2. Ideas that push the boundaries…
• Wiley-owned, independent title
• Mainly cell and molecular, and related disciplines
• Hypotheses, ideas, reviews-with-a-difference and features
• Almost all life science institutes/universities have an
electronic subscription
• Monthly issue, but online rolling advance publication as
“Early View”
• Strong media pick-up for a reviews/features journal
3. Recent headline-making hypothesis article:
X-chromosome-located microRNAs in
immunity: Might they explain male/female
differences?
BioEssays Volume 33, Issue 11, November
2011, Pages: 791–802, Iris Pinheiro,
Lien Dejager and Claude Libert
4. Ideas that push the boundaries…
• Hypotheses (often as elaborations on a primary paper)
• Ideas & Speculations
• Think again (overturning or re-visiting previous assumptions)
• Recently in press (mini-reviews)
• Review essays
• Problems & Paradigms
• Methods, Models & Techniques
• We also publish commentaries, Science&Society / education /
policy, meetings reports and book reviews
• With a mean time to first decision of 22 days
6. Scientific publishing
Brought to book
Academic journals face a radical shake-up
Jul 21st 2012 | from the print edition
“Publishers do provide a service. They
organise peer review, in which papers are
criticised anonymously by experts (though
those experts, like the authors of papers,
are rarely paid for what they do). And they
sort the scientific sheep from the goats,
by deciding what gets published, and
where.”
http://www.economist.com/node/21559317
8. A little “ ology ”
• 200 variables in the Google algorithm: you can only hope to
influence 4 or so...
• Use of words in body text (frequency, proximity, context...)
• Terms in:
• Title
• Subtitle
• Section headings
• (Figure captions - probably)
• N.B. Metadata – including keywords!! – are completely
ignored by Google, Excite and Lycos (but not Yahoo!)
10. Some basic rules for titles
The involvement of protein X in signal transduction pathway Y ✘
✘
Effect of…
Involvement of…
Evidence of…
Role of…
Insights into…
Implications of…
Protein X does Z in signal transduction pathway Y ✔
11. Imagine the kind of title that
would catch your attention…
Involvement of military
equipment in the natural
terrestrial satellite
WW II bomber found on
moon
12. An explicit title can help
optimise citations…
“Read before you cite!” in ArXiv:
http://arxiv.org/abs/condmat/0212043
13. Applying experimental psychology
recall
t
primacy recency
Serial position effect
Deese and Kaufman (1957) Serial effects in recall of unorganized and sequentially
organized verbal material , J Exp Psychol. 1957 Sep; 54(3):180-187
Murdock, B.B., Jr. (1962) The Serial Position Effect of Free Recall, Journal of
Experimental Psychology, 64, 482-488
14. Don’t begin like this:
Evolution is the key phenomenon that cuts across
diverse biological systems. However, understanding
remains patchy of how evolution acts on biological
networks, and how that action is best identified,
modelled and understood. Starting with graph theory
and the evolution of protein-protein interaction
networks…
15. …or this:
Motile cilia are evolutionarily conserved cellular
organelles whose periodic beating provides propulsive
force for movement of fluid. In vertebrates, the activity
of motile cilia has been associated with…
16. …and certainly not this:
Sexual reproduction in mammals allows an organism to
transfer part of its genes over to the next generation…
18. Audience 1: the Editor
Cambridge, MA, August 30, 2009
Dear Editor
I am writing to you to suggest a review with the title “Involvement of the sex-
determining locus binding protein sdlb-1 in the mechanism preventing
crossing-over between sex chromosomes in mammals, and a comparison
with similar mechanisms in other vertebrates with alternatives to the
simple XY system”.
Here is a brief summary of our paper:
Sexual reproduction in mammals allows an organism to transfer part of its
genes over to the next generation…
Disclaimer: The above example was invented for the sake of illustration; it does not reflect real knowledge
19. Audience 2: peer reviewers
From: bioessays@wiley.com
To: luckyreviewer@evolbiol.usd.edu
Date: 30.08.2009
Subject: request to review a manuscript
Dear Prof Lucky
A manuscript entitled “Involvement of the SDL-binding protein sdlb-
1 in the mechanism preventing crossing-over between sex
chromosomes in mammals and a comparison with similar
mechanisms in other vertebrates with alternatives to the simple XY
system” has been submitted to BioEssays. We would be most
grateful if you could find time to review this paper…
The abstract follows at the bottom of this mail…
Disclaimer: The above example was invented for the sake of illustration; it does not reflect real knowledge
20. Abstract:
Sexual reproduction in mammals allows an organism to transfer part
of its genes over to the next generation. This is achieved by meiosis
first halving the compliment of chromosomes to produce gametes
with n chromosomes compared with 2n in the somatic tissues.
During meiosis, crossing over between homologous sequences on
sister chromatids creates a situation in which the two half genomes
of the original parents are mixed to a certain extent in the resulting
gamete. However, sex chromosomes distinguish themselves from
autosomes in that they avoid crossing over, and indeed, the inability
to cross over is considered to have been one of the first steps in the
evolution of sex chromosomes…
Disclaimer: The above example was invented for the sake of illustration; it does not reflect real knowledge
If you were an expert in sex chromosome
evolution, would you be hurrying to
reviewing this paper?!
21. Audience 3: readers
Journal of Sexy Science 2010 3(8) 256 - 267
Insights
Involvement of the sex-determining locus binding protein sdlb-1 in
the mechanism preventing crossing-over between sex chromosomes
in mammals, and a comparison with similar mechanisms in other
vertebrates with alternatives to the simple XY system
Stephen E Xavier
Keywords: sex-determining locus; crossing-over; sex chromosomes; eutherian; non-
eutherian
Abstract Genes
Sexual reproduction in mammals allows
an organism to transfer part of its genes SEX! Genes
over to the next generation. This is Genes
achieved by meiosis first halving the
complement of chromosomes to produce
gametes with n chromosomes compared Generation 1 Generation 2
with 2n in the somatic tissues… Figure 1: How sex works...
Disclaimer: The above example was invented for the sake of illustration; it does not reflect real knowledge
22. Or…
Journal of Sexy Science 2010 3(8) 256 - 267
Insights
sdlb-1 triggers suppression of crossing-over between sex
chromosomes: A clue to the evolution of sex chromosome systems?
Stephen E Xavier
Keywords: sex-determining locus; crossing-over; sex chromosomes; eutherian; non-
eutherian
Abstract
We have identified a protein that binds to
the sex-determining locus on mammalian
Y chromosomes, and prevents crossing-
over of the majority of the Y chromosome sdlb-1
with the X chromosome during meiosis. cip-1
We name this protein sdlb-1, and further Y chromosome
show that it has homologues in animals
that have different sex chromosome Figure 1: How sdlb-1 works...
systems, such as WZ (birds), and multiple
copies of X and Y (platypus)…
Disclaimer: The above example was invented for the sake of illustration; it does not reflect real knowledge
23. A service with personal
rewards…
Email:
Dear Dr. Moore
Thank you for the very helpful editorial support and the fast and efficient
processing of our manuscript…
Acknowledgements
I would like to thank two anonymous reviewers and the editor for thoughtful
contributions that improved this manuscript…
24. Why should you consider a
career outside the lab?
There might be better careers for you than staying in research. Being a
researcher is not the non plus ultra, and doesn’t necessarily make you the
primus inter pares: we need good scientists in other scientifically-related
professions!...
