Wiley My escape from the lab: scientific publishing Dr Matteo Cavalleri, Publisher, Materials Science & Physics, WILEY @physicsteo 11 December 2020, UoIChem linkedin.com/teowaits

Who I am M.S. in Chemistry (1999) PhD in Chemical Physics (2005) PostDoc 2005-2008

Why publish? •Fame •Recognition by peers •Fortune •Promotions •Grant applications •Establish precedence •Responsibility •Taxpayer-funded research • Making your research public • “If your research does not generate papers, it might just as well not have been done.” –George Whitesides • Papers provide the shoulders that others can stand on

Why journals? -REGISTRATION: Recording author precedence and merit -VALIDATION: Quality control via peer-review -DISSEMINATION: Sharing results and methods -ARCHIVING: Maintaining records of publication And more recently: -SEARCH & NAVIGATION: Increasing the discoverability

How do journals work?

How do journals work? By Nick Kim (www.nearingzero.net); used with permission

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What is the peer-review process? “Peer review is the critical assessment of manuscripts submitted to journals by experts who are not part of the editorial staff”-International Committee of Medical Journals Editors WHAT IT CANNOT DO (*) WHAT IT SHOULD DO -Filter out bad/uninteresting work -Make as sure as possible the work is reported correctly -Make sure results are interpreted correctly, and convincingly -Improve the quality of publication -Detect fabrication -Prevent duplicate publication -Pick the most interesting papers -Ensure quality -Ensure the article is right for the journal (*) AUTOMATICALLY

Accept, reject, or revise? -REJECTION - Without external referee reports (Editor) - Based on reports -REVISION - Reconsideration or resubmission possible after major revisions -ACCEPTANCE - Without changes (rare) - With minor changes The decision is the Editor’s job…the reviewer ‘s recommendation is not a vote -- it’s advice!

The editorial office EXTERNAL EDITORS IN-HOUSE EDITORS …all ACS, T&F, OUP, most Elsevier, most Springer-Nature, Elsevier, Wiley journals… …+ some APS, RSC, IOP titles, Cell Press, EMBO, Science, PLOS, The Lancet…

The editorial office EXTERNAL EDITORS IN-HOUSE EDITORS Work full time on journal – can dedicate more time and resources on new developments General view PhDs, PostDocs wanted! Have own research group Expert in specific field Vacancies not posted, not for early-stage career researchers BOTH: peer-review, decision making, dealing with appeals, commissioning, conference participation and lab visits, writing news stories, contributing to “input” marketing …

Who I am (Typical) M.S. in Chemistry (1999) PhD in Chemical Physics (2005) PostDoc 2005-2008 Most editors are PhD-trained scientists… often with PostDoc experience. Own research experience is invaluable!

What I did all day* @WileyCTChem http://q-chem.org • Founded in 1967, in-house editorial office since 2011 • Expanded scope, new look, online only • Rapid peer-review, fast publication processes *Work days are pretty reasonable, actually

Publishing is a career for PhDs Peer-Review Editor (2008-2010), Berlin Associate Editor (2010-2012), NYC Editor-in-Chief (2012-2020), NYC Executive Editor (2017-2020) & Publisher (Present)

Where I work HOBOKEN, NJ • Founded in 1807 in NYC • Headquarters in Hoboken, NJ • Publicly listed in NYSE • ~5000 staff worldwide • ~1700 journals • ~9000 books …in partnership with 1085 organizations (865 scholarly societies, + institutes, universities, governments,…)

Where I work HOBOKEN, NJ • Founded in 1807 in NYC • Headquarters in Hoboken, NJ • Publicly listed in NYSE • ~5000 staff worldwide • ~1700 journals • ~9000 books …in partnership with 1085 organizations (865 scholarly societies, + institutes, universities, governments,…) View from the office (not my office) #WorkFromHome #FlattenTheCurve

Journal Editor: A day in the life

Journal Editor: A day in the life OUTREACH DAY-TO-DAY MANAGEMENT OF A JOURNAL • Read manuscript submitted to the journal • Identify and assign manuscript to reviewers (or sub-Editors) • Make editorial decisions • Solicit manuscripts and special issues • Deal and resolve (hopefully!) ethical issues regarding submissions/published papers • Collaborate with editorial, production, marketing team • Work closely with authors, reviewers, other editors • Beta testing new publishing technologies • Help authors to disseminate their work further • Attend international conferences • Workshops, lab/institution visits

In-house editors: Life as a pro …AND WHAT WE ARE NOT… • Active in research (not even part-time!) • Lone wolves & hermits WHAT WE ARE… • Full-time employees of a publisher • Former researchers (PhD, often PostDoc experience) • Working in small editorial team (1~20 ppl), supported by editorial board • Work (mostly, especially initially) from the publisher’s offices* • Holding different titles (EiC, associate,..) depending on experience & responsibility • Responsible for peer-review process and editorial decisions • Responsible for content commissioning • The face of the publisher in the community, voice of researchers in the publisher *pre-COVID, at least

What I do all day now Executive Editor & Publisher (Present) International in-house editorial team of 7, based in East Coast of US Lead US in-house editorial team (co-founded in 2010) Publisher of the Materials Science & Physics team Portfolio includes OA & subscription titles

Publisher: A day in the life LAUNCH/ACQUISITION OF NEW PRODUCTS • New journals • Journal relaunches • Awards, conferences, workshops • Webinars, online courses STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT OF JOURNALS • Hire and train new editors • Roll out new publishing initiatives and processes • Planning, budgeting, and reporting (Editors don’t deal with finance!) • Develop common strategies and goals for portfolio/groups of journals • Bring the perspective of the researchers to the company • Collaborate closely with editors, marketers, other colleagues

Other roles: Not just peer-review MANAGING EDITOR/JOURNAL PUBLISHING EDITOR • Scientific background (sometimes, but not always) • Support academic EiC, liaison with production and marketing team • Can be involved in making desk rejections DEVELOPMENTAL/ACQUISITION EDITOR • Scientific backgrounds (often) • Commission articles and special issues • Responsible for acquisition/launch/improvement of scholarly products • Common role in book publishing COPY EDITOR • Scientific background (often at MS/BS level, not PhD) • Responsible for proof-reading manuscripts • Mostly present in ”apex” titles, major brands

PhD sightings in STEM publishing… SCIENTIFIC WRITERS/JOURNALISTS (often freelancers) PRODUCT DEVELOPERS EXPERTS IN PUBLICATION ETHICS MARKETING MANAGERS SALES MANAGERS ACADEMIC ENGAGEMENT MANAGERS HIGHER MANAGEMENT (PUBLISHING DIRECTORS,…)

What’s hot & what’s not …AND WHAT I WOULD DO WITHOUT • Journal/process development can be slow and frustrating • Angry authors are difficult to deal with • Fraud/Ethical violations are not uncommon and very exasperating! • Sometimes I miss coding, hacking hardware (being a “lab-rat”) • Career progression after Editor-in-Chief not easy WHAT I LOVE… • It’s a career at the “center of science” • Entrusted the knowledge of entire disciplines • Bird’s-eye view over science, see best results 1st! • Contact with the scientific community • Add & participate to the scientific debate and progress • Plenty of (international) travel* • Real possibility of professional growth *pre-COVID, at least

What is a good editor made of? … BUT YOU WON’T LOVE IT IF YOU … • love being in the lab and doing research • enjoy being the world expert in a specific subject • don’t like changing topics several times a day • hated writing your thesis IT MAY BE THE JOB FOR YOU IF YOU … • are passionate for science communication • recognize the importance of publishing in the scientific process • are curious about a broad range of topics & disciplines • know the art of diplomacy and have people skills • have analytical and decision-making skills • are creative, with an eye for detail (and the “next big thing”) ENGLISH IS THE LANGUAGE OF SCIENCE • Publishing not restricted to native speakers anymore • BUT, you need to be fluent in communicating science with it

Wiley is wonderful. Really, but other places are available…. and more… In-house editors wanted: Other roles:

Dr Matteo Cavalleri @physicsteo linkedin.com/teowaits mcavalleri@wiley.com