking for?What are we looking for?
Stories that your lab neighbours might want to readStories that your lab neighbours might want to read (even though s/he doesn’t work on the same topic)
Data of high quality and of technically sound experiments
Papers that will excite your research community
Editorial Process
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What are we looking for?• Conceptual Advance.
What are we looking for?
Does the dataset settle a long-standing debate?
Does the paper change the way in which scientists think about a p p g ybiological question?
• Novelty of conclusions.y
• Strength of conclusions - alternatives ruled out?
Mechanistic insight physiological & functional relevance• Mechanistic insight, physiological & functional relevance, generality of findings.
Editorial Process
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Selecting external reviewerswe look for referees who are/have….
Technical expertisep
Broad knowledge of field and familiar with the journal and its scope/caliberscope/caliber
Efficient
Fair-minded
A id b i fli t f i t tAvoid obvious conflicts of interest
Peer-review
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Why are referees anonymous?Prevents bland, timid reviews
Corrects for power imbalance
Reduces opportunities for favor tradingpp g
Lets scientists stay friends
Many referees would refuse to review
Editors not referees take the ultimateEditors, not referees, take the ultimate responsibility for decisions
Peer-review
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Why not keep authors ?anonymous?
Referees can guess their identitiesReferees can guess their identities
Self-citation
Work presented at meetings
Famous authors are more likely to be identifiableFamous authors are more likely to be identifiable
Not likely to improve quality of review(e.g. Does masking author identity improve peer review quality? A randomized controlled trial. PEER Investigators. JAMA. Jul 15;280(3):240-2. Justice AC, Cho MK, Winker MA,
Berlin JA, Rennie D. (1998)
Peer-review
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The Editorial Decision after reviewThe Editorial Decision after review
Full review and decision takes about 1 month
Editors make a decision based on arguments; we don’t just count referee votesj
We try to avoid more than two rounds of review. Multiple rounds of review tend to exhaust referees, editors and ,
authors.
Appeals are considered, but the threshold is high.pp g
Decision Process
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RevisionsPeer review will help you make the paper better.
Add th j i ith b t ti l i iAddress the major issues with substantial revisions.
Write a good ‘response to reviewers’.g p
Remember that referees are busy.
Know when and how to argue.
Remember there is a next time, and there are other journals with different criteria.
Decision Process
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Other responsibilities…- Commission News and Views, Reviews, etc.
- Developmental editing.
Other responsibilities
University of Pennsylvania
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Other responsibilities…- Commission News and Views, Reviews, etc.
- Developmental editing.
- Write editorials and other misc. items.
Other responsibilities
University of Pennsylvania
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Other responsibilities…- Commission News and Views, Reviews, etc.
- Developmental editing.
- Write editorials and other misc. items.
W it l- Write press releases.
Other responsibilities
University of Pennsylvania
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Other responsibilities…- Commission News and Views, Reviews, etc.
- Developmental editing.
- Write editorials and other misc. items.
W it l- Write press releases.
- Special projects (supplements, focus issues, etc.)
Other responsibilities
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Focus issueCollection of Reviews,Perspectives etcPerspectives, etc.
Other responsibilities
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Other responsibilities…- Commission News and Views, Reviews, etc.
- Developmental editing.
- Write editorials and other misc. items.
W it l- Write press releases.
- Special projects (supplements, focus issues, etc.)
- Go to scientific conferences, visit scientists/institutions.
- Help organize meetings- Help organize meetings.
Other responsibilities
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Scientific editor as scientist
- Immersion in the forefront primary research.p y
- Critical scientific thinking.
- Networking with the scientific community.
- Exposure to broad number of topics- Exposure to broad number of topics
instead of being an inch wide and a mile deep, you are a mile wide d i h dand an inch deep….
About the editors
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Scientific editor as ex-scientist
Deadlines and schedules are short (i t t tifi ti- Deadlines and schedules are short (instant gratification, relatively speaking).
- Hours are generally shorter time pressure isHours are generally shorter, time pressure is greater
- Working in a “company environment” (but with the other- Working in a company environment (but with the other foot still immersed in academia…)
- Focus on clear communication of ideas to a wideFocus on clear communication of ideas to a wide audience.
About the editors
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How we select editorsHow we select editors- Strong research background (PhD; post-doc experience h l f l)helpful).
- Breadth of scientific interests.
- Manuscript test!
I i i i i- Interest in science communication.
- Writing ability (desirable but not essential).
- Good ambassador for journal.
Career in scientific publishing
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Types of positions at NPG
Positions are always advertised (e.g. naturejobs.com)
Editorial internship (6 m nths in NYC r L nd n ffic n r f sci nc )Editorial internship (6 months in NYC or London office, any area of science)
Manuscript editors (Nature and the Research Journals)
S i li d dit f N F t N & Vi ( l Specialized editors for News, Features, News & Views (currently at Nature, Nature Medicine, Nature Biotechnology)
Review Journal editors
Copy Editors (edit accepted manuscripts for style and language and make papers more accessible to a general audience. Do not require PhD, but do require some science background.)r qu r som sc nc ac groun .)
Career in scientific publishing
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Nature Publishing Group• Nature launched in 1869
• Privately owned (Macmillan is now owned by Holtzbrinck Group)Privately owned (Macmillan is now owned by Holtzbrinck Group)
• NPG titles: Nature, research monthlies (n=16), review journals (n=15) and online-only journals (n=2)journals (n 15), and online only journals (n 2).
• Publication logistics for society/academic journals and referencesreferences
• Relatively small from a publishing perspectiveFocus on prestige rather than volume;Focus on prestige rather than volume;
NPG makes up ~1% of literature; ~25% for Elsevier
About NPG
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What makes the NPG journals unique?What makes the NPG journals unique?
Hi hl l ti hi h i t• Highly selective, high impact
• Full time professional editorial staff
• No external editorial board or affiliations
• Editorially independent of each other• Editorially independent of each other
• Share general policies but not submissions;Manuscripts passed on to other NPG journals *only* at request of authorsManuscripts passed on to other NPG journals *only* at request of authors
About NPG
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Other possibilities for careers i i tifi bli hiin scientific publishing
- Other journals (Science, Cell Press, PLoS, etc)j ( , , , )
- Copy editing (journals, freelance.)
- Book editing & acquisitions
- Medical writer (Pharma companies, continuing medical education, etc.)
- Science journalism
Career in scientific publishing
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Edit ’ b t h iEditors’ subsequent career choicesRise within the company
Switch to company’s business arm
Take a job with another scientific journal
Freelance, science journalism, other media jobs
Work with funding agencies (government, or private charities)
Pharmaceutical industry
Science policy
Academic administration
Career in scientific publishing
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Finally,
we the editors at Nature Neuroscience arewe, the editors, at Nature Neuroscience are…..
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We ARE…
1 Editor-in-chief +5 senior/associate editors.
All have Ph.D.s(some with postdoctoral experience)p p
Handle wide varieties of topics(Some topics more than others, but stay generalized…)
Kalyani NarasimhanEditor
Hannah BayerSenior Editor g )
Kathleen DaveAssociate Editor
Min ChoAssociate Editor
Charvy NarainSenior Editor
About the editors
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My own career path…
B.S. in Neural Science from New York University
Research Associate at Univ. California, San Francisco(in cardiovascular and lipid/cholesterol research)(in cardiovascular and lipid/cholesterol research)
Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Neuroscience from Princeton University (Topic: molecular processes in mammalian learning and memory; advisor: Joe Z. Tsien)( p p g y )
Post-doc with my Ph.D. advisor at Boston University
Started at NPG as an assistant editor at NN in 2007.
Career in scientific publishing
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