G Model EURR-6765; No. of Pages 1
ARTICLE IN PRESS European Journal of Radiology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
European Journal of Radiology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ejrad
Editorial
How to get published and how to review
In the act of editing our journal, all of us are challenged by two main concerns: the quality of the paper AND the quality of the review. We want to provide the authors that send their papers to us the guarantee that the peer review process is as fast as possible, reliable and of high quality. At the same time we want our reviewers, who we value greatly, to evaluate adequately constructed papers, without any methodological flaws or signs of plagiarism. To address both needs is a challenging task. There is not very much opportunity for young researchers to gain training in writing a paper. The large international meetings like RSNA and ESR do provide small workshops, that are interactive to a degree, and thus serve this great need. Yet researchers must of course be present at these conferences to be able to participate in the workshops, and this is a hurdle that is not easily taken. Yet one always is on the lookout to expand the corps of reviewers, in order not to overload our respected colleagues who are doing an important yet voluntary job and I am very much aware of this as a co-editor of our journal. Reviewing a manuscript takes diligence, time and expert opinion, don’t you agree? So we are looking for experts in the field, experts that most often are already overloaded with obligations, administrative, educational or research-wise. This means that we are walking a small line here. We want to ask the expert, yet we know that their time is sparse and we do not want to overload our colleagues! All of the above gave rise to a new Education-based initiative. Why not hold a pilot workshop on how to get published AND how to review a paper? This idea was put into practice on November 15th, 2013 in Amsterdam, hosted by the Academic Medical Center. A group of
40 PhD students from multiple specialties in the biomedical field were present at the workshop. In the morning an interactive approach with the use of Shakespeak software was held on ‘how to get published’, also containing aspects of ethics and plagiarism. Shakespeak allowed live questions from the audience to be projected on a second screen, anonymously, safe, easy and active allowing for an immediate learning opportunity. In the afternoon one of the published EJR papers on cardiac imaging (previously selected by the section editor) was the example of the ‘how to review’ part of the workshop. Although the young researchers definitely were no experts in the field, their critical appraisal of the paper was accurate beyond expectation! This Elsevier-supported initiative brought more than anticipated: the format with interactive teaching uncovered important topics that we will include in future EJR workshops. Please visit http://www.ejradiology.com/for details of future events. The enthusiasm and quality of the afternoon session initiated the idea of starting an extra pool of reviewers, not the experts, but young PhD students that are added to the process of reviewing. In this way a new initiative in the field of reviewing is started. To assure the same quality of review papers, the PhD student reviewer is considered an extra asset; the number of ‘original’ researchers remains the same. Future results of this traject will show the feasibility and quality of this innovative way of reviewing. Be sure: we will closely watch this initiative and report to you in the future. M. Maas E-mail address: [email protected]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2014.04.029 0720-048X/© 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: Maas M. How to get published and how to review. Eur J Radiol (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2014.04.029
ARTICLE IN PRESS European Journal of Radiology xxx (2014) xxx–xxx
Contents lists available at ScienceDirect
European Journal of Radiology journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/ejrad
Editorial
How to get published and how to review
In the act of editing our journal, all of us are challenged by two main concerns: the quality of the paper AND the quality of the review. We want to provide the authors that send their papers to us the guarantee that the peer review process is as fast as possible, reliable and of high quality. At the same time we want our reviewers, who we value greatly, to evaluate adequately constructed papers, without any methodological flaws or signs of plagiarism. To address both needs is a challenging task. There is not very much opportunity for young researchers to gain training in writing a paper. The large international meetings like RSNA and ESR do provide small workshops, that are interactive to a degree, and thus serve this great need. Yet researchers must of course be present at these conferences to be able to participate in the workshops, and this is a hurdle that is not easily taken. Yet one always is on the lookout to expand the corps of reviewers, in order not to overload our respected colleagues who are doing an important yet voluntary job and I am very much aware of this as a co-editor of our journal. Reviewing a manuscript takes diligence, time and expert opinion, don’t you agree? So we are looking for experts in the field, experts that most often are already overloaded with obligations, administrative, educational or research-wise. This means that we are walking a small line here. We want to ask the expert, yet we know that their time is sparse and we do not want to overload our colleagues! All of the above gave rise to a new Education-based initiative. Why not hold a pilot workshop on how to get published AND how to review a paper? This idea was put into practice on November 15th, 2013 in Amsterdam, hosted by the Academic Medical Center. A group of
40 PhD students from multiple specialties in the biomedical field were present at the workshop. In the morning an interactive approach with the use of Shakespeak software was held on ‘how to get published’, also containing aspects of ethics and plagiarism. Shakespeak allowed live questions from the audience to be projected on a second screen, anonymously, safe, easy and active allowing for an immediate learning opportunity. In the afternoon one of the published EJR papers on cardiac imaging (previously selected by the section editor) was the example of the ‘how to review’ part of the workshop. Although the young researchers definitely were no experts in the field, their critical appraisal of the paper was accurate beyond expectation! This Elsevier-supported initiative brought more than anticipated: the format with interactive teaching uncovered important topics that we will include in future EJR workshops. Please visit http://www.ejradiology.com/for details of future events. The enthusiasm and quality of the afternoon session initiated the idea of starting an extra pool of reviewers, not the experts, but young PhD students that are added to the process of reviewing. In this way a new initiative in the field of reviewing is started. To assure the same quality of review papers, the PhD student reviewer is considered an extra asset; the number of ‘original’ researchers remains the same. Future results of this traject will show the feasibility and quality of this innovative way of reviewing. Be sure: we will closely watch this initiative and report to you in the future. M. Maas E-mail address: [email protected]
http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2014.04.029 0720-048X/© 2014 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.
Please cite this article in press as: Maas M. How to get published and how to review. Eur J Radiol (2014), http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.ejrad.2014.04.029
