Effective Publication Practices

A Publisher’s Perspective Effective Publication Practices

Chris GrafAssociate Editorial Director, Wiley-Blackwell

Publisher, International Journal of Clinical Practice

[email protected]

My brief … to discuss

• Coordinating all of the stakeholders to

ensure topical and timely high-quality

articles (herding cats)

– Publishers, authors, editors

• Publishing ethically (dodging bullets)

Understanding authors

• What Authors Want: The ALPSP research study on the motivations and concerns of contributors to learned journals

– 10,970 authors contacted

– 3218 responses (12.4% medical sciences)

– 38 publishers contributed author contacts

• Swan A, Brown S, ALPSP, London

Understanding authors

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Tell peers Career Personal prestige

Funding Financial reward

Authors' first choice Authors' second choice

Understanding authors

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Tell peers Career Personal prestige

Funding Financial reward

Authors' first choice Authors' second choice

Understanding authors

0

5

10

15

20

25

30

35

Tell peers Career Personal prestige

Funding Financial reward

Authors' first choice Authors' second choice

#1 #2#3

Prestige and priority

• NEJM ~3% of papers submitted

2007 IF 52 • Rank #1

• BMJ 6% of research papers submitted

2007 IF 9.7 • Rank #7

• BJU Int ~14% of papers submitted

2007 IF 2.8 • Rank #12

• Arth Rheum ~25% of papers submitted

2007 IF 7.7 • Rank #1

• Int J Clin Pract ~33% of papers submitted

2007 IF 1.6 • Rank #39

Andrew Robinson, presented at ISMPP, Philadelphia, April 2007

Understanding authors

0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

Audience Peer review

Impact Factor

Indexing Speed Whim

Authors' first choice Authors' second choice

#1 #2#3

• “no longer dominates choices”

• “internet permits anyone to find the author‟s work”

Psychiatry 2007, May

http://www.psychiatrymmc.com

Understanding editors

• Editors – with help from peer

reviewers – balance the interests

of authors with the interests of

readers …

• … and some other stuff

(another „X‟ factor)

My brief

• Coordinating all of the stakeholders to

ensure topical and timely high-quality

articles (herding cats)

• Right timing for you, authors?

• Right timing for editors („X‟ factor)?

– „Just in time‟ for readers?

– Fit with other articles?

– Part of a „buzz‟?

– Queue of papers waiting to be published?

– And on … ?

Timely … For whom?

My brief

• Herding cats

• Publishing ethically (dodging bullets)

So … at the least

• Funding (research, publication) – GPP2

• Disclosures (manage and disclose conflicts of interest) – GPP2

• Contributors (who did what?) – GPP2

• Tackle publication bias (company SOPs, reporting guidelines, registration/posting, no duplicate publication) – GPP2

• Research standards and ethics – ICH GCP, WMA Declaration of Helsinki

The „X‟ factor

„High priority‟

ClinicalScientific

„Low priority‟

[email protected]