CSIRO PUBLISHING

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CSIRO PUBLISHING

• Scientific Publishing in a Time of Rapid
  Development
• and how to get your work published in the best
  possible journals

Alison Green Senior Physical Sciences Editor  
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Talk Outline

• Part One
• Background
• Part Two
• Why Publish?
• What makes a good journal?
• What does an editor look for in a MS?
• Tips for authors
• Tips for referees
• Part Three
• Developments in Publishing
• Clustering of papers
• Preprint Servers
• Open Access
• Summary

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Background
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Current Role

• Senior Physical Sciences Editor
• CSIRO PUBLISHING, Melbourne
• 2001 present

• CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Owned by CSIRO (Commonwealth Scientific and
  Industrial Research Organisation)
• CP Financially and intellectually independent
  from CSIRO
• Not-for-profit publisher not for loss either!
• CSIRO PUBLISHING
• Publishes 20 scientific journals
• 30 book titles per year
• Further 50 titles co-published in partnership
  with other publishers

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Developments at Aust J Chem

• New subtitle, cover, table of contents
• New articles
• Short Reviews
• Current Chemistry
• Focus articles
• Research Fronts (see later)
• Online content back to 1948
• XML since 2004
• Deep indexing by Google
• CrossRef

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Expanding the scope by topic and geography

• Broader scope includes green chem, ionic
  liquids, polymers, colloids, biological organic
  and inorganic chemistry, crystal engineering, med
  chem, drug design, etc
• Actively seeking papers in these areas
• More international authors (60 non Australian)
• Dynamic, involved Editorial Advisory Committee
• Positive effects In 2004 the Impact Factor
  doubled and the citation ranking of the journal
  rose to 37 out of 123
• IF now 1.5
• Outlook for 2006 is 1.9

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Environmental Chemistry

• In development since 2002
• Environmental chemistry (atmospheric, marine,
  trace metal biogeochem, organic pollutants, etc)
  didnt have an integrated, dedicated journal
• International advisory board offer support,
  advice, advocacy

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International Advisory Board

• Greg Ayers, AUS
• Graeme Batley, AUS
• Peter Brimblecombe, UK
• Peter Campbell, CANADA
• Greg Carmichael, USA
• Terry Collins, USA
• Bill Davison, UK
• Olivier Donard, FRANCE
• Joerg Feldmann, UK
• Kevin Francesconi, AUSTRIA
• Ole Hertel, DENMARK

• Keith Hunter, NZ
• Mike McLaughlin, AUS
• Bill Maher, AUS
• Mario Molina, USA
• Simon Petrie, AUS
• F. Sherwood Rowland, USA
• Shinsuke Tanabe, JAPAN
• Shizuo Tsunogai, JAPAN
• Kevin Wilkinson, CANADA
• Jonathan Williams, GERMANY
• Paul Worsfold, UK

Advice, support, advocacy
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Environmental Chemistry

• Addresses chemical processes of the environment
  (solid earth, hydrosphere, atmosphere, biosphere)
  
• Aims to facilitate links between diverse aspects
  of environment
• Encourage papers that take a multidisciplinary
  approach, and attempt to view the environment as
  an integrated earth system, rather than separate
  reservoirs
• Started July 2004 (three issues)
• 2005 four issues
• 2006 six issues

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Environmental Chemistry

• Truly international Australia 10 of authors
  and referees
• Articles address fundamental chemistry but
  contain introductions (the Environmental Context)
  for non specialists
• Mix of Research Papers, Reviews, Highlights,
  Opinion Pieces
• Now listed on ISI. Calculated 2006 IF 2
• No publication charges
• Fast turnaround times
• RAPID COMMS can be published in 6 8 weeks.
• Average 3 5 months submission to publication

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• How to get published in the best possible journals

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Why Publish?

• Disseminate information
• Moral obligation to share findings
• Publications are the fertilizer that stimulates
  ideas in other scientists Phil Clapham,
  BioScience 2005, 5, 390
• Interesting and unpublished is equivalent to
  non- existent George Whitesides, Adv Mater
  2004, 15, 1375
• Forces you to think deeply about your own work
• Peer review adds value
• Credibility - quality control of science
• Registration of ownership of discovery
• Archive scientific legacy
• Career advancement most important way to show
  your research achievements

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What makes a good journal?

• Peter Goelitz, Editor, Angewandte Chemie
• There are three things you need to make a good
  journal quality, quality and quality
• Quality relevant, current, significant, novel,
  interesting, etc

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What makes a good journal (2)?
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What do publishers and editors look for in a
manuscript?

• Quality science significance, originality
• Quality presentation clear, well thought out
  arguments
• Consistent with scope
• Broad interest to readership

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Tips for writing - general

• Planning
• What do you want to tell people? What is the main
  message?
• Notes, ideas, questions Why did I do it? What
  does it mean?
• (these questions are not easy, but it is
  important to answer them before you start
  writing)
• Outline, discuss, revise
• Start early writing an outline will help
  guide the research. George Whitesides, Adv
  Mater 2004, 15, 1375
• Try to write a story to engage the reader
• Selecting a journal
• Who do you want to reach? Your direct peers?
  Others?
• Read a few papers in the target journal
• Which papers are good? Why?

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Tips for writing parts of a paper

• Title
• Brief, interesting and accurate
• Abstract
• Attract readers to your paper
• What is the main message? Why, how and what?
• Include important keywords for searching
• Should be self contained (therefore avoid
  acronyms and references)
• Strong introduction
• What does the reader need to know to understand
  the significance of the results? Context,
  background, state of the art
• Summarize clearly and simply (or allude to) the
  scientific advance and its significance
• Engage reader

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Tips for writing parts of a paper (2)

• Results discussion
• Explain results, support claims
• What does the reader need to know to understand
  the results and believe the claims? Leave out
  anything that does not answer this question
• The reader is more interested in what your great
  results are, rather than how you arrived at them
• Conclusion
• What can you conclude? Be brief
• Explain how the work advances the field
• Can pose a question for future work
• Speculate if appropriate (you are the expert)
  its rarely the end of the story

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Tips for writing parts of a paper (3)

• Experimental
• Concise, unambiguous, easy to understand
• Should allow others to
• repeat the work
• and to see if and where their results differ
• Use clear and simple language that drives your
  story forward (Schoenfeld)

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Before you submit

• Proof read
• Ask your peers to read it to get an alternative
  perspective
• Ask someone outside your field to read it
• Take the time to revise, rewrite, clarify your
  referees may be your most important readers
• Read the Notice to Authors
• Follow format and submission instructions
• Write a letter to the editor
• Should clearly explain (without overstating) the
  scientific advance in general, jargon-free
  language (should be much less technical than
  abstract or intro)
• Assume that the editor is not an expert in your
  field
• Remember you have three distinct audiences
• editor, referees, readers

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The refereeing process

• Referees Crucial to Quality Control
• Referee selection is most important part of my
  job
• Tips for referees
• Comments about the significance are helpful for
  editor (but on their own are not very helpful for
  the author)
• Specific criticisms are especially helpful for
  the authors when accompanied by clear and
  constructive suggestions for improvement
• Aggressive, insulting or personal comments are
  rarely justified and can damage the referees
  credibility

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A recent controversial example from Environmental
Chemistry
Referee 1 (emotive, dogmatic?) These authors
contemptuously downgrade a decade of published
experimental work. The paper does confirm that
blindly following theory leads to flat-earth
vision. Referee 2 (objective language, allows
for possibility that the reviewer and the
accepted paradigm may be wrong) This paper
challenges the broadly accepted paradigm in a
crucial way. Here, I raise several objections
that are key to resolving this crisis. The
paper and comments were published as a Research
Forum in Environmental Chemistry
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Dealing with referees comments

• If you receive strong criticisms, wait until
  youve calmed down before responding
• Even comments that seem aggressive or ignorant
  can be helpful chance to improve the impact of
  the paper
• Once the MS has been revised
• Write a letter to the editor
• Thank the referees for their advice
• Address each comment individually and indicate
  the changes made to the MS
• Questions?

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• Developments in scientific publishing

Internet technologies - HTML, Ref linking, email
correspondence Challenges for existing
journals New innovative models of publishing
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Developments in Scientific Publishing

• HTML
• CrossRef allow fast searching, fast access,
  fast communication
• Email information that is published online can
  be linked, manipulated, imported and therefore
  used in a broad variety of ways which are
  distinctly different from print

Web features
Readers access to vast amounts of information
social networks, peer review and
authoritative opinion are becoming more
important Research Fronts
Editorial features
New publishing models
New business models
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Latest Developments RESEARCH FRONTS

• The Research Front
• Cluster of papers in rapidly developing or
  topical area Includes Opinion Essay, Critical
  Review, two or three Rapid Communications
• Research Front acts as a Forum, enables readers
  to get an appreciation for the topic and its
  pressing issues
• Gives authors opportunity to publish alongside
  peers /or competitors
• Aust J Chem Research Fronts
• Ionic Liquids The Neglected Issues (issue 3,
  2005)
• Light-Driven Molecular Machines (issue 3, 2006)
• Enzyme Electrochemistry (issue 4, 2006)
• Single Crystal Single Crystal Transformations
  (issue 9, 2006)
• Environmental Chemistry Research Fronts
• Arsenic Biogeochemistry (issue 3, 2005)
• Iodine and Marine Aerosols (issue 4, 2005)
• Extremophiles (issue 2, 2006)
• Environmental Nanoparticles (issue 3, 2006)
• Cadmium Bioavailability and Biosorption (issue
  6, 2006)

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Developments in Scientific Publishing

• HTML
• CrossRef allow fast searching, fast access,
  fast communication
• Email information that is published online can
  be linked, manipulated, imported and therefore
  used in a broad variety of ways which are
  distinctly different from print

Web features
Readers access to vast amounts of information
social networks, peer review and
authoritative opinion are becoming more
important Research Fronts
Editorial features

• Pre-print servers freely available non peer
  reviewed papers
• Open format journals Atmospheric Chemistry and
  Physics

New publishing models
New business models
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Developments in Publishing - Open Format

• European Geosciences Union
• Atmospheric Chemistry and Physics - since 2001
• submitted papers (non peer reviewed) free online
• all referee and author correspondence free
  online
• final accepted papers free online
• authors pay ca 800 Euro per paper
• Current success is this sustainable?

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Developments in Scientific Publishing

• HTML
• CrossRef allow fast searching, fast access,
  fast communication
• Email information that is published online can
  be linked, manipulated, imported and therefore
  used in a broad variety of ways which are
  distinctly different from print

Web features
Readers access to vast amounts of information
social networks, peer review and
authoritative opinion are becoming more
important Research Fronts
Editorial features

• Pre-print servers freely available non peer
  reviewed papers
• Open format journals Atmospheric Chemistry and
  Physics

New publishing models

• Post-print repositories

New business models
Open Access

• OA (authors pay) journals

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Serials Crisis

• As the number of researchers has increased, the
  number of journals has increased, and the prices
  of journals have increased.
• This is truly the decade of the journal, and one
  should seek to limit their number rather than
  increase them since there can also be too many
  periodicals
• published 1789
• review in Neues med. Wochb. f. Aertzte

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Peer-Reviewed Journal Growth 1665-2001
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Relationship of Journals Researcher Growth
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The Open Access Debate

• Open Access - scientific publications that are
  freely available and usable by anyone
• New business model possible because of internet
• Two major models
• OA self-archiving
• Institutional repositories of published papers
• OA Journals
• PLOS Biology started 2003
• The quality of journals will be constantly tested
  as temptation to increase revenue by lowering the
  peer review bar will be great
• Funding
• Publishing incurs costs
• Authors will pay PloS charges US2500 per
  article
• Major implications for institutions, libraries
  and funding bodies
• Repositories will be costly to set up and maintain

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To Conclude

• Publishing is an important part of the scientific
  process
• To become an author in the best journals, keep
  the referees, readers and publishers in mind
• Internet Technologies have led to exciting
  developments on the face of scientific
  publishing speed, availability, innovation in
  publishing
• Most are very positive, but Open Access should be
  approached with caution

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Thank You
CSIRO PUBLISHING Phone [phone] 9662
7632 Email alison.green_at_csiro.au Web www.publish.c
siro.au