II THE PUBLICATION PROCESS

1
IITHE PUBLICATION PROCESS
2

• Conduct literature review
• Start the paper
• Conduct study/analyze data
• Organize/summarize results succinctly
• Get early, frequent feedback (in "chunks")
• Formulate your key message
• Apply the "new/useful" test
• Choose your target audience
• Choose your target journal
• Read journal instructions for authors
• Draft (and debug) an abstract
• Write the first draft
• Master the literature
• Relearn, rethink, rewrite
• . . . and rewrite and rewrite
• How long?
• Critically review and finalize the abstract
• Attend to the details
• Submit article to target journal

3
Conduct literature review
4
(No Transcript)
5
(No Transcript)
6
(No Transcript)
7
(No Transcript)
8
(No Transcript)
9
(No Transcript)
10
(No Transcript)
11
Conduct literature review
Finished?
12
Start the paper

• even before I do the study??

13
(No Transcript)
14
Start the paper

• Draft the Introduction
• perhaps borrow from a study protocol or grant
  proposal that you already wrote
• Draft dummy table shells and figure axes for
  Results.

15
Conduct study/analyze data

• Now its time to write the first draft, right?
• Maybe not.

16
Organize/summarize results succinctly

• Fill in dummy tables and figures with real data.
• Draft additional tables and figures if needed
  look at published articles for potential
  templates.
• Summarize each table/figure in a single sentence.

17
Get early, frequent feedback
in "chunks"
18
Get early, frequent feedback

• Share your tables/figures and single-sentence
  summaries to coauthors/colleagues. Ask if they
  are clear/concise/compelling.
• Give presentations to colleagues at work, at
  conferences.
• Try to formulate a concise key message.

19
Get early, frequent feedback

• Share your tables/figures and single-sentence
  summaries to coauthors/colleagues. Ask if they
  are clear/concise/compelling.
• Give presentations to colleagues at work, at
  conferences
• Try to formulate a concise key message. Get
  feedback.

20
Please listen carefully to what I am about to
say. . .

• Dont wait for a complete draft to begin getting
  feedback.

21
Thanks for your detailed and lengthy criticism of
my manuscript. Ill be sure to incorporate your
suggestions into my next draft.
22
Formulate your key message

• Keep it simple try to boil down to a single
  sentence.
• Your message must contain something new and
  useful.
• Make sure your results support your key message.
• The message may change as you develop the paper.

23
Apply the new/useful test
24
BMJ Rejection Checklist

• Why did we reject your paper?
• on balance, your paper is not sufficiently
  interesting for general readers (relative to
  other papers)
• the message is not new enough
• the topic is interesting but the paper does not
  cover it in enough depth
• the paper adds a small amount of new information
  but not enough to warrant space in the BMJ
• the message is not useful enough in practice

25
BMJ Rejection Checklist

• Why did we reject your paper?
• on balance, your paper is not sufficiently
  interesting for general readers (relative to
  other papers)
• the message is not new enough
• the topic is interesting but the paper does not
  cover it in enough depth
• the paper adds a small amount of new information
  but not enough to warrant space in the BMJ
• the message is not useful enough in practice

26

• What/Who is a general reader

27
BMJ Mission Statement

• to lead the debate on health, and to engage,
  inform, and stimulate doctors, researchers and
  other health professionals in ways that will
  improve outcomes for patients

28
BMJ Mission Statement

• to lead the debate on health, and to engage,
  inform, and stimulate doctors, researchers and
  other health professionals in ways that will
  improve outcomes for patients

29
BMJ Mission Statement

• to lead the debate on health, and to engage,
  inform, and stimulate doctors, researchers and
  other health professionals in ways that will
  improve outcomes for patients

30
Choose your target audience
31
Choose your target journal
32
Choose your target journal

• Criteria
• A journal that matches your target audience
• How strong is your article?

33
Instructions for authors

• can help to confirm whether your topic is
  relevant to the journals mission
• e.g. Is AJPH interested in global health?

34

• The foremost mission of the American Journal of
  Public Health is to promote public health
  research, policy, practice, and education. We aim
  to embrace all of public health, from global
  policies to the local needs of public health
  practitioners. Contributions of original
  unpublished research, social science analyses,
  scholarly essays, critical commentaries,
  departments, and letters to the editor are
  welcome.

35

• The foremost mission of the American Journal of
  Public Health is to promote public health
  research, policy, practice, and education. We aim
  to embrace all of public health, from global
  policies to the local needs of public health
  practitioners. Contributions of original
  unpublished research, social science analyses,
  scholarly essays, critical commentaries,
  departments, and letters to the editor are
  welcome.

36
Instructions for authors

• And now for the details . . .

37
Certify that . . .
38
Final approval of manuscript
39
Take public responsibility
40
Your contributions
41
Draft (and debug) an abstract
42
Draft (and debug) an abstract

• RELIABILITY
• VALIDITY
• RELIABILITY
• RELIABILITY
• FLEXIBILITY
• UTILITY

• Purpose
• Methods
• Results
• Conclusions

43
Write the first draft

• Finally!

44
Write the first draft

• Write for your target audience (use appropriate
  terminology/jargon).
• Consider using an outline.
• Dont sweat the grammar, syntax or details (only
  you need to understand the first draft).

45
When the Journal Responds

• Acknowledgment of receipt
• Internal review
• External review
• Comments from editors/referees
• Responding to the comments
• Writing the cover letter
• When to contact the editor

46
When the Journal Responds

• Acknowledgment of receipt
• Internal review
• External review
• Comments from editors/referees
• Responding to the comments
• Writing the cover letter
• When to contact the editor

47
(No Transcript)
48
(No Transcript)
49
When the Journal Responds

• Acknowledgment of receipt
• Internal review
• External review
• Comments from editors/referees
• Responding to the comments
• Writing the cover letter
• When to contact the editor

50
How Long Does it Take?
months
Submission to final acceptance 5
Acceptance to publication 10-12
15-17
Complete data analysis to journal submission 6-12
Begin data analysis to complete data analysis 3-8
24-37
51
How Long Does it Take?
months
Submission to final acceptance 5
Acceptance to publication 10-12
15-17
Complete data analysis to journal submission 6-12
Begin data analysis to complete data analysis 3-8
24-37
52
How Long Does it Take?
months
Submission to final acceptance 5
Acceptance to publication 10-12
15-17
Complete data analysis to journal submission 6-12
Begin data analysis to complete data analysis 3-8
24-37
53
The Secret of Success
54
The Secret of Success

• Conduct literature review
• Start the paper
• Conduct study/analyze data
• Organize/?summarize results succinctly
• Get early, frequent feedback (in "chunks")
• Formulate your key message
• Apply the "new/useful" test
• Choose your target audience
• Choose your target journal
• Read journal instructions for authors
• Draft (and debug) an abstract
• Write the first draft

?
55
The Secret of Success

• Conduct literature review
• Start the paper
• Conduct study/analyze data
• Organize/summarize results succinctly
• Get early, frequent feedback (in "chunks")
• Formulate your key message
• Apply the "new/useful" test
• Choose your target audience
• Choose your target journal
• Read journal instructions for authors
• Draft (and debug) an abstract
• Write the first draft

56
The Secret of Success

• Conduct literature review
• Start the paper
• Conduct study/analyze data
• Organize/summarize results succinctly
• Get early, frequent feedback (in "chunks")
• Formulate your key message
• Apply the "new/useful" test
• Choose your target audience
• Choose your target journal
• Read journal instructions for authors
• Draft (and debug) an abstract
• Write the first draft

Organize/summarize results succinctly Get early,
frequent feedback (in "chunks") Formulate your
key message Apply the "new/useful" test Choose
your target audience Choose your target
journal Read journal instructions for
authors Draft (and debug) an abstract