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What Editors Want: An Author's Guide to Scientific Journal Publishing

by Philippa J. Benson and Susan C. Silver

University of Chicago Press, 2012
Cloth: 978-0-226-04313-5 | eISBN: 978-0-226-04315-9 | Paper: 978-0-226-04314-2
Library of Congress Classification Z286.S37B467 2013
Dewey Decimal Classification 070.5

ABOUT THIS BOOK | AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY | REVIEWS | TOC | REQUEST ACCESSIBLE FILE

ABOUT THIS BOOK

Research publications have always been key to building a successful career in science, yet little if any formal guidance is offered to young scientists on how to get research papers peer reviewed, accepted, and published by leading scientific journals. With What Editors Want, Philippa J. Benson and Susan C. Silver, two well-respected editors from the science publishing community, remedy that situation with a clear, straightforward guide that will be of use to all scientists.

Benson and Silver instruct readers on how to identify the journals that are most likely to publish a given paper, how to write an effective cover letter, how to avoid common pitfalls of the submission process, and how to effectively navigate the all-important peer review process, including dealing with revisions and rejection. With supplemental advice from more than a dozen experts, this book will equip scientists with the knowledge they need to usher their papers through publication.

AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY

Philippa J. Benson has taught science writing and technical communication at Carnegie Mellon University, Georgetown, the United Nations, and the National Institutes of Health, and has launched scientific publications for two conservation organizations. Susan C. Silver is editor-in-chief of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, published by the Ecological Society of America. Previously, she held editorial positions at Academic Press and the British Dental Association and was editor of Biologist and the Lancet Oncology.

REVIEWS

“With this book, Benson and Silver have provided a guide to the art of preparing and submitting scientific manuscripts, with particular focus on the editor’s likely requirements. But they have done much more than that: they have placed their manual in the wider context of the need for science to be communicated to the public beyond the narrower realm of research. I shall certainly be recommending What Editors Want to authors, particularly those at an early point in their career. And as an editor, I shall even use this book to remind myself what I want.”

— Andrew Sugden, deputy editor, Science

“What Editors Want contains clear and practical advice on how to get your manuscript published in the peer reviewed literature. Packed with straightforward advice and insights, it will be useful for new and experienced authors alike.”

— Peter Binfield, publisher and co-founder, PeerJ

“This book is a great resource for young scientists as they begin their career-long ‘publish or perish’ marathon, and for those researchers unfamiliar with the Western STM publishing process. Journal quality is enhanced, and my job as a managing editor is made considerably easier, by authors who choose the right journal, understand the peer review and revision process, and take the time to learn and adhere to a journal's specific requirements. The section on new trends in scientific publishing is especially helpful in this era of rapid changes in how scientific knowledge is shared across the globe.”

— Lyne Yohe, managing editor, Geology

"What Editors Want is an absolute goldmine of information."

— Medical Writing

"A sharply focused manual for navigating the mainstream of academic publication. With an easy authority and relatively few citations, authors Philippa J. Benson and Susan C. Silver present advice on how to publish—rather than perish. It is hard to imagine a science graduate student whose career would not benefit from reading this book."

— BioScience

"A thorough explanation of the basic workings of science publishing [What Editors Want] gives the readers a perspective on not only what requirements they may encounter in trying to publish, but why those requirements are in place."

— Technical Communiation

"While there are other guides on how to write about science, What Editors Want is the first guide to understanding how the U.S. science publication process works. In this new book, Philippa Benson and Susan Silver have done an excellent job of explaining the publishing standards that apply to science writers and how to meet them. They also present this information in a way that is readable and easily accessible."

— Publishing Research Quarterly

"An interesting, useful, and above all, an eminently accessible book for authors—easy to read, pragmatic in its advice, and suffi ciently detailed to provide useful information."

— Learned Publishing

"An extremely comprehensive and useful book particularly for relatively new authors."

— Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

Chapter 1. Who cares what Editors want?

Chapter 2. Changing perspective from author to Editor

Chapter 3. Judging the newness of your science

Chapter 4. Authorship issues

Chapter 5. Choosing the right journal

Chapter 6. Understanding impact factors

Chapter 7. How to write a cover letter

Chapter 8. Preparing for manuscript submission or “What Editors wish you knew”

Chapter 9. Who does what in peer review

Chapter 10. Dealing with decision letters

Chapter 11. Ethical issues in publishing

Chapter 12. Trends in scientific publishing

Appendix 1 Resources for improving science writing

Appendix 2 Databases with free access to articles or abstracts

Appendix 3 Presubmission checklist

Appendix 4 Free and low-cost image resources

Appendix 5 The Brussels Declaration

References
Index

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