Paola De Castro. Critical introduction to scientific journals and the editorial process

NECOBELAC Training Module

Critical introduction to

SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS
AND THE EDITORIAL PROCESS
Paola De Castro
Istituto Superiore di Sanità

1

P. De Castro - NECOBELAC T1 Course • Scientific journals - Dublin, May 9, 2012

Objective of the module
REFLECT ON
1.

2.

“Sea change” in knowledge dissemination

3.

2

Knowledge and responsibilities
to communicate results of scientific reseach

Rules and best practice for publication in scientific journals


Knowledge today…
learning
education
communication
representation
mental stimula
environment
1.
2.
3.

COMPLEXITY
COMPLEXITY

It can assume different meanings (contest)
It is not only information (which exists regardless of its use)
It requires a user able to link available knowledge to his/her personal experience

Today information is available (or potentially available) for all,
provided that you have proper skills and technical devices
to use it and adquire knowlege

3


INTERNET PROVIDES TOOLS
BUT you should know
• where to find
• how to recognize quality
• how to use

these tools

A cultural change is still required
which should not only be associated to
the development and availability of new technologies
BUT to the capacity to use resources
provided by such technologies

4


Online resources

DOAJ
DOAJ

OpenAIRE
OpenAIRE

OA
OA
WIKI
WIKI
OA
OA
Directory
Directory
5


OASIS
OASIS

Knowledge as a SOCIAL VALUE
Learning is not a private enterprise
Privatization of knowledge generates damage
particularly in the case of research financed with public funds,
and even more in the health sector
J. Willinsky. The Properties of Locke’s Common-wealth of Learning.
Policy Futures in Education Volume 4 Number 4 2006

Knowledge dissemination becomes
a CIVIL COMMITMENT
Scientists must play an active role
in the public debate on health issues
K. Carr, Liberating the voices of science, The Australian, January 16, 2008.
Senator Carr is Australia - Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research.
(http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23057489-25192,00.html)

6


Responsibility
of science communication
For all people working in Research and Development

Information transfer is an
ESSENTIAL part of their work
It is a responsiblitity that must be
recognised and undertaken
with the same commitment and professionality
as for all the other science-related activities

7


TO WHOM and HOW to communicate?
WHOM?

HOW?

8

Peer
General public
Policy makers
Patients
Clients
Etc. Etc.
Oral
Written
Non verbal

Identify the most appropriate way
of communicating according to
target
P. De Castro - NECOBELACyour • Scientific journals - Dublin, May 9, 2012
T1 Course

WHERE does responsibility lay?
•
•
•
•
•
•

Scientists
Institutions where they work
Editors (reviewers, technical editors, etc.)
Publishers
Librarians, information specialists, web-masters
Etc.
They all contribute to create (quality) information,
BUT they have different interests in the publishing enterprise

9


VALUE OF SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS
For the target (readers)
WRITE A USEFUL ARTICLE
to contribute to the progress of science
CONSIDER
Which needs shall I meet?
Are there other publications on the same topic?
Are they up-dated?
Are they useful?
Are they easily available?
Are they free on the Internet?
10

•
•
•
•
•


Why write an article?
Where to publish it?
With whom?
How much time?
Which budget?
In some cases,
national journals or books
may be more appropriate

VALUE OF SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS
For the author (writer)
PUBLISH IN QUALITY JOURNALS
to obtain the highest evaluation
(grants, career advancement)

HOW TO SELECT THE JOURNAL?

WHAT TO CONSIDER?

•
•
•
•

•
•
•

Indexed journals (IF)
Journals where important authors publish
High reject rate journals
Journals which I read for updating

•
•
•
11


Where is the journal indexed
Editorial committee
Editorial organization (policy)
(peer review, time)
Online availability
Copyright issues
…

AUTHORSHIP & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
1953
Watson e Crick published an article on DNA
which is very famous and well known
all over the world

… and what about
Rosalind Franklin?
Watson J D, Crick FHC.
Molecular structure of nucleic acids:
a structure for deoxyribose nucleid acid.
Nature 1953; 171: 737-738.c
12


How does knowledge transmission
change through the centuries?
The big revolutions
Orality
Writing

Oral memory within a community
Fist graffiti
Hieroglyphs
Alphabeth

35.000 years ago
3.200 BC
1.000 BC

Symbols = concepts
syllables

Printing
Internet
13

China 1050, Gutenberg 1450
Internet 1974 – 1990 Web – Google 1995


The Bible, 1456
First book printed in Magonza by
Gutenberg

The Comedy
by Dante Alighieri, 1491

180 copies
36 x 29 cm

Print diffusion
Millions of copies printed in few years

Texts have already a defined structure
(commentaries by Cristoforo Landino)
Page numbering and italic

14


were introduced
by Aldo Manunzio in 1501

SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS
rise in the 17th century in the academies
Before, philosophers communicated through philosophical dissertations and letters

Journal des Scavans

Philosophical Transactions

First journal, published in Paris 1665

Royal Society of London, 1666

OBJECTIVE
Present the
most relevant
European
scientific papers

OBJECTIVES
Inform the Royal
Society members
and other readers
about scientific
discoveries
Establish principles
scientific priority
and peer review

15


Scientific journals develop
since the 18 th century
still today they represent the preferred channel
to disseminate scientific research results

WHO IS THE PUBLISHER?
• Scientific societies
• Universities
• Governmental agencies
• Scientific institutions
• Profesional associations

In the centuries, science
becomes more specialized
The publishing enterprise
develops

Journal “shape” keeps unchanged
until the Internet revolution

16

• Sequential reading
• Texts and illustrations
• Text structure
• Paratextual elements

The book shape has an
influence
on the way of thinking


Scientific journals
Chronological development and figures

1660
1700

Internet
revolution

Rise (academies)
Development (100)

1850
1900
1950
1990

Development (1000)
Sectorial specialization ( 10 000)
Further specialization (100 000)
Exponencial development (300 000)

2000
2003
2004
2005
17

Gutemberg
revolution

Open Access
Berlin Declaration
Permission crisis
Development of OA policies …


2012

?

TODAY INTERNET
allows new ways of communication
Journals (and books)
change their shape

New ways are developed
• Blogs
•
•
•
•
•

Discussion lists
Wikis
Online answers
Social networks
Collective conversations

All this deeply affects
scientific communication
18


The article of the future
5 minute video by Elsevier
It shows the advantages
of enriched articles
Supplementary information
interactive content
It provides true immersion in the
contest of the subject matter
Data are linked to databases
providing the most updated
information
It proves a positive correlation
between data sharing,
citations and impact
19

OPEN SCIENCE “UNJOURNAL”

Proposal for an “UNJOURNAL”
Active participation of the research
community
Two months for open peer review, and then
the articles gets scores and citations

20


INTERNET CHANGES ECONOMIC MODELS
AND ALLOWS NEW METRICS
Publishers are looking for new opportunities
Journal prices grow exponentially
Authors become aware of the new opportunities provided by ICT
and start negotiate their rights (self archiving is now recognised by most publishers)
Online free full text is generally required
and also the availability of research data is desired
New evaluation metrics are introduced
as alternative to IF, e.g. H index (individual research output)
OA journals utilizing free software are developed

PS
PIC MA mes
TO
BELAC s and sche
NECO
le
e mo d u u e s
includ se iss
e
or all th
f

There is confusion on the roles of the actors of the editorial process
and some contraddictions
21


SCIENTISTS IN THE WORLD
(UNESCO, Science reports)
1800
1850
1900
1950
2007

Increased investment in research

1000
10 000
100 000
1 000 000
7 000 000

specialization

increased scientific output

Development in
technologies
indexing systems
circulation/citations
metrics

22

NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS
now doubles every two years


SCIENTISTS IN THE WORLD TODAY 7,200.000
UNESCO, Science report 2010
United States
European Union
China

21.0 %
20.0 %
19.7 %

Japon
Russia

11.0 %
7.0 %

75% researchers in the world
work in the above countries
representing only 35% of the world population

23


India
2.0 %
Latin America 3.5%
Africa
2.2%

Publications in the world (2008=986.099)
UNESCO, Science report 2010 – Based on ISI data

United States
European Union
China

28%
37%
10%

USA and EU are still the world leaders as for the
absolute number of scientific publications.
Yet, their percentage share of publications decreased
much more then any other country in the last 6 years.
On the other hand, China doubled its publications (10%)

Japon
Russia

8%
7%

Considering the size of Asian population it is
envisaged that it will become the leader continent as
for publication output in the coming years

Latin America 4.9%
Africa
2.2%

due primarily to Brasil
with 25% increase in the last 6 years

Data refer to 2008, now the situation is rapidly changing
24


Citation increase in OA journals
Open access citation average. A. Swan

25

http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/18516/2/Citation_advantage_paper.pdf


OPEN ACCESS: a new paradigm of communication
Basic concepts from the Berlin Declaration (2003)
Our mission of disseminating knowledge is only half complete if the
information is not made widely and readily available to society.
New possibilities of knowledge dissemination not only through the
classical form but also and increasingly through the open access
paradigm via the Internet have to be supported.
We define open access as a comprehensive source of human
knowledge and cultural heritage that has been approved by the
scientific community.
In order to realize the vision of a global and accessible
representation of knowledge, the future Web has to be sustainable,
interactive, and transparent. Content and software tools must be
openly accessible and compatible.
26


Open Access: aprire la gabbia

… it requires the active commitment of each and every individual
producer of scientific knowledge and holder of cultural heritage.
Open access contributions include original scientific research results,
raw data and metadata, source materials, digital representations of
pictorial and graphical materials and scholarly multimedia material.

27


Open Journal Systems

Free software for online
journal management

About 11,500 journals

28


Development of OA policies

ISS OA policy was signed in 2007
ISS represented the first health research institute in
Italy having an OA policy
29


Internet revolution adds complexity
to the publishing process
Death of metamorphis
of scientific journals?

We are now in search
of a new balance…

Ronald La Port. BMJ 1995, 2002
30


The European Commission supports OA
Besides OA specific projects,
the EU requires that
all articles resulting
from EU funded projects
be deposited and preserved
in digital archives
(Special clause 39 on OA, 7FP)

31


OA is a philosophy and not an archive
OA routes

7646 OA
7646 OA

OA journals (gold)
Digital archives (green)

CREATE AWARENESS
among all stakeholders

32

2000 listings
2000 listings


HOW MANY journals today?
ISSN all disciplines (aprox.1.500.000 )
900.000 current (15% online)
25.000 PEER REVIEWED
15-20% OA
DOAJ:

ISI WEB OF SCIENCE

7600 (800 health)
30% have publicaton fees

9000 “HIGH IMPACT”
SCI
6500
SSCI 1800
AHCI 1140

MEDLARS (biomedicine) 5000 journals
(21 million articles, some with links to full-text)
33


Scientific Electronic Library Online SciELO
a model for cooperative electronic publishing in LA
Born in 1998 in Brasil,
now it includes
940 Journals
for all disciplines
294 Health sciences
98 Biological sciences
ISI formula for IF
Quality criteria
NECOBELAC - SciELO Workshop in Rome, 21 June 2012
34

RESEARCHERS’ ATTITUDE ON OA
Survey of the Project SOAP (Study on OA Publishing, 2009-2010 )
ONLINE SURVEY
40.000 scientists
90% declare that OA is a benefit
MAIN OBSTACLES
5.000 scientists
Financial barriers OA (39%)
No quality OA journals (30%)
NEED TO CREATE AWARENESS ON OA MODELS
35


BIOMED CENTRAL
OA publisher for biomedicine
Today 320 peer reviewed journals,
most with IF
Author keeps copyright
Articles have high visibility
(indexed in PubMed)
Preservation is guaranteed

PAGES CHARGES
36

BMC Medicine (IF 5.75)


PUBLIC LIBRARY OF SCIENCE
www.plos.org

OPEN LETTER
Free circulation of research results In

October 2000
Free access to publicly
funded research results

7
6
4
2

Journals
Currents
Blog Network
Hubs

Publication fee
1350 $ per article
37


THE HYBRID MODEL
AUTHOR PAYS
to have his article OA
Peer review is the same in
OA and non OA articles

SPRINGER
OPEN CHOICE
(Euros 2000)

38


NEW MODELS ARE TESTED
Articles are published online after revision : “ahead of publication”
but public debate was allowed even before the review process

Atmospheric chemistry and physics discussions

39


Nature Precedings
A persistent and citable archive
of preliminary results

Voting is intended to be an informal way
of showing support for a researcher's work
Nature journals will consider manuscripts
that have already been circulated as preprints,
but some other publishers will not

40


EDITORIAL PROCESS. Basic elements
The editorial process is a communication process:
an agreement among sender and and receiver having the objective of transmitting knowledge

CHANNELL
Code

Sender

MESSAGE

Feedback
41

Receiver

noise

Actors of the EDITORIAL PROCESS
authors
editors
publishers
readers

• Referees
• Technical editors
• Translators
• Graphic designers
• Photographers
• Printers
• Web masters
• Librarians
• Information specialists

Be aware of the role of each actor in the process
to be able to understand and comply with their requirements
42


RESPONSIBILITIES
To be pointed out in T2 courses
AUTHORS
•Develop useful contents
•Select the appropriate document type
•Read instructions to authors
•Provide all information required by editors
•Do not cheat
Etc.
EDITORS
•Organize and validate information
•Garantee publication integrity
•Create useful journals
•Write instructions for authors
•Specify steps of the editorial process
Etc.
43

REFEREES
•Guarantee quality of published papers
•Declare conflicts of interest
•Comply with schedules
•Respect privacy and confidentiality
Etc.

SCIENTIFIC EDITING

inside an editorial office
Receiving manuscripts
First evaluation by editor in chief
Peer review (reviewers/authors, reviewers, editor)
Editor in chief (acceptance/modification/ rejection)
Scientific editing – graphics
(correction of drafts)

Receiving proofs
Article final copy
Complete issue (including all articles)

oda
T
44

ll th
ya

is
is

line
on
Blueprint
Online dissemination
Print

WRITING A JOURNAL ARTICLE
a challange between tradition and innovation

WARNING!
BE AWARE OF EDITORIAL RULES
AND BEST PRACTICES
1.
2.
3.

evaluate scientific content and target
be familiar with technical requirements
be familiar with the publication ethics

FORMATS OF SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES
45


SUMMARY of the main points
Publication of scientific output is part of the research process
and plays a basic role for science development
Scientific communication has a direct influence of science policies
which, in turn, have a direct impact on public health
and population well-being
Thanks to Internet, wide dissemination of scientific information (incluging data) is possible,
economic models are changing, new metrics are possible
Progress is reached through a mix of REALISM and IDEALISM:
consider tradition and test new models
NECOBELAC can contribute to develop scientific communication
through new collaborations between Europe and Latin America

46


Paola De Castro. Critical introduction to scientific journals and the editorial process

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