E D I T O R I A L
Editorial: Selling Your Science: Where Preparation Meets Genius Stephen R. Hammes Department of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York 14642
t has been a little over a year since the current Associate science itself? However, although required to be sucEditors and I began our tenure with Molecular Endo- cessful, a good idea and nice data are often no longer crinology, and I am delighted to write that a great deal has enough. Whether we like it or not, in 2015, we need to happened in that short amount of time. First, Molecular be able to sell our work and, to a large extent, ourEndocrinology became the first of the Endocrine Society selves, to our peers and to the NIH. In order to do so, journals to be online-only. The transition went amazingly we therefore need to focus more and more on preparasmoothly and allowed us to add some nice new features. tion and presentation. For example, because we no longer need to print our When I meet with trainees in my capacity as an Editorfigures on paper, we now in-Chief, perhaps the most offer free color to all subcommon question asked to “Having high quality research and mitting authors. As I will me is “what is the most impoint out below, this ideas is paramount; however, we portant thing to think change has allowed au- also need to take more time to about when submitting a thors to both save money make sure that the writing is manuscript to Molecular and to brighten up their perfect, the data are presented Endocrinology?” My refigures for the readers. In sponse is always the same: clearly, and the ideas are stated as addition, because we no although you need to have longer have a cover page, lucidly as possible.” great data, it is equally imwe have added a new secportant that you present it tion to our home page where we present a featured au- in an organized and clear fashion. Otherwise, these great thor. This section has proven to be a nice opportunity for data may never make it through the review process, let trainees and other young investigators to present them- alone be interesting to the general reader of Molecular selves and their work, using pictures, biographies, re- Endocrinology. As such, I encourage them to take the search summaries, and videos. Finally, we have added extra time to check the grammar and spelling and to make monthly editorials by Associate Editors and other guests sure that every figure looks beautiful and matches the that cover a variety of interesting subjects, from obesity accompanying figure legend. Although it seems obvious, research, to tributes to the hard-working Scientific Re- it is amazing how often manuscripts have figures without view Officers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), legends or vice versa. to recent policy changes in science and medicine. Why is this attention to detail necessary? The bottom In contrast to these hard-hitting editorials, however, line is that reviewers, editors, and readers are busier than here I am going to discuss something a little lighter, but they have ever been before. With ever-increasing funding still very important: selling your science. We all like to pressures, we are all constantly writing grants and subthink that our great data will win the day for us in the long mitting our own manuscripts, while still running a lab, run. After all, what could be more important than the teaching students and fellows, and keeping up with an
I
ISSN Print 0888-8809 ISSN Online 1944-9917 Printed in U.S.A. Copyright © 2015 by the Endocrine Society Received April 12, 2015. Accepted April 12, 2015.
doi: 10.1210/me.2015-1099
Abbreviations: NIH, National Institutes of Health.
Mol Endocrinol, May 2015, 29(5):643– 644
mend.endojournals.org
The Endocrine Society. Downloaded from press.endocrine.org by [${individualUser.displayName}] on 23 October 2015. at 08:38 For personal use only. No other uses without permission. . All rights reserved.
643
644
Hammes
Editorial: Selling Your Science
unprecedented amount of administrative busywork. With all of these pressures and time constraints, reviewers, editors, and readers have little time or tolerance for poorly presented work; thus, great science can be lost simply due to deficiencies in presentation. Notably, these suggestions/requirements do not simply apply to papers, they are equally important in grant writing. We are now required to spend a large amount of space in our grants emphasizing the significance and innovation of our work, even though, as we all know, it is impossible to predict what will truly be important many years from now. In fact, some would argue that how we sell our science in a grant is at least as important as what we propose to do. Furthermore, with recent changes to the NIH Biosketch, an argument can be made that how we sell ourselves is of equal importance. With these concepts in mind, what can we do about it? Of course, having high quality research and ideas is paramount. However, we also need to take more time to make sure that the writing is perfect, the data are presented clearly, and the ideas are stated as lucidly as possible. Having others read over manuscripts and grant proposals is always a good idea. In fact, some institutions will actually offer money to have papers and/or grants from their faculty reviewed by outside experts before submission to the NIH or to a journal. With regard to Molecular Endocrinology, again I recommend that extra time be taken to work on presentation. I also suggest that authors take advantage of the free color, not only for pretty pictures but also for graphs and tables. In addition, titles and abstracts need to be clearly written and without acronyms so that any scientist can follow and understand what you are writing, regardless of his or her particular expertise. How can preparation and presentation help get your manuscripts through the review process at Molecular Endocrinology? One way is that it can help escort your man-
Mol Endocrinol, May 2015, 29(5):643– 644
uscript through the triage system that Molecular Endocrinology has put into place. In this triage system, all manuscripts are reviewed by members of the Editorial Board before deciding whether to send them out for review. With this system, approximately 35% of manuscripts are sent back to authors without review. Therefore clarity of titles, abstracts, and data will give your work the best chance of getting to the second stage of the review process. Once the manuscript is sent out for review, Molecular Endocrinology accepts about 65% of the manuscripts. With this in mind, submitting to Molecular Endocrinology is a nice option to consider. Authors know within 3 days whether the manuscript is going out for review, and if it survives the triage process, the chances of acceptance are quite high. The other Society journals have similar, although not exactly the same, triaging systems. Therefore, I would strongly encourage scientists to consider the Society journals when looking for a fair and meaningful place to submit their manuscripts. In closing, I would like to thank the authors, reviewers, and readers of Molecular Endocrinology for supporting the journal. It is our strong belief that Society journals exist to offer members, as well as nonmembers, a fair and respectable place to publish their work. We hope that we can continue to serve our scientific community and that authors will heed the words of Benjamin Franklin, who stated “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Stephen Hammes, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
Acknowledgments Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Stephen Hammes, MD, PhD, Endocrine Society, Publications, 2055 L Street Northwest, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected].
The Endocrine Society. Downloaded from press.endocrine.org by [${individualUser.displayName}] on 23 October 2015. at 08:38 For personal use only. No other uses without permission. . All rights reserved.
Editorial: Selling Your Science: Where Preparation Meets Genius Stephen R. Hammes Department of Medicine, University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, Rochester, New York 14642
t has been a little over a year since the current Associate science itself? However, although required to be sucEditors and I began our tenure with Molecular Endo- cessful, a good idea and nice data are often no longer crinology, and I am delighted to write that a great deal has enough. Whether we like it or not, in 2015, we need to happened in that short amount of time. First, Molecular be able to sell our work and, to a large extent, ourEndocrinology became the first of the Endocrine Society selves, to our peers and to the NIH. In order to do so, journals to be online-only. The transition went amazingly we therefore need to focus more and more on preparasmoothly and allowed us to add some nice new features. tion and presentation. For example, because we no longer need to print our When I meet with trainees in my capacity as an Editorfigures on paper, we now in-Chief, perhaps the most offer free color to all subcommon question asked to “Having high quality research and mitting authors. As I will me is “what is the most impoint out below, this ideas is paramount; however, we portant thing to think change has allowed au- also need to take more time to about when submitting a thors to both save money make sure that the writing is manuscript to Molecular and to brighten up their perfect, the data are presented Endocrinology?” My refigures for the readers. In sponse is always the same: clearly, and the ideas are stated as addition, because we no although you need to have longer have a cover page, lucidly as possible.” great data, it is equally imwe have added a new secportant that you present it tion to our home page where we present a featured au- in an organized and clear fashion. Otherwise, these great thor. This section has proven to be a nice opportunity for data may never make it through the review process, let trainees and other young investigators to present them- alone be interesting to the general reader of Molecular selves and their work, using pictures, biographies, re- Endocrinology. As such, I encourage them to take the search summaries, and videos. Finally, we have added extra time to check the grammar and spelling and to make monthly editorials by Associate Editors and other guests sure that every figure looks beautiful and matches the that cover a variety of interesting subjects, from obesity accompanying figure legend. Although it seems obvious, research, to tributes to the hard-working Scientific Re- it is amazing how often manuscripts have figures without view Officers at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), legends or vice versa. to recent policy changes in science and medicine. Why is this attention to detail necessary? The bottom In contrast to these hard-hitting editorials, however, line is that reviewers, editors, and readers are busier than here I am going to discuss something a little lighter, but they have ever been before. With ever-increasing funding still very important: selling your science. We all like to pressures, we are all constantly writing grants and subthink that our great data will win the day for us in the long mitting our own manuscripts, while still running a lab, run. After all, what could be more important than the teaching students and fellows, and keeping up with an
I
ISSN Print 0888-8809 ISSN Online 1944-9917 Printed in U.S.A. Copyright © 2015 by the Endocrine Society Received April 12, 2015. Accepted April 12, 2015.
doi: 10.1210/me.2015-1099
Abbreviations: NIH, National Institutes of Health.
Mol Endocrinol, May 2015, 29(5):643– 644
mend.endojournals.org
The Endocrine Society. Downloaded from press.endocrine.org by [${individualUser.displayName}] on 23 October 2015. at 08:38 For personal use only. No other uses without permission. . All rights reserved.
643
644
Hammes
Editorial: Selling Your Science
unprecedented amount of administrative busywork. With all of these pressures and time constraints, reviewers, editors, and readers have little time or tolerance for poorly presented work; thus, great science can be lost simply due to deficiencies in presentation. Notably, these suggestions/requirements do not simply apply to papers, they are equally important in grant writing. We are now required to spend a large amount of space in our grants emphasizing the significance and innovation of our work, even though, as we all know, it is impossible to predict what will truly be important many years from now. In fact, some would argue that how we sell our science in a grant is at least as important as what we propose to do. Furthermore, with recent changes to the NIH Biosketch, an argument can be made that how we sell ourselves is of equal importance. With these concepts in mind, what can we do about it? Of course, having high quality research and ideas is paramount. However, we also need to take more time to make sure that the writing is perfect, the data are presented clearly, and the ideas are stated as lucidly as possible. Having others read over manuscripts and grant proposals is always a good idea. In fact, some institutions will actually offer money to have papers and/or grants from their faculty reviewed by outside experts before submission to the NIH or to a journal. With regard to Molecular Endocrinology, again I recommend that extra time be taken to work on presentation. I also suggest that authors take advantage of the free color, not only for pretty pictures but also for graphs and tables. In addition, titles and abstracts need to be clearly written and without acronyms so that any scientist can follow and understand what you are writing, regardless of his or her particular expertise. How can preparation and presentation help get your manuscripts through the review process at Molecular Endocrinology? One way is that it can help escort your man-
Mol Endocrinol, May 2015, 29(5):643– 644
uscript through the triage system that Molecular Endocrinology has put into place. In this triage system, all manuscripts are reviewed by members of the Editorial Board before deciding whether to send them out for review. With this system, approximately 35% of manuscripts are sent back to authors without review. Therefore clarity of titles, abstracts, and data will give your work the best chance of getting to the second stage of the review process. Once the manuscript is sent out for review, Molecular Endocrinology accepts about 65% of the manuscripts. With this in mind, submitting to Molecular Endocrinology is a nice option to consider. Authors know within 3 days whether the manuscript is going out for review, and if it survives the triage process, the chances of acceptance are quite high. The other Society journals have similar, although not exactly the same, triaging systems. Therefore, I would strongly encourage scientists to consider the Society journals when looking for a fair and meaningful place to submit their manuscripts. In closing, I would like to thank the authors, reviewers, and readers of Molecular Endocrinology for supporting the journal. It is our strong belief that Society journals exist to offer members, as well as nonmembers, a fair and respectable place to publish their work. We hope that we can continue to serve our scientific community and that authors will heed the words of Benjamin Franklin, who stated “By failing to prepare, you are preparing to fail.” Stephen Hammes, MD, PhD, Editor-in-Chief
Acknowledgments Address all correspondence and requests for reprints to: Stephen Hammes, MD, PhD, Endocrine Society, Publications, 2055 L Street Northwest, Suite 600, Washington, DC 20036. E-mail: [email protected].
The Endocrine Society. Downloaded from press.endocrine.org by [${individualUser.displayName}] on 23 October 2015. at 08:38 For personal use only. No other uses without permission. . All rights reserved.
