Communicating Science:
Getting your results published in the JBC
Martha J. Fedor,
Editor-in-Chief
Journal of Biological Chemistry
How to write an outstanding paper:
Do outstanding science
  Ask an important question
  Work with smart people
  Choose a productive environment
Integrate writing with research
  Take a clear and logical approach
  Turn results into figures
Why Publish:
Make a scientific contribution
  If a tree falls in the forest…..
Writing promotes outstanding research
  Imposes purpose, logic on experimental design
  Highlights gaps in experimental data
  Motivates complete, accurate recordkeeping
Why Publish Now:
Significant scientific advance
Solid story
  Reproducible
  Consistent
  Complete
When to Publish in the JBC:
JBC’s Mission:
The Journal of Biological Chemistry
publishes papers based on original
research that are judged to make a
novel and important contribution to
understanding the molecular and
cellular basis of biological processes.
Why publish in the JBC:



Immediate publication upon acceptance
Manuscript version immediately accessible to
everyone forever
Editor, Associate Editors, Reviewing Editors are
all active scientists

Affordable - $90/page, free color figures

Fast - Avg 22 days to first decision
Scientific writing:
Tell a good story

Complete but concise
Direct, precise, consistent
Optimize figures

Simple, clean, self-explanatory
Use appropriate statistics

Mean, standard deviation, range
Significant figures

Number of digits that reflects precision
The Submission:

Cover letter
List authors
Summarize (pitch) the content
Suggest potential referees, exclusions
Instructions to Authors

Verify text and figure file formats
Complete-keywords, abbreviations
Assemble forms-copyright, reprints

Database submissions, for future release
(Genbank, PDB, etc.)
After submission:

Expect acknowledgment of receipt

Editor - Should manuscript be reviewed
Consistent with Editorial Guidelines
Potentially acceptable

Manuscript sent to 2 reviewers
Editorial Board and/or expert referees
~several days to weeks (unless referees differ)
The Decision Letter:
Accept (<5%)

Accept after minor revisions

Revisions of text and/or figures
Little, if any, new data needed
Reconsider after major revisions

Usually requires new data
Decline (>50%)

“Serious flaws”
“Not sufficiently significant”
Responding to Critiques:
Stay positive and constructive

Revise the manuscript

Fix the “problems”
Clarify any misunderstandings
Rebuttal letter to challenge rejection

Factual errors in critiques that might have
affected the outcome
The Resubmission:
Cover letter

Stay civil
Point by point response to reviewers’ concerns
Explain each revision
Explain any decisions to leave as is
Annotate revision to show changes

Accepted for Publication!
Send files to publisher

Format files per Instructions to Authors
Correct page proofs

Fix errors only, no major revisions
Quick turnaround
Publication as “Paper In press”

Freely accessible to all forever
(Redacted version is
copyright protected for 1 year)
Communicating Science in 2013:
The Challenges
The volume of scientific information
has exploded
The JBC in 1968
Editorial Board members: 50
Associate Editors: 4
Number of Pages Published 6,500
The JBC in 2013
Editorial Board members: 743
Associate Editors: 30
Number of Pages Published: 44,799
Research has become more specialized
5 JBC Table of Contents Divisions in 1968
  Chemistry and Metabolism of Macromolecules
  Chemistry and Metabolism of Substances of Low
Molecular Weight
  Oxidation-Reduction and Bioenergetics
  Enzymology
  Control Mechanisms and Biochemical Genetics
Research has become more specialized
22 Table of Contents Divisions in 2013
  Bioenerge(cs   Cell Biology   Computa(onal Biology   Developmental Biology   DNA and Chromosomes   Enzymology   Gene Regula(on   Genomics and Proteomics   Glycobiology and Extracellular Matrices   Immunology Lipids Membrane Biology Metabolism Microbiology Molecular Bases of Disease Molecular Biophysics Neurobiology Plant Biology Protein Structure and Folding Protein Synthesis and Degrada(on   RNA   Signal Transduc(on 









Opportunity
 New Editor in Chief
 Online only in 2012
Bringing down the monolith: Affinity Groups
Restructuring at the editorial level and the
journal presentation level to create
communities based on shared interests.


One affinity group per table of contents
division
Offer context for current research
  Minireviews
  Classics
  Reflections
JBC
TOC
HEADING
TOC
HEADING
TOC
HEADING
AE
AE
AE
AE
AE
AE
AE
AE
TOC
HEADING
AE AE
AE
TOC
HEADING
AE AE
AE
AE
TOC
HEADING
AE
AE
AE
Affinity groups are interconnected
Affinity groups from an editorial perspective
Associate editors with shared interests
collaborate to:
 Define editorial standards
 Maintain review consistency
 Identify emerging areas
 Choose board members
 Build the JBC Collections
  Minireviews
  Classics
  Reflections
Affinity groups from an author’s perspective
Affinity groups from an author’s perspective
  New search and
keyword functions to
help authors find
prospective reviewing
editors.
  Reviewing editors can
manage their profiles.
Affinity Groups from a reader’s perspective
  Affinity Sites at www.affinity.jbc.org
  Help scientists with common interests to connect
  Provide depth and context for current research
  Create "homes" for scientific areas:
  Current research of interest to specific affinity groups
  Papers of the Week
  Author profiles
  Theme issues
  Reflections
  Classics
Cell Biology Affinity Site
Affinity Sites
Link to affinity sites through articles
Online enrichment
 Capsules
  Increase
accessibility of
articles to our
general audienceno jargon
  Improve browsing
experiencesmall space
  Emphasize impact
Online enrichment
 Capsules
  Increase
accessibility of
articles to our
general audienceno jargon
  Improve browsing
experiencesmall space
  Emphasize impact
Online enrichment
Use technology to enhance communication:
  Inline video
  3D structures in electronic PDFs
  Database links in article
  Reference links
  Floating figure captions: Read the legend in any view
  Links from PDFs to high-resolution figures
THANK YOU!
How can we communicate science better?