1. How to unlock you journal’s
full potential
Daniel Broaddus, PhD
Senior Editor and Trainer, Liwen Bianji
December 22, 2010

2. A little about me…
Research: Optics and Telecommunications
Fields: Physics, Electrical Engineering,
Nanoscience, Material Science
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3. A little more about me…
Reader
Author
Reviewer
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4. Science packaged for a big audience
Physicists at the University of St. Andrews, in Scotland,
report that they have created an analogue to a black hole
in their lab. Such a tabletop black hole, made from a
length of optical fiber and laser light, may prove
invaluable in understanding the characteristics of these
exotic astronomical objects, scientists say.
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5. Attractive visuals
Artist’s rendition of a black hole Event horizon analog in water
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6. Bring curiosity and attention to a journal
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7. Presentation
Introduction
Section One: Connecting with scientists
Section Two: Easy to read
Section Three: Easy to contribute
Section Four: Professionalism
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8. Why Internationalize?
International scientists know new science is
being generated in China – They want to know
about it
Scientists want all countries to participate in a
positive culture of sharing and communication –
China’s voice in the scientific community
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9. Section One Connecting with scientists
Website
Indexing
Search engines
Becoming a web resource
The Internet is key!
Blogs
Conference presence
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10. Website
Quickest Readers can Legitimizes your
connection to browse your journal
your content entire archive
A high-quality website is expected of modern journals
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11. Website
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12. Website
Navigability—Simplicity
Ease of finding manuscripts
Ease of accessing and understanding guidelines for
authors
Ease of submission
Templates—MS Word, LaTeX
Some free content (abstracts, full manuscripts)
Advice on preparation of figures and tables
Recommended editing services
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13. Website Attractive visuals
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14. Website Top cited, Newest cited, Comments
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15. Website Editor’s recommendations
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16. Website RSS feed
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17. Website Tag cloud
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18. Indexing SCI Index
How important has it been for NRR to be indexed in SCI? What advice can you
offer to journals on that process?
“After being indexed in Science Citation Index Expanded
(SCI-E), NRR has experienced significant growth in both
the number and quality of contributions. Many factors
are taken into account when evaluating journals for
coverage of SCI, including the journal's basic publishing
standards, the international diversity of its authorship and
editorial board, and citation data.” – Ms Zhao Meng,
Development Editor Neural Regeneration Research
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19. Indexing
Being indexed will help authors connect to your
journal
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20. Search engines Getting results
Be in the top few results for your Journal’s name
Try to be a top result for your journal’s subject
Readers and authors need to find and trust your journal
before they will invest time in it.
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21. Search engines Moving up
Encourage linking to your site (blogs, RSS)
Become a web resource for select topics
Link to other related web resources
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22. Web resources
Websites where people go to get reliable information
Often have high search engine rankings
Imagine…
Wants to become the authority on
microRNAs
Have an expert write an easy to read
explanation
Link to your manuscripts
Link to other information (Wikipedia)
People will come to Protein & Cell to learn about microRNAs
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23. Blogs and RSS feeds
Connect with contributors in a trusted forum
Platform for media connections
Improve your internet profile (Search engines)
Can give readers and authors a chance to learn about
the science in your journal before reading it.
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24. Blogs and RSS feeds
Sponsored by the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chinese Academy of
Engineering and National Natural Science Foundation of China
1,200,000 registered members
500,000 page views per day
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25. Conferences Finding contributors
Find contributors
Face-to-face meeting
Contribute to community
Feedback from reviewers
and authors
Establish your journal as a
subject leader
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26. Conferences
What benefits are there for journals to attend international events? What
events has NRR attended recently and what were the outcomes?
“NRR has attended three international meetings in 2010,
the Francis Crick Symposium on Neuroscience hosted by
Cold Spring Harbor Asia, the 13th National Conference of
Neurology hosted by Chinese Medical Association, and the
40th Society for Neuroscience annual meeting,
Neuroscience 2010.
NRR’s presence at international events is beneficial for the
journal to expand its international awareness. We hope to
increase face-to-face communication with internationally
renowned experts and researchers, to become acquainted
with their recent achievements, and to listen to their
recommendations for NRR.” – Ms Zhao Meng,
Development Editor Neural Regeneration Research
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27. Section Two Easy to Read
How do readers read?
Abstract
Display Items
Captions
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28. How do your readers read?
Readers are busy scientists
Information should come a quickly as possible from a
manuscript
Therefore, manuscripts should have:
Well written abstracts
Easy to understand figures
Captions that explain the figures
In addition a manuscript should use simple language
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29. Abstract
Many researchers will only read the abstract so
must be able to ‘stand alone’
Must give an accurate summary of the research,
and enough information so that readers can
understand:
What was done
Why it was done
What the findings were
Why the findings are useful and important
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30. Abstracts Getting more from your manuscripts
Summary of broader appeal Big questions
Highlights importance of research Saving lives
Clarifies context Science fiction
Brings in readers from outside Faster computing
fields Cheaper, cleaner energy
Gets notice on blogs and science Popular science
new websites
Connects you to a wider audience = more readers
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31. Abstracts A little media attention
Manuscripts will already have a press release
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32. Abstracts International Chinese journals
WJG already requests a summary of broader appeal
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33. Display items
Best way to present results
Deliver information quickly
Good visuals attract readers
Provide a professional look
Work in tandem with
“broader appeal”
Work with your authors to
develop great visuals
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34. Captions
Often readers will not read the main text of a
manuscript. They must understand the figures
using only the caption.
Ensure your authors answers these questions:
What it is in the figure?
Why was this figure included in the manuscript?
How should the figure be interpreted?
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35. Captions
This one is from a lower-IF journal
This figure is from a high-impact-factor journal.
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36. Section Three Easy to contribute
Clear, uniform author Simple formatting rules
guidelines Reference style files
Templates Clear reviewer guidelines
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37. Ease of contribution
Scientists want to do, read about, and write about science
It looks like you are writing
We do NOT want to… a journal article, would you
like some help?
Do complex typesetting
Struggle with Microsoft Word Yes No
Request feedback on the
process from your authors
and reviewers.
Make sure your efforts are
helpful!
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38. Author guidelines
Author guidelines should be clear and uniform.
Try to keep things simple (e.g. word/page counts rather than line
counts)
Provide a summary of important rules:
Total word count: 3500
Abstract word count: 200
Reference limit: 20
When possible use examples!
1. C. van Trigt, "Visual system-response functions and estimating
reflectance," J. Opt. Soc. Am. A 14, 741-755 (1997).
Easier to understand
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39. Templates
64%
“If there was a
template,
I would use it”
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40. Templates
Templates make
formatting simple
It looks like you have a
template...
I guess you do not need
my help
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41. Simple submission format
Templates are great…
But not having to do any formatting is better
Many journals have very easy requirements:
Double space
Use standard font
Figures at the end
However, providing a simple template still helps!
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42. Reference style files
Reference managers like Endnote, Zotero,
Mendeley, and BibTeX save everyone’s time!
Provide Style files
.ens files for Endnote
.csl files for Zotero and Mendeley
.bst files for BibTeX
Use a standard style – no need to make new files
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43. Clear reviewer guidelines
Tell reviewers what you want
Constructive, ethical comments
Analysis of the full manuscript
Clearly reasoned comments
Why? More reviewers will be “Good reviewers”
Consider a reviewer template with directed questions to
ensure quality reviews
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44. Section Four Professionalism
“It takes 20 years to build a reputation and
five minutes to ruin it.” – Warren Buffet
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45. Ethics
More and more Journals are setting high ethical
standards. Readers, authors, and reviewers now
expect them.
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46. Mediation
You are the mediator between author and
reviewers:
Make sure only constructive reviews make it to
the author
and, only polite responses make it back to the
reviewer
One unfair experience can ruin a researcher’s
opinion
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47. Reviewer comments
Vague or unjustified reviewer comments can hurt
the process
Even if they were intended to be minor
“The language in the manuscript was full of
grammatical errors.”
It is hard for the author to know what to improve
Ensure good reviewer–author communication
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48. Reputation
Readers want to read…
Reviewers want to contribute to…
Authors will be proud to submit to
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49. Summary
Use the Web to get ahead
Connect with contributors (blogs, RSS,
conferences)
Require clear, concise, accurate writing
Use the full appeal of your manuscripts
Build a solid reputation

50. Thank you, from all of us at Liwen Bianji, Special thanks to:
Edanz Group China Chinese Society of
Theoretical and
Applied Mechanics

51. To download this talk and others
please visit:
www.liwenbianji.cn
Some material in this talk was obtained from Optics Communications, Wikipedia, Wikimedia, and Science Magazine.

52. Useful Websites
Journals
Protein & Cell http://www.protein-cell.org/archive/index.html
Journal of Zhejiang University http://www.zju.edu.cn/jzus/index.php
Journal of Integrative Plant Biology http://www.jipb.net/
Cell Research http://www.cell-research.com/index.asp
Chinese Journal of Astronomy and Astrophysics http://iopscience.iop.org/1009-9271
Neural Regeneration Research http://oa.crter.org/nrren/ch/first_menu.aspx
World Journal of Gastroenterology http://www.wjgnet.com/1007-9327/current.htm
Blogs and RSS feeds
EurekAlert! China http://chinese.eurekalert.org/zh/index.php
ScienceNet http://www.sciencenet.cn/
Reference managers
Zotero http://www.zotero.org/
Mendeley http://www.mendeley.com/
BibTeX http://www.bibtex.org/
Publishing Tools
CrossCheck http://www.crossref.org/crosscheck.html
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