5 things I learned about peer review at ESOFThere’s little doubt that peer review is an essential arbiter of scientific quality, so I think it’s important that we discuss its challenges and help answer the questions many researchers have surrounding it. That’s why I held two Sense About Science sessions on peer review at ESOF2014 - Europe’s top general science event - which…

Ten things to consider when planning and running an author workshopAuthor workshops provide an important platform for journal editors to communicate directly with authors. They not only help authors to get hot tips on how to prepare their papers to give them the best chance of getting published, but also offer valuable insights for editors into what authors find challenging when writing papers, and common…

Digging deeper: using evidence-based medicine databases to validate medical claimsEveryday, we hear conflicting news reports on various medical claims and treatments.  How can we differentiate credible sources of evidence from misguided messages, in order to make informed healthcare decisions? We recently spoke with Dr. Lai Nai Ming, Associate Professor at Taylor’s University School of Medicine in Malaysia, and learned why he feels evidence-based medicine…

4 steps toward becoming a positive leader in Higher EdThis is an excerpt of a review entitled "Enacting Positive Leadership in the World of Higher Ed" published in Women in HIgher Education.  Even the most optimistic member of the higher education community may roll their eyes while simultaneously reaching for Jeffrey Buller’s Positive Academic Leadership: How to Stop Putting Out Fires and Start Making…

Sharing ideas, experience, and best practice in MelbourneThis June, Wiley’s Australian journals team played host to 60 journal editors and partners in Melbourne for multidisciplinary seminars on publication ethics and best-practice journal publishing. Held over two days, these two events brought together clients, colleagues and fellow publishers to discuss journal publication, share thoughts and impart their knowledge on a range of current…

How to produce the best English language version of your paperThere should be no barriers to getting your research published, yet manuscripts are often returned for English language and formatting issues. Wiley English Language Editing Services (ELES) offers authors access to a suite of services to help them prepare their manuscript - making the submission process easier. "My manuscript entitled "Microscopic Polyangiitis associated with Pulmonary…

A day in the life of Microbiology Ph.D. Roopali RajputDr. Vinita Jindal, one of my post-graduate professors, once said, "A Ph.D. is not an easy degree to attain. If it was, then everybody who wants one would have the honor of having one.". While pursuing my five-year career in research, this has become very obvious to me. "Pressure, pressure, pressure, you need to learn…

A CHORUS [time]lineMany of you are probably already familiar with CHORUS - the Clearinghouse for the Open Research of the United States. This not-for-profit, public-private partnership was set up following the US Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP) memo requiring all federal agencies with R&D budgets of more than $100m to come up with plans to…

Boosting a young democracyBelow is the latest inspiring story from Research4Life’s Unsung Heroes: Stories from the library focused on librarian Shaba Shabana of the Maldives. The Maldives National University recently opened a Postgraduate Research Center that it hopes will become recognized nationally and internationally for quality teaching, scholarship and academic research.  Research4Life is the research platform the University needs to achieve this…

How to promote your research through bloggingWith around 42.6 million new posts each month on WordPress alone, blogging has become a serious marketing and business tool. But why should you, as a researcher and author, spend time creating and writing a blog? After all, your time is precious, and setting up a blog, writing regular posts and gaining followers isn’t necessarily…

How societies can fast-forward their digital strategiesAs previously mentioned, we’ll be covering the American Society of Association Executives Annual Meeting here this week, and don’t forget to follow @WileySocieties for regular updates from the meeting. Here in Nashville, the ASAE Annual Meeting is in full swing and buzzing with positive energy. The society and association professionals in attendance have a lot on…

Four ways of measuring influenceDue to the recent release of the 2014 Thomson Reuters Journals Citation Reports we’re taking a break from our regular Author Series to reflect on how we measure influence in research today.  Fear not, the Author Series will be back next week.    Although there is an ever-increasing range of tools designed to measure the influence of scholarly communications…

5 key trends in professional publishingOne of the overriding themes of the ASAE conference in Nashville this year was the universal constant: change. From game-changing talks to hands-on learning labs, ideas and solutions abound on how to respond to a changing marketplace and membership base, but also how to proactively and positively implement your own changes. The Learning Lab session, "5…

17 things we learned at ASAE 2014In our final report from the ASAE annual meeting, we share some of what we learned during our time in Music City. Several of us were attending the meeting for the first time and we were all struck by the positive energy and buzz throughout the four days. We came away with fresh insights, new contacts,…

Advancing peer review: a Q&A with Adam Etkin of PRE We recently spoke with Adam Etkin,  Founder and Managing Director of PRE, a division of STRIATUS.  Adam is a veteran of the publishing industry and  formed PRE to assist members of the scholarly publishing community who are committed to preserving an ethical, rigorous peer review process. Q. Can you tell us about your background and your…

Understanding the world of statisticsThere is an old joke which asks how many types of statistician are there, and the reply is "Three: those that can count and those that can’t" (this only properly works if the questioner is in fact a statistician). In fact, there are many more types than that and understanding what they do and how…

The top dos and don'ts for your first month of grad school in a research labWell newbie, you’ve found a place to live, and a place to sit. Now what? The Dos 1.  Meet with your advisor Go meet the boss - just be prepared that your advisor may be extremely busy with: finishing up summer projects, post-conference politicking, and/or prepping for the course that starts a week earlier than…

Adapt, reinvent, evolve: a conversation with librarian Elizabeth LorbeerQ. Can you tell us about your background and your current role? A. I have been a practicing biomedical sciences librarian for 19 years, and my expertise is in building library collections.   I am the founding library director of the newest digital medical library in North America at Western Michigan University Homer Stryker M.D. School…

The transition to Creative Commons 4.0 licensesAuthors wishing to publish their articles on an open access basis in Wiley journals can choose from a range of Creative  Commons licenses, whether they publish in our fully open access journals or select Online Open for our subscription journals. Unless a specific CC license is required under a funder mandate, authors are able to…

How to write a grant applicationMost researchers in health and science come across grant applications at some point in their careers. In fact, many positions depend on them, whether they are doctoral students who require fellowships, postgraduates setting up relatively simple projects as they start employment, ormore senior staff who need to have a steady stream of research projects. Although…

Current Protocols: a tool for consistency and reliability in your researchA major concern of researchers is the reproducibility of experimental results. Earlier this year, Francis Collins and Lawrence Tabak discussed the steps the NIH was considering to address consistency and reproducibility in biomedical research.  They noted that many factors have contributed to this problem, including poor training of researchers in experimental design and limitations in…

Simplification, education, transparency: ISMTE North American Conference 2014"Even Einstein benefited from the peer review process," said Adam Etkin, of PRE (Peer Review Evaluation) and Social Cite, while speaking at this year’s North American conference for the International Association of Managing and Technical Editors (ISMTE). During his presentation on the systems he has worked hard to develop—PRE-val/PRE-score and Social Cite—he shared an article…

The evolution of author guidelinesThe post below was originally published on the Wiley Open Access website. Congratulations are due to PeerJ for succeeding in bringing into focus an essential publisher service that has been little publicized in the past. The journal opened for submissions on December 3rd ­2012, and many tweets and blogs were spawned by the following passage in…

The power of a hashtag: Twitter tools you need to know aboutIt’s safe to say that the explosion of social media has done the world of research a great service - not least in the way it’s transforming how we discover, digest and collaborate with each other on all things scholarly. Indeed, we’re now at the stage where we could feasibly question just how we ever…