1. No category

How to publish manuscript
in a scientific journal.
Jaroslav Rosenberger, PhD, MD1,2
Assoc. Prof. Andrea Madarasova Geckova, PhD1,3
Medical Faculty, PJ Safarik University in Kosice
1 Kosice Institute for Society and Health - Graduate School
2 1st Internal Clinic
3 Health Psychology Unit, Public Health Institute
How to publish manuscript
in a scientific journal.
► Journal selection
► Manuscript submission
► Review
► Communication with journal
How to publish manuscript
in a scientific journal.
► Journal selection
► Manuscript submission
► Review
► Communication with journal
Journal selection
How to choose a journal?
The topic should be interesting for the readers of the journal!
Examples:
Car accident in Zlata Idka:
Košice Marathon:
Slovaks voted for EÚ:
Zlata Idka monthly paper
SME
The Times
Journal selection
• the choice of some topic – defines the journal
• the choice of some journal – defines topic
• sometimes the choice depends on data, study design, statistics ...
Examples:
Nutritional habbits of 15 children during winter time in Slovak Paradise
slovak journal
Nutritional habbits of 2500 slovak adolescents in 1995 and 2005
international journal
Types of articles
• scientific article
– (standard) original scientific article
– brief report
– preliminary report
• review
– review
– systematic review
– editorial review
• case report
• other (letter to editor, reply)
Excercise
Do you think that article „A renal transplant patient with intractable
hiccups“ is suitable for journal Transplantation reviews?
Journal selection
• aim: journal should be in English and should have Impact Factor !
• we want:
• our results to be part of intenational research
• To be cited
• (Social) Science Citation Index (SSCI a SCI)
• journal IF ≈ number of citations / number of pages
• absolute IF
• relative IF
Journal selection
How to proceed:
• choose the journal depending on the topic and IF (RIF)
• compare topic, method and measures (name, key-words):
• with scope of the journal
• with instructions for the authors
• with the content of the last issues of the journal
• with key-words
• specific methods – did they ever published something like this?
• specific topics – did they ever published something like this?
Journal Title Changes
Journal Summary List
Journals from:
subject categories TRANSPLANTATION
Sorted by:
Impac t Fac tor
[1|2]
Journals 1 - 20 (of 21)
Page 1 of 2
Ranking is based on your journal and sort selections.
JCR Data
Rank
Abbreviated Journal Title
(linked to journal information)
ISSN
Total Cites
Impact
Factor
5-Year
Impact
Factor
Immediacy
Index
Articles
Cited
Half-life
1
AM J TRANSPLANT
1600-6135
10903
6.559
6.281
1.213
310
3.2
2
CELL TRANSPLANT
0963-6897
2703
5.251
3.793
0.556
117
4.4
3
LIVER TRANSPLANT
1527-6465
7523
4.085
4.492
0.794
233
4.5
4
TRANSPLANTATION
0041-1337
26595
3.816
3.729
0.449
541
7.0
5
NEPHROL DIAL TRANSPL
0931-0509
17257
3.568
3.539
0.923
546
5.6
6
BONE MARROW TRANSPL
0268-3369
10044
3.400
2.924
0.609
302
6.9
7
BIOL BLOOD MARROW TR
1083-8791
3252
3.375
3.555
0.891
165
3.4
8
J HEART LUNG TRANSPL
1053-2498
5696
3.323
2.805
0.563
215
4.4
9
STEM CELLS DEV
1547-3287
1126
3.273
3.322
0.541
109
2.8
10
TRANSPL INT
0934-0874
2618
3.115
2.290
0.480
127
4.3
11
TRANSPL INFECT DIS
1398-2273
837
2.516
0.562
80
5.1
12
XENOTRANSPLANTATION
0908-665X
837
2.288
1.826
1.078
51
4.1
13
ARTIF ORGANS
0160-564X
2528
2.131
1.828
0.219
137
6.1
14
CLIN TRANSPLANT
0902-0063
2848
1.915
2.295
0.338
145
5.2
15
TRANSPL IMMUNOL
0966-3274
1071
1.869
2.140
0.582
79
4.6
16
PEDIATR TRANSPLANT
1397-3142
1808
1.862
1.972
0.525
141
3.9
17
ASAIO J
1058-2916
1931
1.631
1.504
0.442
113
6.0
18
INT J ARTIF ORGANS
0391-3988
1611
1.299
1.303
0.670
106
5.9
19
TRANSPL P
0041-1345
10806
1.055
1.007
0.052
991
5.7
20
CURR OPIN ORGAN TRAN
1087-2418
204
0.435
0.198
86
3.5
Journals 1 - 20 (of 21)
[1|2]
Page 1 of 2
How to publish manuscript
in a scientific journal.
► Journal selection
► Manuscript submission
► Review
► Communication with journal
Manuscript submission
► Basic conditions
● Authorship
● Conflict of Interest
● Ethical Issues
● Overlapping publications
► Final checking of content
► Final layout, language proof
► Cover letter
► Submission, archiving
Manuscript submission
► Basic conditions
● Authorship
● Conflict of Interest
● Ethical Issues
● Overlapping publications
► Final checking of content
► Final layout, language proof
► Cover letter
► Submission, archiving
Manuscript submission
1. Basic conditions
► Authorship vs. acknowledgement
► Conflict of Interest
► Ethical Issues
► Overlapping publications
Authorship vs. acknowledgement
Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to
take public responsibility for the content. Authorship credit
should be based only on
a. Substantial contributions to conception and design, or
analysis and interpretation of data
b. Substantial contributions to drafting the article or revising it
critically for important intellectual content
c. Final approval of the version to be published
Conditions a, b and c must all be met.
Participation solely in the acquisition of funding or the
collection of data does not justify authorship. General
supervision of the research group is not sufficient for
authorship.
Criteria of authorship agreed by the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors
Multicentric
studies
Group title
Acknowledgement,
appendix, ...
Acknowledgement
The authors would like to thank Andy Billingham for revision of the
English language in the manuscript. This work was supported by the
Research and Development support Agency under the contract No.
APVV-20-038 205.
This survey was performed by Harris Interactive adn funded by Pfizer
Inc. Editorial support in the form of proofing the manuscript and
preparing for submission was provided by Aideen Young, PhD, of
Envision Pharma Ltd and funded by Pfizer Inc.
The authors would like to thank the Tobacco Prevention Fund for
funding this study. We also thank the following persons for their support:
JB (statistical analyses), FG (questionnaire development and scaning),
GJ and SD (proposal writing) and AE and KL (data collection and
project cooperation).
Order of authors
;
Manuscript submission
1. Basic conditions
► Authorship vs. acknowledgement
► Conflict of Interest
► Ethical Issues
► Overlapping publications
Conflict of Interest
“When authors submit a manuscript, they are responsible for
disclosing all financial and personal relationships that
might bias their work.”
(see International Committee of Medical Journal Editors)
“… when professional judgment concerning a primary interest
(validity of research) may be influenced by a secondary
interest (such as financial gain or personal rivalry)
(BMJ declaration of competing interest,
http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/317/7154/291/DC1)
Conflict of Interest Statement
„MH has no conflicts of interests related to this
manuscript. HT is an executive of Harris Interactive,
which received financial support from Pfizer Inc. to
conduct this study and prepare the manuscript.“
„Conflict of interest: None“
„I have no proprietary, financial, professional or other
personal interest of any nature or kind in any product,
service and/or company that could be construed as
influencing the position presented in the manuscript
entitled ".....".“
Manuscript submission
1. Basic conditions
► Authorship vs. acknowledgement
► Conflict of Interest
► Ethical Issues
► Overlapping publications
Ethical issues
● Protection of Human Subjects and Animals in
Research: Helsinki Declaration of 1975, as revised in
2000
● Regulation in each particular country
● Regulation of particular journal (e.g. obligatory
registration prior the study)
● Approval by EC, informed consent, voluntary
participation, privacy and confidentiality ...
Statement on approval by EC
„The study was approved by the Ethics Committee of the
Faculty of Science at P.J. Safarik University in Kosice in
August 2005.“
„The study was done according to the ethical
requirements formulated by Agreement on Human
Rights and Biomedicine (40/2000 Z.z.). The Science and
Technology Assistance Agency in April 2002 approved
in its decision on APVT-20-003602 also the ethical
aspects of the study.“
Statement on informed consent
„All
patients signed and informed consent statement
before interview. Participation on study was voluntary.“
„Parents were informed prior to the study via the school
administration in a regular meeting of parents with the
staff of the school and could opt out if they disagreed
with their child’s participation. Children were informed
prior to the study; participation in the study was fully
voluntary and anonymous with no explicit incentives
provided for participation.“
Manuscript submission
1. Basic conditions
► Authorship vs. acknowledgement
► Conflict of Interest
► Ethical Issues
► Overlapping publications
Overlapping publications
● Duplicate submission
● Redundant publication (a paper that overlaps
substantially with one already published paper/ not
rejected paper, report which follows a preliminary report,
or manuscript which follows abstract or poster)
● Acceptable secondary publication (agreement from
both journas + additional conditions e.g. highly important
message, different audience, language)
Manuscript submission
► Basic conditions
● Authorship
● Conflict of Interest
● Ethical Issues
● Overlapping publications
► Final checking of content
► Final layout, language proof
► Cover letter
► Submission, archiving
Manuscript submission
2. Final checking of content
STROBE „Strengthening the Reporting of Observational
Studies in Epidemiology“, 2004, http://www.strobestatement.org/
CONSORT „The Consolidated Standards of Reporting Trials“,
1996, www.consort-statement.org
QUOROM „Improving the Quality of Reports of MetaAnalyses of RCT“
MOOSSE „The Meta-analysis of Observational Studies in
Epidemiology“
Manuscript submission
► Basic conditions
● Authorship
● Conflict of Interest
● Ethical Issues
● Overlapping publications
► Final checking of content
► Final layout, language proof
► Cover letter
► Submission, archiving
Manuscript submission
3. Final layout, language proof
Guideliness for authors
type of contribution (length of manuscript, abstract, number of references, etc)
manuscript submission (basic conditions, how to submit)
title page
abstract (structure, lenght, language), key-words
text (structure, headings, abbreviations, footnotes, numbering of pages,
.
acknowledgement, ...)
citations in text ......(Abel et al. 2003) .......[34] .......34
list of references
tables and figures
Language proof
Manuscript submission
► Basic conditions
● Authorship
● Conflict of Interest
● Ethical Issues
● Overlapping publications
► Final checking of content
► Final layout, language proof
► Cover letter
► Submission, archiving
Manuscript submission
4. Cover letter - aim
Sell your paper to editor!
Fit with journal scope!
Manuscript submission
4. Cover letter - structure
● Corresponding address, official e-mail, date
● Introduction
Manuscript submission
4. Cover letter - structure
● Corresponding address, official e-mail, date
● Introduction
● Brief description of paper – selling points
Manuscript submission
4. Cover letter - structure
● Corresponding address, official e-mail, date
● Introduction
● Brief description of paper – selling points
● Other information
● Statement of authors on basic conditions
Manuscript submission
4. Cover letter
„All Authors have substantially contributed to the paper as
submitted. Each of them has seen and agreed to the
submitted final version of the paper. The authors do not have
any conflict of interest in connection with current paper. The
materials presented are original and unpublished, and are
not under consideration for public elsewhere. The study
was approved by the Ethics Committee of Medical Faculty
PJ Safarik University under the decision 34/2009. „
Manuscript submission
► Basic conditions
● Authorship
● Conflict of Interest
● Ethical Issues
● Overlapping publications
► Final checking of content
► Final layout, language proof
► Cover letter
► Submission, archiving
Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10
Fig. 11
Fig. 12
Fig. 13
Fig. 14
Fig. 15
Archiving
Manuscript submitted
no
Send reminder!
Delivery confirmation
yes
3 months
Rejected
Prescreen by editor
Reviewers
Editor‛s decision
Accepted
Proofs
Major
revision
Minor
revision
Published
How to publish manuscript
in a scientific journal.
► Journal selection
► Manuscript submission
► Review
► Communication with journal
What is peer review?
• Review by peers
• Includes:
internal review (by editorial staff)
external review (by experts in the field)
What do editors want from papers?
• Originality
•
•
•
•
Importance
Relevance to readers
Usefulness to readers, patients, policy makers
Truth
• Clear and engaging writing
• Excitement/ “wow” factor
What do editors want from reviewers?
• Be courteous and constructive
• Remember you are advising us: we’ll decide what to do
• To improve what we publish
• Maintain confidentiality
• Declare competing interests
• Be timely (if you can’t do it on time, say so)
• “Do as you would be done unto”
Importance of the research question
• Has the research addressed a question that had to be answered,
or is it just “another brick in the wall”?
• The question matters more than the answer. If the question was
important and the answer is valid, then it doesn’t matter if the
answer is negative or boring.
• Is this something that clinicians, policy makers, patients or the
public need to know, remembering that there’s more for them to
know than they can possibly know?
• Is this a POEM (patient oriented evidence that matters)?
Originality of the research I
• Ideally, you will do a literature search.
• Almost all of a series of RCTs described as
“the first” in major journals were not the first.
• Has this never been done before?
• If the question has been addressed before,
does this add importantly?
(for example, a much bigger or better
designed study)?
Originality of the research II
• Remember that some things that are “well
known” are not based on any evidence.
• If you think the research unoriginal please
give us references to previous work. Don’t
just say “it’s unoriginal.”
• If there are other important studies that the
authors don’t reference, please provide
references
Validity of the research I
• Identify the strengths as well as the
weaknesses of the study
• It isn’t possible to capture all the ways that
you might help us with a few questions or
guidelines
• Is the design right for answering the
research question?
Validity of the research II
• But don’t let the best be the enemy of the
good – is this the best that is possible?
• Were the data collected adequately? Was the
sampling right?
• Are the methods described adequately?
• Are the analyses right? Should they be
redone?
• Remember to try and be constructive
Validity of the research III
• If you are not strong on statistics say so; don’t
pretend that you are when you aren’t
• Ideally you might add up some of the tables.
You probably can’t do this for them all, but if
one or two are wrong it raises important
questions
• Do you think that the conclusions are
supported by the data?
• Do the authors go beyond the evidence in
their conclusions? (This is very common.)
Presentation of the research I
• Don’t bother telling us about spelling mistakes
(except perhaps ones we might miss: e.g.
misspelt names)
• In the results is the balance of text, tables, and
figures right [text tells the story, tables provide
the data, figures illustrate the story]
• Do you have any suggestions on what might
be in paper and what on the web?
Presentation of the research II
• Do the abstract, TWIB, “what this study
adds” fit with the paper?
(They often don’t.)
• Is the number of references about right?
• Should we commission any
accompanying commentaries or
editorials?
How to publish manuscript
in a scientific journal.
► Journal selection
► Manuscript submission
► Review
► Communication with journal
Communication with journal
no
Delivery confirmation
Rejected
Send reminder!
Prescreen by editor
Reviewers
Editor‛s decision
Accepted
Proofs
Major
revision
Minor
revision
Published
Communication with journal
1. Delivery confirmation
“The editor gratefully acknowledges the receipt of your
manuscript No.02/067 entitled “The effect of happiness
on health”. It will received the prompt and full attention of
the editorial board.”
“Thank you for submitting the above paper for
consideration for publication in PH. You will be informed
as soon as possible whether it is suitable for publication
in this journal.”
Communication with journal
no
Delivery confirmation
Rejected
Send reminder!
Prescreen by editor
Reviewers
Editor‛s decision
Accepted
Proofs
Major
revision
Minor
revision
Published
Reminder
„Could you be so kind to inform me about manuscript
No.02/067 entitled “The effect of happiness on health”, authors
Šťastný et al. I sent it for submission to SPM in May and I
did not receive any statement from editorial board yet.“
„At the end of January 2002, I submitted the manuscript
„Impact of SES, parent and peer on smoking behaviour of
adolescents“, Šťastný et al. with the aim to publish it in
Substance Use and Misuse. Not receiving any answer except
acknowledgement of receiving the manuscript from Marcel
Dekker, Inc. make me a little bit insure and I decided to
contact you in June 2002. I am sorry to inform you, that I did
not receive any response yet. I will appreciate very much
any information about the submitted article. Thank you
very much in advance.“
Answer on reminder
„Dear Dr. Šťastný,
I regret that the reviewing process is so long. Some of the
reviewers need much time and need to be reminded. I
hope though that you did receive my email acknowledging
receipt of your article and informing you that it was going
to be reviewed?
I expect that I will be able to give you further information
very soon now. Sorry again for any inconvenience.
With kind regards,
.....“
Communication with journal
no
Delivery confirmation
Rejected
Send reminder!
Prescreen by editor
Reviewers
Editor‛s decision
Accepted
Proofs
Major
revision
Minor
revision
Published
Communication with journal
no
Delivery confirmation
Rejected
Send reminder!
Prescreen by editor
Reviewers
Editor‛s decision
Accepted
Proofs
Major
revision
Minor
revision
Published
Communication with journal
2. Rejected
“Our reviewers have now an opportunity to comment on your paper.
Considering these reports and in light of the increased pressure for
space in the journal, we regret to inform you that we are unable
publish the manuscript.”
“With regret, I must to inform you that Prof. A. Hofman feels that your
manuscript cannot be accepted for publication in the journal EJE as it
does not fall within the scope of the journal.”
“After careful consideration, I feel that your paper is unsuitable for
publication in PH. Therefore, I regret that I am unable to publish your
work on this occasion. I wish you luck with future submission of your
work.“
Communication with journal
2. Rejected
1. INFORM your co-authors, supervisors
2. TAKE DAY OFF!
3. READ COMMENTS ONCE AGAIN carefully and pick
up what might be important, usefull
4. DISCUSS with co-authors, supervisors
5. Rewrite a manuscript DO NOT REPEAT MISTAKES!
6. SUBMIT ELSEWHERE!
Re-submitting to the same journal is sometimes possible. Sometimes you
might ask for revision of editor statement.
Communication with journal
no
Delivery confirmation
Rejected
Send reminder!
Prescreen by editor
Reviewers
Editor‛s decision
Accepted
Proofs
Major
revision
Minor
revision
Published
Communication with journal
3. Revision
Thank you for submitting your paper to Health & Place. Referees have
now examined it, and their clear opinion is that in its present form, it
would not be suitable for publication. The comments below contain
suggestions as to how it might be rewritten to render it acceptable.
If you decide to resubmit, please supply a covering letter detailing how
you have responded to the referees' concerns. Please remember to
check that you have included key words for the article (maximum 6).
Resubmissions should be made as described below.
To submit a revision, please go to http://ees.elsevier.com/jhap/ and
login as an Author. Your username is Your username is: stastny and your
password is Your password is: stastny677844. On your Main Menu page
is a folder entitled "Submissions Needing Revision". You will find your
submission record there.
Finally, I would appreciate if you could submit your revised paper by Dec
19, 2009.
Communication with journal
3. Revision
1. INFORM your co-authors, supervisors
2. TAKE DAY OFF!
3. READ COMMENTS ONCE AGAIN carefully and pick
up what might be important, usefull
4. DISCUSS with co-authors, supervisors
5. REWRITE a manuscript including COVER LETTER.
6. Language proof, co-authors approval, formal layout
7. RE-SUBMIT, KEEP DEADLINE or ask for
prolongation
Cover letter (thanks for revision)
Thanks for comments
„We would like to express our gratitude to the Editor and
the Reviewers for their review of our manuscript and for
providing us with their comments and suggestions
and to the Editor for her decision to give us the
Emphase
strong to
points
opportunity
improve the quality of the manuscript.
As you already said, the data are very interesting and
shouldabout
be published.
Inform
changes
In the following responses we address each point
made by the Editor and the Reviewers with an
indication of where it has led to a modification in the
manuscript (a "tracked changes" version of our paper
was uploaded as a supplemental file). As an enclosure
Summary
you willstatement
find the list of changes which have been made.
I would greatly appreciate if if you could consider this
manuscript appropriate for publication in SSM“
Communication with journal
3. Revision
Address EACH POINT made by editor or reviewer!
Indicate ALL MODIFICATION in the manuscript!
Keep DEADLINE!
Communication with journal
no
Delivery confirmation
Rejected
Send reminder!
Prescreen by editor
Reviewers
Editor‛s decision
Accepted
Proofs
Major
revision
Minor
revision
Published
Communication with journal
4. Accepted
“….. I have also read the paper, and I agree that it is definitely worth publishing in
the JOA. The subject matter is important, and I am sure it will prove a valuable
addition to the literature in this field. As you will see the referee is concerned about
the English in the paper. ……… Once you have done this I will be happy to have
another look at the paper. When you do return it can you please send a covering
letter indicating the changes you have made. ……”
„We are pleased to accept your manuscript in the present form for publication.
Thank you for a fine revision. Unfortunately, we can not tell you the exact schedule
for publication yet. You will receive the proofs for correction directly from publisher in
due time.“
„I have the pleasure to inform you that your article "Influence of socio-economic
status, parents and peers on smoking behaviour of adolescents" has now been
accepted for publication and is scheduled to appear in a future issue of European
Addiction Research. The editors particularly asked me to thank you for the very
careful revision and the clearness with which you presented the changes that
had been carried out.“
Communication with journal
4. Accepted
1. INFORM your co-authors, supervisors
2. CELEBRATE!
3. READ LETTER ONCE AGAIN carefully and follow
instructions
- Minor revision, language correction
- Copyright transfer agreement
- Writen approval by co-authors
- Proofs
- Online first
How to publish manuscript
in a scientific journal.
Jaroslav Rosenberger, PhD, MD
rosenberger.jaroslav@gmail.com
Assoc. Prof. Andrea Madarasova Geckova, PhD
geckova@upjs.sk
THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!!!