How to publish in (different) journals?
Erik Driessen & Janneke Frambach
What will we discuss?
• How to target your paper to a journal
• What kind of considerations go into chosing a
journal
• How to handle the reviews
Which journal?
Who wants to publish a paper?
• What will be your target journal?
• Where do you think it will be accepted?
Differences in journals
• Scientific or general
• Social sciences - bio med – specialist
• North America – rest of the world
• Open access - traditional journal
Excercise - Purpose
• Be aware of what you want to achieve
– with this paper
– for yourself
Excercise - Instruction
• Contrasting papers to identify the
characteristics of different genres
• Two contrasting papers: which differences do
you see? In which aspects?
All four papers available at www.erikdriessen.com
Length
Word count
14000
12000
10000
8000
6000
4000
2000
0
BMJ
Rev Educ Res
Arch Pediatr
Adolesc Med
Med Educ
References
Ref count
160
140
120
100
80
60
40
20
0
BMJ
Rev Educ Res
Arch Pediatr
Adolesc Med
Med Educ
First sentences
• Feedback is the cornerstone of effective
clinical teaching.
• Although it is often mentioned in articles
about learning and teaching, surprisingly few
recent studies have systematically investigated
the meaning of feedback in classrooms.
First sentences
• Communication and professionalism form the
foundation of the patient-physician
relationship and are essential to quality health
care.
• Feedback is central to supporting cognitive,
technical and professional development.
Titles
• Giving feedback in clinical settings
• The power of feedback
• Effect of multisource feedback on resident
communication skills and professionalism
• State of the science in health professional
education: effective feedback
Before you start your study
• Think about the story you want to tell
– What is your contribution to the scholarly discussion on
this topic in this journal?
• Orientate on possible target journals
– Read the target journal’s Instructions to authors, editorials,
top 10 downloads, instructions for reviewers
– Audience
– Theory
– Literature
– Methodology
– …..
Before you start your writing
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Length
Title
Writing style
Structure (headings)
Co-authors
References
Tables and figures
…..
Receiving
reviews
What’s your
style?
After the writing –
reading the review report
• Focus of the review
• Role of editors
• Harshness of review
– Strictness of review
– Rudeness of communication
After the writing –
reading the review report
• Lenient or stubborn?
– Do I want to revise?
– To what extent?
– Be respectful; respect other people’s opinions
• Letter
• Timing; an editor’s perspective on timing
Conclusion
Reading suggestions
• Taylor R. 2005. The Clinician’s Guide to Medical Writing. New
York: Springer.
• Albert T. 2007. Winning the Publications Game. How to write
a scientific paper without neglecting your patients. 2nd ed.
Abingdon, Oxon: Radcliffe Medical Press.
• Annesley T. 2011. Top 10 Tips for Responding to Reviewer and
Editor Comments. Clin Chem: 57,4: 551-554.