Manuscript Writing 101:Essentials for Journal Acceptance

Junichi SadoshimaDepartment of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine,

Cardiovascular Research Institute, UMDNJ, NJMS

Newark, NJ

Sadoshju@umdnj.edu

DISCLOSURE INFORMATIONVasade Bioscience Inc.

November 8, 2008Early Career and FIT Program: Track A for the Basic ScientistScientific Sessions 2008New Orleans

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Pre-doc Post-doc

All papers co-authored by a previous mentor

No papers co-authored by a previous mentor

Independent Lab

Morisco C, Zebrowski DC, Vatner SF, Sadoshima J. The Akt-GSK3 pathway regulates transcription of ANF induced by adrenergic receptor stimulation in cardiac

myocytes. J. Biol. Chem.: 275, 14466-14475, 2000. (accepted in January)

NIH funding9/00 -present

Junior faculty position

Contents

• How can we successfully prepare manuscripts?

• How can we improve our productivity?

PNAS

• Suitable Quality?

• Sufficient General Interest?

• Conclusions Justified?

• Clearly Written?

• Procedures Described?

Clarity-1• Clarify a central message before you

start writing. Use PowerPoint presentations. Describe your work to a colleague in one or two sentences.

• A paper should address one main question.

• Irrelevant experimental data should be excluded.

• Write in your own voice.

• Eliminate the possibility of being misunderstood.

Clarity-2

• Putting oneself in the reader’s position.

Identify readersKeep to the word limit (Short papers are

not equal to short manuscripts)

Be consistentPresent Figures and Tables clearlyAvoid excessive abbreviationsUse English editing services

Assist reviewers in understanding your work, and get constructive criticisms Assist readers in understanding your paper, and get more citations

Clarity-3

• Seek opinions from non-experts. Find out which part of your manuscript is difficult to follow.

Circ Res

• Degree of Novelty (Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Fair, Poor)

• Strength of Mechanistic Insights• Technical Excellence• Priority (Top 5%, Top 20%, Satisfactory, Fair,

Poor)• Recommendation (Accept, Reconsider after

moderate revision, Reconsider after major revision, Reject)

When should we submit?

• Manuscript with novel findings cannot be rejected easily.

Novelty

Completeness

Mechanistic insights• Find the underlying mechanism of the

biological response.• Study the functional significance of the

biological response.• Find the relevance of the biological response

to pathophysiology.• Study the properties of the endogenous

molecule, using loss of function approaches.• Study the in vivo significance of the biological

response studied in vitro. • Plan these experiments in the early stages

of your study.

How to increase your productivity

• Assemble Figures and Tables in the early stages of your work.

• Prepare a folder for data and references.• Start writing wherever you can. Write the

paper in parts.• Prepare outlines and headings and write the

first sentence. • Write quickly and put the draft aside for at

least one day before revising• Prepare for the revision in advance. Don’t be

afraid of receiving criticisms. • Always make a wish list for improvement.

Manuscript Review

• The best opportunity to learn what is necessary for acceptance of the journal.

• It is not a waste of time. A good way to practice time management.

• The best exercise to improve the quality of your science.

• Making constructive comments benefits your experimental design as well.

Meeting presentations

• The best opportunity to understand the quality of your data objectively.

• A good opportunity to make your wish list for future presentations.

• Always include new data.

• Accept criticism, assess the response of the audience, and improve the clarity of your presentation.

• Bring your manuscript to meetings.

Yamamoto M, Yang G, Hong C, Liu J, Holle E, Yu X, Wagner T, Vatner SF, Sadoshima J. Inhibition of thioredoxin in the

heart increases oxidative stress and cardiac hypertrophy. J Clin Invest:112, 1395-1406, 2003.

2003 Microarray analyses, Bioinformatics

2004 AHA summer conferenceInitial interest in DnaJb5

2005 AHA Scientific SessionsThe role of DnaJb5 in mediating the anti-hypertrophic actions of Trx1

2006 AHA summer conferences, Scientific SessionsTrx1, TBP-2, DnaJb5, and HDAC4 form a complex

2007 AHA Scientific SessionsTrx1 regulates cysteine modification of DnaJb5 and HDAC4

Ago T, Liu T, Zhai P, Chen W, Li H, Molkentin JD, Vatner SF, Sadoshima J. A redox dependent pathway for regulating class II HDAC and cardiac hypertrophy.

Cell: 133, 978-993, 2008.

Information regarding Mrj(Dr. Molkentin)

Extensive proteomic analysis of proteins in situ

Wish list-1(to elucidate the

mechanismby which Dnajb5

inhibits hypertrophy)

Wish list-2(to elucidate the

Cysteine modification of DnaJb5 and

HDAC4, using proteomics)

Wish list-3(to elucidate the Cysteine

modification or proteins in situ )

Bottomley, M. J. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 283,26694-26704, 2008

Sadoshima Lab

• Weekly report • Submit abstracts to AHA Summer

Conference and Scientific Sessions (a good indicator of the impact of your work)

• Abstract grading• Critical reading at Journal Club• Preparation of reviews, editorials, book

chapters

Concluding remarks

• Nothing happens in one day. One publication helps your next publication. A publication could open up invaluable opportunities.

• If your observation is really true, even very difficult criticisms can be addressed.

Acknowledgements

• Sadoshima Lab members (http://www.sadoshimalab.org)

• Supports from NIH and AHA

• Dr. Stephen F Vatner