‘Scientific Publishing’Publishers: Origins, Roles & Contributions

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Content

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• Introduction to scientific publishing

• What do publishers do?

• The peer-review process

• Impact factor and other bibliometric indicators

• Getting your paper noticed

‘Introduction to Scientific Publishing’

History and development3

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1580Founding of the House of

Elzevir

1439Gutenberg and Moveable

Type

6th March 1665“Philosophical Transactions

of the Royal Society”

First true scholarly journal

Henry Oldenburg(1618- 1677)

Founding Editor and Commercial Publisher of the

first scientific journal

Origins of Scholarly Publishing

Historical View of Scholarly Publishing

0

5000

10000

15000

20000

25000

30000

35000

<1900 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s 2000s

Nu

mb

er o

f S

eria

ls

Decade

Total Number of Active, Refereed, Academic/Scholarly Serials

Source: Ulrichsweb.Com Nov. 2011NB: Data For Recent Years Incomplete

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2,000 STM Publishers

20,000 Peer-

Reviewed Journals

1.4 Million Peer-

Reviewed Articles

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Scholarly Publishing TodayScientific, Technical and Medical communities around

the world are united through STM Publishing

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RegistrationThe timestamp to officially note who 

submitted scientific results first

CertificationPerform peer‐review to ensure the validity and integrity of submissions

DisseminationProvide a medium for discoveries and 

findings to be shared

PreservationPreserving the minutes and record of 

science for posterity

The Publisher’s Role

Promoting use Through marketing, search engines, 

linking, indexing 

Making Access Easy

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64%

70%

57%60%

64%65%63%62%

67%

62%59%

0%

100%

Improving Productivity

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To better understand your attitudes towards scholarly publishing please indicate how much you agree or disagree with the following statement:

“Compared to 5 years ago I now spend more time reading and analysing research articles rather than finding them”

Significant Difference Between Subset and Total

Publishers support the greater scientific and health communities

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Elsevier’s Global Publishing Network

7,000 Editors

70,000 Editorial Board Members

300,000+ Referees

600,000+ Authors

Researchers

Health Practitioners

Faculty & Students

Pharma Companies

Librarians

Societies

Engineers

Professionals

General Public

Who We Serve

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Publishers provide free or low cost access to thousands of peer-reviewed journals to public institutions in

over 100 developing countries

Information Philanthropy

‘What do publishers do?’ Roles, tasks, responsibilities

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Solicit and manage

submissions

Manage Peer Review

Production

Publish and Disseminate

Edit and Prepare

Archive and promote use

The Journal Publishing Cycle

Helps to determine the quality, validity, significance and originality

of research

Helps to improve the quality of papers

Publishers stand outside the academic process and are not prone

to prejudice or favour

Publishers facilitate the review process by investing in online review systems and providing tools to help

Editors and Reviewers

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Peer Review

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Solicit and manage

submissions

Manage Peer Review

Production

Publish and Disseminate

Edit and Prepare

Archive and promote use

The Journal Publishing Cycle

Author submits manuscript – Preprint

Manuscript accepted – Accepted Author manuscript

Copy editing, Author proofing, preparation for publishing – Document proof

Logo, pagination, branding – Published journal article

Electronic Warehouse

Published as Print, HTML or PDF copy

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Journal Article Production

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Solicit and manage

submissions

Manage Peer Review

Production

Publish and Disseminate

Edit and Prepare

Archive and promote use

The Journal Publishing Cycle

Electronic Journal Platformslike Elsevier’s ScienceDirectimprove onlinedissemination and access

Traditional Print Journals

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Methods of Publication Dissemination

AND

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Other Methods of Dissemination

Pay-per-View

Podcast/ Blogs/ Mobile

Apps

Open Access

Sponsored Access

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Solicit and manage

submissions

Manage Peer Review

Production

Publish and Disseminate

Edit and Prepare

Archive and promote use

The Journal Publishing Cycle

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Newsletters Abstract & Indexing

Patient Use

Users can identify if they are a patient in need of medical information after searching for an

article

Point of Care Decision Making

Collaborative Research Networks

Promoting Research Information Use

Preservation & Archiving2nd official archive

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2-year Pilot Study

Publishers establish 3rd-party archives:

Elsevier with the National Library of the Netherlands

In addition to traditional print archives, publishers are partnering to create

multiple distributed electronic archives for posterity

Publishers are developing similar arrangements with

other organizations

1st official archive

‘The peer-review process’Aim, process, roles

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The Peer Review Process

Helps to determine the quality, validity, significance and originality

of research

Helps to improve the quality of papers

Publishers stand outside the academic process and are not prone

to prejudice or favour

Publishers facilitate the review process by investing in online review systems and providing tools to help

Editors and Reviewers

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The Role of Peer Review

Review Process (I)Editor pre-screens manuscripts and rejects

obviously unsuitable papers.

Remaining articles are initially reviewed by at least two Reviewers.

When invited, the Reviewer receives the abstract of the manuscript

The Editor generally requests that the article be reviewed within 2-4 weeks and provides a list of

questions

Reviewers submit reports with their findings and conclusions and the Editor takes an

accept/revise/reject decision based on reports.

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Review Process (II)

When reports are conflicting, an additional reviewer may be invited. Or editor reviews the

paper himself.

When a paper needs revision, the author receives a list with comments from reviewer, with request to address all points. The author can disagree but has to address each point.

After resubmission, editor or reviewers check changes and take another decision.

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Issues reviewers check (1):

Does paper fit with scope of journal?

Purpose, significance and originality of research

Clear and balanced context

Are the methods appropriate and presented in sufficient detail to allow the results to be repeated?

Writing style and presentation

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Issues reviewers check (2):

Figures/images/tables clear and well-described

Reference list correct and up-to-date

Reference list correct and up-to-date

Conclusions clear and supported by the results

Publishing ethics

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Presentation of the paper

Trade Names Abbreviations

SymbolsProperly used where indicated

TablesCan they be simplified or condensed?

Should any be omitted?

FiguresJustified and clear with fonts proportionate to

the size of the figure

Abstract Brief and describing the purpose of the work

Title Specific and reflecting the content of the manuscript

Writing Clear and concise English

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Duplicate publication Plagiarism

Ethics concerns -normally

followed up by the Editors and

Publisher

Data fabrication or falsification

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Oversight Function: Ethics

Publishing ethics

Comment on novelty and significance

Recommend whether the manuscript is

suitable for publication

Confidential comments will not be disclosed to

the Author(s)

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Comments to the Editors

Comments to the Editors

Comments to the Authors

Provides specific comments on the design

Comments on the presentation of data, results and discussion

Comments to the author(s) are consistent with your recommendation to the editors

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Who is a suitable reviewer?Review manuscripts in area of expertise

Can complete the review on time

Avoid any conflicts of interest

Not allowed to use the data

Provide an honest and critical assessment

Analyze the strengths & weaknesses

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‘The Impact Factor & Other Bibliometric Indicators’

Key Indicators of Journal Citation Impact

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Types of Indicators

Impact Factor

Eigenfactor SJR SNIP H-Index

Ratio between citations and citable items published in a journal

Citations to non-source items (editorials, letters, news items, book reviews, abstracts) may inflate the Impact Factor

Only source items (‘articles’ and ‘reviews’)

To all items (regardless of type)

Year 2 Year 1 Citing Year

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Impact Factor

Different article-types are cited differently

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Impact Factor

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0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Arts&Humanities

Business,Management&Accounting

SocialSciences

Economics,Econometrics&Finance

Mathematics

Engineering

Veterinary

ComputerScience

Energy

HealthProfessions

Nursing

Physics&Astronomy

MaterialsScience

Earth&PlanetaryScience

Psychology

Agricultural&BiologicalSciences

EnvironmentalScience

ChemicalEngineering

Medicine

Pharmacology,Toxicology&Pharmaceutics

Chemistry

Immunology&Microbiology

Neuroscience

Biochemistry,Genetics&MolecularBiology

Multidisciplinary0 1 2 3 4 5 6

Impact Factor

Citation rates to total journal

impact

Aggregate journal impact factors across 25 fields of

research

Elsevier’s philosophy on the Impact Factor

Elsevier uses the Impact Factor as one of a number of performance indicators for journals.

We acknowledge the many caveats associated with its use and strive to share best practice

with Authors, Editors, Readers and other stakeholders in scholarly communication.

Elsevier seeks clarity and openness in all communications relating to the IF and does not condone the practice of manipulation of the IF

for its own sake.

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Year 5 Year 4 Year 3 Year 2 Year 1 Citing Year

Similar calculating process to Google

PageRank

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Eigenfactor

Freely available at eigenfactor.org; on the JCR

Similar to Impact Factor, but considers 5 years

Self-citations excluded

Citations weighted by the EF of the citing journal

The Eigenfactor

Freely available online via ScopusSimilar to Impact Factor, but considers 3 years

Measures contextual citation impact

jCitations weighted by the likelihood of citation in the

subject field of source

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Year 3 Year 2 Year 1 Citing Year

Source Normalized Impact per Paper

SNIP

Devised at the University of Leiden, currently the most

sophisticated journal performance indicator

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Citation half-life

Citation half-life

The cited half-life for the journal is the median age of its articles cited in the current JCR year

Half of the citations to the journal are to articles published within the cited half-life

Journals that report on fundamental research usually have a high half-life (> 10 years)

Journals that report on ‘hot’ topics usually have a low half-life (2-4 years)

Citations

Paper no.

h

h

Hirsch, J. (August 2005)An index to quantify an

individual’s scientific research output

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H-Index

The H-Index

Available online via Scopus

Rates individuals based on career publications

Incorporates both quantity and quality

Productivity and age constraints

‘Getting Your Paper Noticed’Using innovative online tools, search engine

optimization and social media.

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You want to make sure your article gets the attention it deserves

• The volume of research articles is growing at an accelerated pace

• For most researchers, it’s a real challenge to keep up with the literature

• Your job: make sure your article doesn’t fall through the cracks!

9.3 hrs/week –average time spend on 

literature 

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1970 20100

35M

Simple but Effective• Choose the right journal

• Make sure your abstract is crystal-clear about what and why. Don’t assume people will understand.

• Spend quality time on your conclusions and references

• Don’t forget your keywords

• Share your data and research

• Use easy to understand charts and professional illustrations to support your message.

• Use clear and correct manuscript language

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Intuitive article layoutMakes it easier to determine if a paper is relevant

What Elsevier is doing to get your research noticed 48

Nurture insights, give your readers more than clear text & professional images

Express your research more fully

Integrated digital content, such as interactive maps

Linking with data repositories

Embedded video

What Elsevier is doing to get your research noticed 49

Help readers to quickly see why the paper is of interest

Innovative abstracting formats

High Quality Graphical Abstracts

Highlights

What Elsevier is doing to get your research noticed 50

Explain your research in your own words – webcast style

AudioSlides

AudioSlides

• Present your paper in your own words

• Slides and audio

• Up to 5 minutes

What Elsevier is doing to get your research noticed 51

As an author, there is a lot you can do to

get your research noticed…

But Did You Know?

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80% of traffic from search engines is generated from Google…

www.statowl.com

What you can do to get your research noticed 53

Share your knowledge!Make your paper stand out from the crowd…

What you can do to get your research noticed 54

Getting Noticed

• Sharing research, accomplishments and ambitions makes you more visible 

• With greater visibility, you get cited more, promote your research, and career

What you can do to get your research noticed 55

Thank You

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