How to publish your paper in AJP- Lung: “The best place to publish basic, translational and hypothesis driven clinical research” Sadis Matalon, PhD, DrSc (Hon) Distinguished Professor Alice McNeal Endowed Chair Vice Chair & Director, Division of Molecular and Translational Biomedicine Department of Anesthesiology and Perioperative Medicine Director, Pulmonary Injury and Repair Center The University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham Alabama
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How to publish your paper in AJP-Lung: “The best place to publish basic,
translational and hypothesis driven clinical research”
Sadis Matalon, PhD, DrSc (Hon)Distinguished ProfessorAlice McNeal Endowed ChairVice Chair & Director, Division of Molecular and Translational BiomedicineDepartment of Anesthesiology and Perioperative MedicineDirector, Pulmonary Injury and Repair CenterThe University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham Alabama
Why is publication so important?• No publication, no project
– Your results must be available for others, or it is as if they don’t exist
• No publication, no promotion– Yardstick of productivity
• No publication, no funding– What have you done for me lately?
• No publication, no job!
Publishing your work is vital for success
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
Authorship
• Decide on authors, and their order, as early as possible– Preferably before even starting the project– Reassess often: authors and order may need to change as
projects develop. DONOT CHANGE THE ORDER AFTER IT IS SUBMITTED.
• Authors should include only those who have made a substantive intellectual contribution to the project reported, and can defend the data and conclusions publicly
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
Criteria for Authorship
• Generate at least part of the intellectual content– Conception or design of the work– Data analysis and interpretation
• Draft, critically review, or revise the intellectual content
• Approve the final version to be submitted
All three criteria should be satisfied
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
Essential Elements of a Manuscript• Concise summary of rationale, results and how the results
advance the field (usually 200-250 words) - Abstract• Based on what was known and unknown, why did you do the
study?– Introduction
• How did you do the study?– Methods (some journals ask you to list methods in a
supplement)• What did you find?
– Results• What does it mean in the context of the existing body of
knowledge?– Discussion
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
Choosing the Right Journal
• The IMPACT FACTOR: Most authors submit their manuscripts to journals with a high impact factor, even though they know that there is little chance that it will be accepted.
• Import and significance of the findings– Seek input from colleagues. Is it possible for this article to
be considered by a high impact journal (Science, Cell, Nature, JCI etc.?)
• If not, choose your target audience– “Is it lung related?”
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
• AJP-Lung is the official pulmonary journal of the American Physiological Society
• Review all submitted articles and provide authoritative, helpful and timely review which improve the quality of each paper
• Recognize high quality articles by junior authors by offering a number of awards
• Outstanding Associate Editors who summarize what needs to be done to address reviewers concerns
• No supplements are necessary form methods and no limits to the number of figures; no charge for color figures to APS members
Why should I submit my paperto AJP-Lung?
2010 2011 2012 2013
ARRCCM* 9.09 11.08 11.04 11.986
THORAX* 6.525 6.84 8.376 8.562
ERJ* 5.922 5.895 6.355 7.125
AJRCMB 4.426 5.125 4.148 4.109
AJP-Lung 4.137 3.662 3.523 4.041Resp. Res 3.127 3.336 3.642 3.38
Our Impact Factor is 4.041
Impact Factors of Journals Publishing Lung Research
* Publish mainly clinical articles (basic science article should contain data on human subjects)
• AJP Lung is dedicated to publishing high-quality original and review articles on all aspects of lung physiology, biochemistry and cell biology, as well as, results of hypothesis driven clinical trials
Editorial Philosophy and Policy
Types of Articles Considered for Publication
Rapid Reports Research Articles
Perspectives Innovative Methodology
Editorial Focus Letters to the Editor
Review Articles (including history of pulmonary physiology)
We encourage the submission of unsolicited Review articles and Perspectives
The Editorial Team
Editor-in-ChiefSadis Matalon, PhD, ScDr (Hon)
Deputy EditorY. S. Prakash, MD, PhD
Associate EditorsJames F. Collawn, PhD Lester Kobzik, MDWolfgang M. Kuebler, MDBethany Moore, PhDDolly Mehta, PhDRory E. Morty, PhDRakesh P. Patel, MDIrina Petrache, MD Larissa Akimi Shimoda, PhD Kurt R. Stenmark, PhD
Editorial AssistantAmy McEver
• Major accomplishments and future challengeso Matalon S. A critical review of the American
Journal of Physiology-Lung Cellular and Molecular Physiology: 2012-1015. Am J Physiol Lung Cell Mol Physiol 2014;307(12):L911-6. Epub 2014 Nov 7doi: 10.1152/ajplung.00330.2014. PMID: 25381028
Major Accomplishments2012-2015
• Manuscript submitted to APSo Ms. Trang checks for adherence to APS guidelineso Returned to the authors for corrections or sent to Dr.
Matalon (< 2 days)• Assigned to Associate Editor (AE) with the most
expertise in the area (< 1 day)• The AE choses two reviewers (< 4 days)• Average time to decision = 19 days
Note: we encourage authors to recommend impartial reviewers with significant expertise in the field
The Editorial Process
• 50% acceptance rateo Associate Editors write a concise summary with
reasons for decision and clear instructions for revisionso 95% of accepted manuscripts require revisions
• Rejected manuscripts with sound methodology and results, may be recommended for consideration by Physiological Reports (no additional submission fee or reformatting required).
Acceptance/Rejection
Responding to Reviewers
• Complete additional experiments if needed• Address all comments in a point-by-point fashion
– Resist the temptation to prepare an impassioned response to points with which you disagree
– Stand firm (diplomatically) if that is truly the right thing to do
• Sincerely thank the editor and reviewers for helping you to improve your work– They have invested a lot of time, mostly on a voluntary
basis• Ask a neutral colleague to review your response
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
• R1 manuscripts are assigned to the same AE and the same reviewers. Average time to reach a decision=15 days.
• Accepted research articles are scrutinized by the APS for image manipulation; review articles are screened for textual similarities with published ones.
• If no problems are identified, articles are published online within five business days; otherwise the Ethics Manager (Dr. Christina Bennett) sends an email to the corresponding author asking them to fix provide additional information).
Submission of a Revised Manuscripts
Ethical Concerns
• The review of any article may be stopped at any time because of ethical concerns raised by the reviewers or the Associate Editor.
In this case, the article referred to Dr. Bennett and the Ethics Committee (headed by the Vice Chair of the APS Publications Committee). The Committee seeks additional information from the authors to clarify the issue.
• The Committee may decide that there is no infraction (in which case the paper will be returned to the review process with no prejudice) or there is an ethics violation. The paper may be rejected on ethical grounds.
Ethical issues in Biomedical Publishing
• Ethical misconduct is increasing among submissions to biomedical journals, including (until recently) those of APS
• While most scientists are entirely ethical, a significant proportion will admit to occasional questionable practices if surveyed anonymously (Martinson et al. Nature 435: 737-738, 2005)
• Several risk factors for violation of ethical policies– Inexperience/lack of mentoring on appropriate standards– Multiple authors– Availability of software tools for figure manipulation– Increased competition for positions and funding
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
Common Ethical Issues (in order of prevalence at APS)
• Inappropriate but non-fraudulent figure manipulation• Duplication of data• Duplicate publication• Animal welfare concerns• Data fabrication/falsification
– Increasingly, includes inappropriate manipulation of figures• Plagiarism• Human welfare concerns• Authorship disputes• Conflicts of interest• Others (e.g., reviewer bias, submission irregularities)
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
Plagiarism
• Definition– Taking the work of another– Copying a figure, table, or even wording from a
published or unpublished paper without attribution
– Self-Plagiarism: copying an extensive amount of text from one of your previous manuscripts
• How to avoid– Provide citation to the work of others– Obtain copyright permission if needed– Do not copy exact wording from another source,
even if referenced, unless in quotes
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
1. How does an Associate Editor chose reviewers?• Reviewers chosen based on published expertise in the area of research• Usually from members of the editorial board or experts in the area.
Authors recommendations are always taken into consideration.
2. What are the major criteria for determining the fate of my paper?
Questions about the Editorial Process
Reviewers are asked to rate each paper using the criteria shown
Novelty of findings and potential impact on the field are the two most important determinants for potential acceptance
Papers with an overall rating Lower than 50% are either rejected or referred to Physiological Reports
3. My paper was rejected; however, I feel that I can address the comments of reviewers.The reviewers felt that the paper was technically sound but the approach lacks originality and the conclusions do not advance the field. Please pay attention to the summary provided by the Associate Editor.
4. I am interested in reviewing papers for AJP-Lung and eventually joining the Editorial Board. How do I do this?Ask a member of the editorial board to recommend you when they are unable to review a paper. If you are invited to review, accept the invitation and provide an informative and helpful review on time. Do not make inflammatory comments in your review and do not ask the authors to quote your papers.
Publish papers in AJP-Lung as a first or senior author. Members of the Editorial Board are expected to publish at least one paper per year in AJP-Lung
Send suggestions to the Editor on how to improve the quality and impact of AJP-Lung to the lung community.
Questions Cont’d
5. I am interested in reviewing papers for AJP-Lung and eventually joining the Editorial Board. How do I do this?
Promote the journal by encouraging your students and colleagues to publish in AJP-Lung. This will come to the attention of the Editor
Ask a senior colleague to read your review prior to submitting it. Remember, your goal is to help the authors improve the quality of their manuscript
Hold yourself to the highest ethical standards in the conduct of research.
6. I am interested in meeting the Editor and Associate Editors and discussing my research with them.The Editor and AEs are active scientists who participate in various national and international meetings. Please approach them and introduce yourself. You can also ask any of them to visit your poster or hear your talk. Send them your ideas of how you can contribute to improving the quality of AJP-Lung.
Questions Cont’d
7. Assuming that I do a good job reviewing and publishing papers, what are my chances of being appointed to the Editorial Board of AJP-Lung?The Associate Editors choose the members of the Editorial Board based on their dependability and visibility. In other words, there is an excellent chance that you will be appointed to the Editorial Board. This is the first step of becoming an Editor!
Questions Cont’d
Physiological Reportswww.physiologicalreports.org
• Open access journal launched March 2013• Partnership with The Physiological Society (UK)
– Published on behalf of the Societies by Wiley Blackwell• Author pays model – “Gold OA”• Two ways to submit
– De novo submission– Cascade from current research journals (Am J Physiol, J Appl Physiol, Physiol
Genomics, J. Neurophysiol; J Physiol; J Exp Physiol)• Papers are accepted solely on the basis of scientific rigor,
adherence to technical and ethical standards, and evidence that the study is sufficiently well-conceived and the data support the conclusions.
• Editors-in Chief– Susan Wray (Phys Soc)– Tom Kleyman (APS)
• Submit at: http://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/physiologicalreports Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
Scenario 1• A PI asks a graduate student working in her group to
assist in the peer-review of a manuscript from a competing group of investigators. The manuscript contains details of a method that would greatly accelerate the student’s progress towards completion of his thesis.– Is the PI’s action acceptable? What are the obligations of
the PI in this scenario?– What are the obligations of the student?– Can the student adopt the new method for his own work?
If so, when?
Adapted from a scenario authored by Dale Benos, UAB
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
Scenario 2• You are completing a post-doctoral fellowship and
submit your last paper with your PI as senior author and two graduate students as co-authors. After you have left the lab, the paper is returned with a request for additional experiments. Your former PI asks another post-doc to complete these, and adds her name to the paper as middle author. You object to this addition and refuse to sign the change of authorship form.– Is your decision the right one?– Who else has rights that must be respected in this
scenario?– How might the PI have handled the situation differently?
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
Integrating the Life Sciences from Molecule to Organism
The American Physiological Society
Some slides were taken from“Publishing 101:
How to Get Your Work Published and Avoid Ethical Minefields” Presented at the EB 2015 meeting