High impact papers?

Keith ShineJanuary 2012

How might we define high impact?

• Causing textbooks to be rewritten …?

• Widespread peer recognition? o citations o prizes

• Publication in Nature or Science? • Media attention? I assume we wish our high impact

papers to also be excellent!

All % Top 15 % Us %

Earth Planet Sci Lett (4) 6 13 0

Nature (31.4) 6 13 1

JGR (3.1) 5 12 6

Science (28.1) 5 11 3

GRL (3.0) 4 9 7

QJ (2.0) 3 6 18

J Clim (4.3) 2 3 9

J Phys Oceanog (2.4) 1 3 3

J Atmos Sci (3.0) 5

IEEE Geo Rem S (3.1) 4

MWR (2.4) 3

The 2008 Research Assessment Exercise – where did other departments, other top

departments and we publish (our 4 outputs) ?

Includes all “environmental and earth system science” depts

What makes a high impact paper?

• Excellent innovative science tackling big issues, solving pervasive problems or presenting a widely-applicable, easily-adopted technique or dataset

• A bit of serendipity• Provocative/challenging/controversial

...• Good timing• Critical reviews of the literature …

How can we improve the impact?

• Abstracts/introductions/conclusions – emphasizing the advances we make, rather than what we have not done!

• Where we publish – aim for a range of journals?

• When we publish – what is the right “quantum” of knowledge? What are the “dangers” of delay?

• Getting the paper length right! • How we advertise our work

o pro-active and responsive distributiono up-to-date web siteso conference/seminars (timing important)

Ways forward?• Should we introduce any element of

internal peer review (especially for abstract/intro/conclusions)?

• Should we think of writing more critical reviews/assessments/integrative studies/intercomparisons (including updates to previous ones)?

• Should we target Nature and Science more? And how “valuable” are Nature Geoscience and Nature Climate Change?