P. De Castro - NECOBELAC T1 Course Scientific journals - Dublin, May 9, 2012 1 Critical introduction to SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND THE EDITORIAL PROCESS

P. De Castro - NECOBELAC T1 Course • Scientific journals - Dublin, May 9, 20121

Critical introduction to SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS

AND THE EDITORIAL PROCESS

Paola De CastroIstituto Superiore di Sanità

NECOBELAC Training Module


1. Knowledge and responsibilitiesto communicate results of scientific reseach

2. “Sea change” in knowledge dissemination

3. Rules and best practice for publication in scientific journals

REFLECT ON

Objective of the module


Knowledge today…

1. It can assume different meanings (contest)

2. It is not only information (which exists regardless of its use)

3. It requires a user able to link available knowledge to his/her personal experience

Today information is available (or potentially available) for all, provided that you have proper skills and technical devices to use it and adquire knowlege

learning

education

communication

representation

mental stimula

environment

COMPLEXITYCOMPLEXITY


INTERNET PROVIDES TOOLS

• where to find • how to recognize quality• how to use

BUT you should know

A cultural change is still required which should not only be associated to the development and availability of new technologies BUT to the capacity to use resources provided by such technologies

these tools


Online resources

OA Directory

OA Directory

OA WIKI

OA WIKI

OASISOASIS

OpenAIREOpenAIREDOAJDOAJ


Learning is not a private enterprise

Privatization of knowledge generates damageparticularly in the case of research financed with public funds, and even more in the health sector

Learning is not a private enterprise

Privatization of knowledge generates damageparticularly in the case of research financed with public funds, and even more in the health sector

Scientists must play an active role in the public debate on health issues

Knowledge as a SOCIAL VALUE

Knowledge dissemination becomes a CIVIL COMMITMENT

J. Willinsky. The Properties of Locke’s Common-wealth of Learning. Policy Futures in Education Volume 4 Number 4 2006

K. Carr, Liberating the voices of science, The Australian, January 16, 2008. Senator Carr is Australia - Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research. (http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23057489-25192,00.html)


It is a responsiblitity that must be recognised and undertaken with the same commitment and professionality as for all the other science-related activities

Responsibilityof science communication

For all people working in Research and Development

ESSENTIAL part of their work

Information transfer is an


TO WHOM and HOW to communicate?

Peer

General public

Policy makers

Patients

Clients

Etc. Etc.

OralWritten Non verbal

WHOM?

HOW?

Identify the most appropriate way of communicating according to your target


WHERE does responsibility lay?

• Scientists• Institutions where they work• Editors (reviewers, technical editors, etc.)• Publishers• Librarians, information specialists, web-masters• Etc.

They all contribute to create (quality) information, BUT they have different interests in the publishing enterprise


WRITE A USEFUL ARTICLE to contribute to the progress of science

Which needs shall I meet?

Are there other publications on the same topic?

Are they up-dated?

Are they useful?

Are they easily available?

Are they free on the Internet?

• Why write an article?• Where to publish it?• With whom?• How much time?• Which budget?

VALUE OF SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS

For the target (readers)

In some cases,national journals or books may be more appropriate

CONSIDER


HOW TO SELECT THE JOURNAL?• Indexed journals (IF)• Journals where important authors publish• High reject rate journals• Journals which I read for updating

WHAT TO CONSIDER?• Where is the journal indexed• Editorial committee• Editorial organization (policy)

(peer review, time)• Online availability• Copyright issues• …

VALUE OF SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS

PUBLISH IN QUALITY JOURNALSto obtain the highest evaluation(grants, career advancement)

For the author (writer)


Watson J D, Crick FHC. Molecular structure of nucleic acids: a structure for deoxyribose nucleid acid.Nature 1953; 171: 737-738.c

AUTHORSHIP & INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

1953Watson e Crick published an article on DNA which is very famous and well known all over the world

… and what about Rosalind Franklin?


How does knowledge transmissionchange through the centuries?

Printing

Writing

Internet

Fist graffiti 35.000 years ago

Hieroglyphs 3.200 BC

Alphabeth 1.000 BC

China 1050, Gutenberg 1450

Internet 1974 – 1990 Web – Google 1995

Symbols = concepts

syllables

Orality Oral memory within a community

The big revolutions


The Bible, 1456First book printed in Magonza by Gutenberg

180 copies36 x 29 cm

Print diffusionMillions of copies printed in few years

The Comedy by Dante Alighieri, 1491

Texts have already a defined structure

(commentaries by Cristoforo Landino)

Page numbering and italic were introduced by Aldo Manunzio in 1501


SCIENTIFIC JOURNALSrise in the 17th century in the academies

Journal des ScavansFirst journal, published in Paris 1665

Before, philosophers communicated through philosophical dissertations and letters

Present the most relevant European scientific papers

Inform the Royal Society members and other readers about scientific discoveries

Philosophical TransactionsRoyal Society of London, 1666

OBJECTIVEOBJECTIVES

Establish principles scientific priority and peer review


Scientific journals develop since the 18 th century

• Scientific societies• Universities• Governmental agencies• Scientific institutions • Profesional associations

still today they represent the preferred channel to disseminate scientific research results

WHO IS THE PUBLISHER?

Journal “shape” keeps unchanged until the Internet revolution

In the centuries, science becomes more specialized

The publishing enterprise develops

• Sequential reading• Texts and illustrations• Text structure• Paratextual elements

The book shape has an influence on the way of thinking


Scientific journalsChronological development and figures

2012 ?

Gutemberg revolution

Internetrevolution

1660 Rise (academies)

1700 Development (100)

1850 Development (1000)

1900 Sectorial specialization ( 10 000)

1950 Further specialization (100 000)

1990 Exponencial development (300 000)

2000 Open Access

2003 Berlin Declaration

2004 Permission crisis

2005 Development of OA policies …


TODAY INTERNET allows new ways of communication

Journals (and books) change their shape

• Blogs• Discussion lists• Wikis• Online answers• Social networks• Collective conversations

All this deeply affects scientific communication

New ways are developed

The article of the future5 minute video by Elsevier

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It shows the advantages of enriched articles

Supplementary informationinteractive content

It provides true immersion in the contest of the subject matter

Data are linked to databases providing the most updated information

It proves a positive correlation between data sharing, citations and impact


Proposal for an “UNJOURNAL”

Active participation of the research community

Two months for open peer review, and then the articles gets scores and citations

OPEN SCIENCE “UNJOURNAL”


INTERNET CHANGES ECONOMIC MODELS AND ALLOWS NEW METRICS

Authors become aware of the new opportunities provided by ICTand start negotiate their rights (self archiving is now recognised by most publishers)

NECOBELAC TOPIC MAPS

include modules and schemes

for all these issues

Online free full text is generally requiredand also the availability of research data is desired

New evaluation metrics are introducedas alternative to IF, e.g. H index (individual research output)

There is confusion on the roles of the actors of the editorial process and some contraddictions

Publishers are looking for new opportunities Journal prices grow exponentially

OA journals utilizing free software are developed


SCIENTISTS IN THE WORLD(UNESCO, Science reports)

1800 1000

1850 10 000

1900 100 000

1950 1 000 000

2007 7 000 000

increased scientific outputIncreased investment in research

specialization

NUMBER OF PUBLICATIONS now doubles every two years

technologiesindexing systemscirculation/citationsmetrics

Development in


SCIENTISTS IN THE WORLD TODAYUNESCO, Science report 2010

United States 21.0 %European Union 20.0 %China 19.7 %

Japon 11.0 %Russia 7.0 %

75% researchers in the worldwork in the above countries representing only 35% of the world population

7,200.000

India 2.0 %Latin America 3.5%Africa 2.2%


Publications in the world (2008=986.099) UNESCO, Science report 2010 – Based on ISI data

United States 28%European Union 37%China 10%

Japon 8%Russia 7%

Latin America 4.9% due primarily to Brasil

Africa 2.2% with 25% increase in the last 6 years

USA and EU are still the world leaders as for the absolute number of scientific publications.Yet, their percentage share of publications decreased much more then any other country in the last 6 years. On the other hand, China doubled its publications (10%)

Considering the size of Asian population it is envisaged that it will become the leader continent as for publication output in the coming years

Data refer to 2008, now the situation is rapidly changing


Citation increase in OA journals Open access citation average. A. Swan http://eprints.ecs.soton.ac.uk/18516/2/Citation_advantage_paper.pdf


Our mission of disseminating knowledge is only half complete if the information is not made widely and readily available to society.

New possibilities of knowledge dissemination not only through the classical form but also and increasingly through the open access paradigm via the Internet have to be supported.

We define open access as a comprehensive source of human knowledge and cultural heritage that has been approved by the scientific community.

In order to realize the vision of a global and accessible representation of knowledge, the future Web has to be sustainable, interactive, and transparent. Content and software tools must be openly accessible and compatible.

Basic concepts from the Berlin Declaration (2003)

OPEN ACCESS: a new paradigm of communication


Open Access: aprire la gabbia

… it requires the active commitment of each and every individual producer of scientific knowledge and holder of cultural heritage.

Open access contributions include original scientific research results, raw data and metadata, source materials, digital representations of pictorial and graphical materials and scholarly multimedia material.


Open Journal Systems

Free software for online journal management

About 11,500 journals


ISS OA policy was signed in 2007ISS represented the first health research institute in Italy having an OA policy

Development of OA policies


Internet revolution adds complexity to the publishing process

Ronald La Port. BMJ 1995, 2002

Death of metamorphisof scientific journals?

We are now in search of a new balance…


The European Commission supports OA

all articles resulting from EU funded projects

be deposited and preserved

in digital archives(Special clause 39 on OA, 7FP)

Besides OA specific projects,

the EU requires that


OA is a philosophy and not an archive

OA routes

2000 listings2000 listings

7646 OA7646 OA

CREATE AWARENESSamong all stakeholders

Digital archives (green)

OA journals (gold)


HOW MANY journals today?

ISSN all disciplines (aprox.1.500.000 ) 900.000 current (15% online)

ISI WEB OF SCIENCE

SCI 6500SSCI 1800AHCI 1140

MEDLARS (biomedicine)(21 million articles, some with links to full-text)

25.000 PEER REVIEWED 15-20% OA

9000 “HIGH IMPACT”

5000 journals

DOAJ: 7600 (800 health) 30% have publicaton fees

Scientific Electronic Library Online SciELO a model for cooperative electronic publishing in LA

34

Born in 1998 in Brasil, now it includes940 Journalsfor all disciplines

294 Health sciences 98 Biological sciences

ISI formula for IF

Quality criteria

NECOBELAC - SciELO Workshop in Rome, 21 June 2012


RESEARCHERS’ ATTITUDE ON OASurvey of the Project SOAP (Study on OA Publishing, 2009-2010 )

40.000 scientists 90% declare that OA is a benefit

5.000 scientistsFinancial barriers OA (39%)No quality OA journals (30%)

ONLINE SURVEY

NEED TO CREATE AWARENESS ON OA MODELS

MAIN OBSTACLES


BIOMED CENTRAL OA publisher for biomedicine

Today 320 peer reviewed journals, most with IF

Author keeps copyright

Articles have high visibility(indexed in PubMed)

Preservation is guaranteed

PAGES CHARGES BMC Medicine (IF 5.75)


OPEN LETTER Free circulation of research results In October 2000

PUBLIC LIBRARY OF SCIENCEwww.plos.org

Free access to publicly funded research results

7 Journals

6 Currents

4 Blog Network

2 Hubs

Publication fee1350 $ per article


AUTHOR PAYS to have his article OA

Peer review is the same in OA and non OA articles

THE HYBRID MODEL

SPRINGER OPEN CHOICE(Euros 2000)


NEW MODELS ARE TESTED

Articles are published online after revision : “ahead of publication”

but public debate was allowed even before the review process

Atmospheric chemistry and physics discussions


Nature PrecedingsA persistent and citable archive of preliminary results

Voting is intended to be an informal way of showing support for a researcher's work

Nature journals will consider manuscripts that have already been circulated as preprints, but some other publishers will not

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MESSAGE

EDITORIAL PROCESS. Basic elements

Sender Receiver

CHANNELL

Code

Feedbacknoise

The editorial process is a communication process:an agreement among sender and and receiver having the objective of transmitting knowledge


Actors of the EDITORIAL PROCESS

authors

editors

publishers

readers

• Referees• Technical editors• Translators• Graphic designers• Photographers• Printers• Web masters• Librarians• Information specialists

Be aware of the role of each actor in the processto be able to understand and comply with their requirements

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RESPONSIBILITIESTo be pointed out in T2 courses

•Develop useful contents•Select the appropriate document type•Read instructions to authors•Provide all information required by editors•Do not cheat Etc.

AUTHORS

•Organize and validate information•Garantee publication integrity•Create useful journals•Write instructions for authors•Specify steps of the editorial process Etc.

EDITORS

•Guarantee quality of published papers•Declare conflicts of interest•Comply with schedules•Respect privacy and confidentiality Etc.

REFEREES

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Receiving manuscriptsFirst evaluation by editor in chiefPeer review (reviewers/authors, reviewers, editor)

Editor in chief (acceptance/modification/ rejection)

SCIENTIFIC EDITINGinside an editorial office

Scientific editing – graphics(correction of drafts)

Receiving proofsArticle final copy

Complete issue (including all articles)

BlueprintOnline dissemination

PrintToday all this is online


WRITING A JOURNAL ARTICLEa challange between tradition and innovation

1. evaluate scientific content and target

2. be familiar with technical requirements

3. be familiar with the publication ethics

WARNING!BE AWARE OF EDITORIAL RULES

AND BEST PRACTICES

FORMATS OF SCIENTIFIC ARTICLES


SUMMARY of the main points

Publication of scientific output is part of the research processand plays a basic role for science development

Thanks to Internet, wide dissemination of scientific information (incluging data) is possible, economic models are changing, new metrics are possible

Scientific communication has a direct influence of science policies which, in turn, have a direct impact on public health and population well-being

Progress is reached through a mix of REALISM and IDEALISM:consider tradition and test new models

NECOBELAC can contribute to develop scientific communicationthrough new collaborations between Europe and Latin America

Documents

P. De Castro - NECOBELAC T1 Course Scientific journals - Dublin, May 9, 2012 1 Critical introduction to SCIENTIFIC JOURNALS AND THE EDITORIAL PROCESS