Enhance Your Success As a Published Author

Enhance Your Success as a Published Author

Jane Carver Jan 23, 2014

Why Write?

. Educational requirement . Advance your institution . Educate others . Increase competitiveness for funding . Gain recognition . Achieve promotion

Why Write?

“I would urge you to write not because it is a good thing, not because it is nice to see your name in print, but rather because you will really get to know a field only if you contribute to it.”

Mahoney MJ, Psychology of the Scientist, 1979 What to Write

. Original research . Case report . Letter to editor . Commentary . Reflective writing . Editorial . Review article . Book chapter . Book or chapter review

Always Be Writing

. Always have a “work in progress” on your desk – New projects – Revisions . Keep up with the literature . Save examples of good writing – Organization, layout – Tables and graphs – Statistics . Use templates of previous manuscripts – Don’t self-plagiarize!

JPMed.2013.0302-Decision Rejection without Peer Review Dear Dr. X:

Thank you again for submitting your manuscript entitled "X" to Journal of Perinatal Medicine (JPMED).

I have carefully read your article and we checked the similarity index. The automatic plagiarism check of your article discovered that the overall similarity index percentage is high. I therefore decided not to initiate the peer review process.

I regret that I cannot accept your manuscript for publication in JPMED. This decision must be regarded as final.

Thank you for considering JPMED for publication of your research. I hope the outcome of this specific submission will not discourage you from submission of future manuscripts.

Kind regards

Dr. Joachim W. Dudenhausen FRCOG Professor of Obstetrics Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Perinatal Medicine . Set aside protected time each week . Identify most productive time . Create a suitable environment . Develop a publication plan before you start – Timetables and deadlines – Authorship Authorship

Wren et al., EMBO reports, 8:988, 2007 Authorship

. Number, order and responsibilities of each author should be agreed upon before starting your project

– Part of your publication plan . Include author list on first page of first draft Author Order

. Levels of participation First author (primary)

Last author (senior or supervisory)

Second author (contributing)

Baerlocher et al., J Invest Med 2007

ICMJE: Authorship 1. Substantial contributions to conception, design, or acquisition of data, or analysis and interpretation of data, AND 2. Drafting or critically revising article for important intellectual content, AND 3. Final approval of version to be published, AND 4. Agreement to be accountable for all aspects of the work in ensuring that questions related to the accuracy or integrity of any part of the work are appropriately investigated and resolved

ICMJE: Authorship

. Not justified: acquisition of funding, data collection, general supervision . All designated should qualify and all who qualify should be listed . Should have participated enough to take public responsibility for appropriate portions . Large, multi-center groups guarantors

Authorship Abuses

. Promiscuous authorship – Coercion – Honorary, guest or gift . Ghost authorship . Denial

Strange K. Am J Physiol Cell Physiol 295:C567, 2008

Acknowledgements

• Contributors who don’t meet authorship criteria Technical help, writing assistance, department chair • Financial or material support • “Participating investigators”, “scientific advisors,” “provided and cared for study patients”

Obtain written permission

Authorship

. Keep your authorship name consistent . Use middle initial – Pubmed hits w/ and w/o middle initial: • carver j 376 • carver jd 36 . Avoid hyphenated or other surname format

Use Standardized Formats and Published Guidelines

. IMRaD: Introduction, Methods, Results and Discussion . CONSORT, Equator, MIBBI, GPP2 guidelines

Common Reasons for Acceptance

. Importance or timeliness of the problem studied . Well-designed study . Well-written

Common Reasons for Rejection

. Poorly written . Poor experimental design . No clear hypothesis/objective . Statistics – Sample size too small or biased Sample size calculations! – Inappropriate or incomplete statistics

Consult a statistician before you start your study!!

“To consult the statistician after an experiment is finished is often merely to ask him to conduct a post mortem examination. He can perhaps say what the experiment died of.” Sir Ronald Fisher, 1890-1962 Common Reasons for Rejection

. Incomplete or outdated literature review . Insufficient data presented to support conclusions . Not appropriate for chosen journal Choose the Right Journal – and Choose it Before You Write

. Who is the target audience – Clinicians, investigators, both? – Specialists or generalists? . How do I intend to reach them? – Electronic, print media or both? – Pay-per-view or open-access? . Institutional considerations – Non-indexed journal promotion?

Choose the Right Journal

. How soon do I want/need it to be published? . Submission/Publication costs? – Submission, page charges, color figures, supplemental data, public access fee . Supplemental data? . Negative data of specialized interest? – www.mpip-initiative.org Choose the Right Journal

. Review bibliography/directories to find journals that have published similar papers – PubMed, Directory of Open Access Journals

. Review Instructions to Authors – Length restrictions, types of articles typically published

Consider Journal Impact Factor

Example: 2011, Pediatrics

Total # citations to everything published in Pediatrics 2009 + 2010 divided by

Total # articles published in Pediatrics 2009 + 2010

2011 Impact Factors All Journals

RANK JOURNAL IMPACT # FACTOR ARTICLES 1 CA-Cancer J Clin 102 19 2 New Engl J Med 53 349 3 Annu Rev Immunol 53 23 4 Rev Mod Phys 44 38 5 Chem Rev 40 196 2011 Impact Factors Pediatrics

RANK JOURNAL IMPACT # FACTOR ARTICLES 1 J Am Acad Child Psy 6.4 99 2 Pediatrics 5.4 698 3 Arch Pediat Adol Med 4.1 144 4 J Pediatr 4.1 319 5 Dev Disabil Res Rev 4.0 Finding Journal Evaluation Measures Shimberg Library

. All eResources –Web of Knowledge –Journal Citation Reports (header) Getting started

. Make sure your objective is clear . Summarize the message – Single overriding communication objective – Make sure your co-authors agree! – Describe it outloud – Version control • Keep copies of all versions Blank Page Panic

. Suggested order: – Methods – Results – Discussion – Introduction Keep Focused on the Message

. Clearly define the research question or hypothesis . What is your response to the research question? . How does your response compare with that of others? . What are the implications? – New paradigm, clinical approach The Manuscript Draft

. It’s OK if it’s too long and not polished . Review data for errors . Put it aside revise . Have co-authors, colleagues/friends review – English second language? . Review instructions to authors . Spell check – Use the “add to dictionary” feature

Beware the Spellcheck!

To rite with care is quite a feet Of witch won should bee proud And wee mussed dew the best wee can Sew flaw’s are knot aloud

AMWA Journal, 23:88, 2008 The Manuscript Draft

. Review references – Up to 30% misquoted – Use a referencing program – Use references from journal submitting to – Don’t leave out references from potential reviewers

Revise and Revise Again

. “The important thing is not writing, but rewriting.” Lester King, JAMA editor

Pre-Submission Inquiry . Streamlines the submission/review process . Suitable for the journal? . Suggest a more suitable journal? . Useful for : – Time-sensitive study – Unusual circumstances . Cultivates close working relationship with editor – PLOS Medicine: “It is essential that authors submit a presubmission inquiry before submitting a full paper. Presubmission inquiries allow authors to quickly find out whether their paper is likely to be broadly suitable for PLOS Medicine”.

The Cover Letter – Sell the Product!

. What is the purpose of the study? . Why is it important? . How does it relate to existing literature? . Mention any prior communications

Peer Review Write with peer review in mind

Instructions to Reviewers Pediatrics

. Is this manuscript important or trivial? . Is it redundant or new? . Is it relevant to clinicians, or only to those involved in research? . Is it of interest to a limited number of sub- specialists? . Have you reviewed the statistics? Peer Review

1. Accept with no revisions (rare!) 2. Accept with minor modifications 3. Accept only after major revision and further review 4. Reject 5. Suitable for another journal Accept/Reconsider with Revisions Accept/Reconsider with Revisions

. Carefully consider each of the reviewer comments with your co-authors . Decide which revisions should be made . Justify – politely – why you reject suggestions

Reject

. Appeal? . Carefully consider each of the reviewer comments with your co-authors . Decide which revisions should be made

You may get the same reviewer(s) next time, and they don’t appreciate having their suggestions ignored!

Unqualified Rejection

. Reformat and submit to another journal the next day – Use a referencing program Revise and Re-submit

“Manuscripts are unlikely to get much better sitting on one’s desk.”

El-Serag, HB, 2006 After your paper is accepted Technical Editing There are no perfect manuscripts . Instructions to authors not followed . Referencing errors . Language use errors . “House style” – Statistics – Repetition of data – British vs American

The Proofs

. The author is responsible for ensuring that the final edited copy is correct Clinical Trials Must Be Registered

. ICMJE member journal will only publish results of clinical trials that have been registered Clinical Trial Registration

. Goals: – Prevent selective reporting of data – Ensure that everyone can find key information about ALL trials that shape medical decision-making decisions about changes in are must be based on ALL the evidence Obligation to Register Clinical Trials

. Definition: any research project that prospectively assigns human subjects to intervention or comparison groups to study the cause-and-effect relationship between a medical intervention and a health outcome . Includes: drugs, surgical procedures devices, behavioral treatments, process-of care changes, etc.

Clinical Trial Registration

. Must be registered before enrollment of first patient . Applies to trials that started recruiting July 1, 2005 . Accessible to public at no charge . Open to all and managed by not-for- profit organization

Clinical Trial Registration

. Minimum Data Elements include: – Title – Funding sources – Contact people – Condition studied – Intervention – Inclusion/exclusion criteria – Study type – Sample size – Outcomes

Common Problems in Medical Writing

Complex Language

“Academics seldom use one word when they can use three.” “They seldom use a short word if they can find a nice long one.”

Robert Day, The Scientist, January 20, 1997 Empty Phrases

A majority of Most At this point in time Now Despite the fact that Although In the event that If During the course of During Has the capability of Can As well as And Empty Phrases

As a consequence of Due to the fact that On account of Because Owing to the fact that In view of the fact that Redundant Phrases

• It was interesting that….. • ….has been shown to….. • It is well known that…… • It has been reported that….. • Indeed….

Misplaced Modifiers

. Only medication can ease the pain . Medication can only ease the pain . Medication can ease only the pain Punctuation Punctuation

. Woman without her man is nothing.

. Woman; without her, man is nothing.

. Let’s eat, Grandpa.

. Let’s eat Grandpa.

Punctuation “There is not much to say about the period, except that most writers don’t reach it soon enough.” Unclear Pronouns

. Children are born with billions of neurons in their brains, but in order for them to be connected properly they need to be touched and talked to extensively by their parents. . Laboratory animals are not susceptible to these diseases, so research on them is hampered.

The Goal: Clear and Concise!

I did not have time to write you a short letter, so I wrote you a long one instead.

Pascal

. Data regarding patient weight gain was recorded during the course of the study.

. Patient weight gain was recorded during the study.

. A measurement of blood flow velocity was made on day 5.

. Blood flow velocity was measured on day 5.

. Feeding intolerance is a commonly encountered problem in preterm infants.

. Feeding intolerance is common in preterm infants.

. All data included in the study were de- identified before they were analyzed.

. All data were de-identified prior to analysis.

. Located in Tampa, Florida covering 2.4 million people in the metro region and located in the fourth most populous state, USF serves a diverse patient population employed in university research, international trade, the space industry, agriculture, construction, health technology and software, and is fast ascending in the ranks of the premier public research universities in the United States.

Resources

On-line version available at Shimberg Library

American British On-Line Resources

. Shimberg Library – Hardin Medical Directory . Stedmansonline.com/reference . Bartleby.com – Roget’s Thesauri – Strunk’s Elements of Style – Gray’s Anatomy

On-Line Resources

. Citing Medicine: The NLM Style Guide for Authors, Editors and Publishers (2007) . http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK725 6/ – Published – Unpublished – Audio visual media – CD-ROM, DVDs – Internet Materials – Other Guidelines for specific types of studies

CONSORT (Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials)

. www.consort-statement.org . Evidence-based, minimum set of recommendations for reporting RCTs . 22 item checklist

www.equator-network.org Equator Network: Reporting Guidelines

. CONSORT . Health Economic . Observational Studies Evaluation in Epidemiology . Clinical Case . Systematic Review Reporting . Meta-Analyses . Statistical Reporting . Diagnostic Accuracy . Qualitative Research . Quality Improvement www.equator-network.org Minimum Information for Biological and Biomedical Investigations (MIBBI) http://mibbi.sourceforge.net

. Cellular assays . Microarray experiments . Protein affinity reagent . Proteomics experiment . T cell assays . Flow cytometry experiment . fMRI study . FISH . Marker gene sequence

Good Publication Practice: GPP2 Guidelines

http://www.ismpp.org/assets/docs/Initiatives/GPP2/gpp_2_2009.pdf

Pediatrics Faculty Development

. Writing assistance . Editing services . Seminars and workshops Writing is easy. You just sit down at the typewriter, open up a vein and bleed it out drop by drop.

“Red” Smith GOOD LUCK WITH YOUR WRITING!