Thread by @heatherlgornik

Give a talk on tips for getting a paper published for early career docs. I had fun putting it together with my own reflections as a jr. author, sr. author, peer reviewer, and editor. I thought I would share a 🧵 @SVM_tweets #ACCFIT #SVMNextGen #publishing

#1. Choose Journal to submit with care. Consider fit as well as prestige (impact factor, IF). Make sure paper fall within scope of journal. Review journal website and consider pre-submission inquiry to editorial office.

#1.5 IF is but 1 factor; need to be sure your paper will be assessed by knowledgeable reviewers in its field a timely fashion with possibility of ultimate acceptance. Others may disagree, but I think it’s helpful to identify your first choice journal before writing the paper.

#2. Review Journal’s instructions for authors prior to submission. Prevent headaches later on! Make sure your paper follows guidelines for structure, formatting, and other aspects of content (reporting requirements, stats). Here is an example from VMJ: journals.sagepub.com/author-instruc…

#3 Write the paper. Obviously the most important piece of this process and topic for a whole other thread. Many different approaches – I personally like to start with tables/figures and results section, then methods, introduction, discussion/conclusion.

#4 Know your limit(ation)s. Section is important. Be thoughtful about the limitations of your work (inc. study design/methods) and disclose/discuss in the discussion section. This shows “humility” to peer reviewers and may preempt additional peer review comments.

#4.5 On the flip side, don’t overstate/aggrandize implications of the work or its clinical applications (this really irks reviewers and editors).

#5 Engage co-authors. Circulate a draft that has edited by yourself and your sr. and other core authors. Make sure all authors have a chance to provide input (this is required to meet criteria for authorship). Give all co-authors a finite period of time to comment.

#5.5 Implement as many co-author suggestions as appropriate; work Sr. author to settle different opinions/ achieve consensus.

Confirm authorship (including order) and approval of a final draft prior to submission. Have all authors review the final draft to be submitted including front matter/author order. ICMJE guidelines for authorship: icmje.org/recommendation…

#6 Wait for peer review. Can take a while; goes back to #1. If a paper is not a good fit for a journal it can take a very long time to secure reviews. Peer review time is good “down time” to work on advancing other aspects of your research and academic development, another paper.

#7 Revision was offered. Excellent! Your paper will most likely make it to publication with good faith attempt to address comments. Take a deep breath and don’t let your blood pressure spike to high reading “Reviewer 2s” comments.

Triage your comments into 4 buckets: 1. additional experiments or analyses required. 2. “cosmetics: (wording, typos, references). 3. things that simply cannot be addressed (need to expand limitations). 4. comments to be rebutted (pick your battles!)

Comments should be addressed in a response letter point by point with assoc. addition, deletion, or edit tracked or highlighted in the paper. Be polite in tone. snark can backfire here! Keep rebuttals to important issues; pick your battles. Be respectful in making your case!

#8 Be responsive to requested 2nd/3rd round of revision. If conflicts or getting in loop of new concerns raised by reviewer(s), consider communicating (politely) with the Editor to clarify how to move ahead to satisfy reviewers while remaining true to your paper’s intent

#9 Finish strong once paper is accepted. Carefully review galley proofs; the last chance to correct any typos or numerical errors before publication. Some journals charge $ for corrections and these can be embarrassing. This is all preventable with a good proof review.

#10 Post publication. Add paper to your CV as soon as it is published (makes it a “living document”; less of a chore to update). Share reprint as allowed per your agreement with the journal/publisher. Disseminate your work through social media, journal club, citation, etc.

Return to step #1 and repeat with a new paper.

@threadreaderapp unroll might you help a doc out please?