Benjamin Shaw | Director, Global & China

Getting the best out of international authors

Author-centric thinking

Aims & Scope

Instructions for Authors

Peer review

Submission systems

Language screening & guidelines

Decision timelines

Author

PreparationJournal

Selection Writing SubmissionPeer

ReviewPublication

Success

determining likelihood of acceptance

citation management

navigating a submission system in a

second language

writing an outline

comparing journals

assessing relevance to

research topic

understanding comments

long decision timelines

decision to re-submit, or try a different journal

Publicationethics

writing in English formatting to

guidelines

Author challenges on the path to publication success

Author Challenges

All references, including URLs, must be numbered consecutively, in square brackets, in the order in which they are cited in the text, followed by any in tables or legends. Each reference must have an individual reference number. Please avoid excessive referencing. If automatic numbering systems are used, the reference numbers must be finalized and the bibliography must be fully formatted before submission.

Author Challenges

所有引用，包括网址，必须连续编号，在方括号中，它们被提及的顺序的文字，任何表或传说的。每个引用必须有一个单独的参考号。请避免过度引用。如果使用自动编号系统，参考号码必须定稿，并必须完全格式化之前提交的书目。

PreparationJournal

Selection Writing SubmissionPeer

ReviewPublication

Success

determining likelihood of acceptance

citation management

navigating a submission system in a

second language

writing an outline

comparing journals

assessing relevance to

research topic

understanding comments

long decision timelines

decision to re-submit, or try a different journal

Publicationethics

writing in English formatting to

guidelines

Author challenges on the path to publication success

A typicalChinese author Meet Dr. Du Shunda

Title: Associate Professor Institution: Liver Surgery Department, Peking Union Medical College Hospital Publication track record: More than 10 articles in Chinese Only one article in English as the first

author, and two as co-author Four English articles currently under peer

review

A typicalChinese author

“I have two grants, one is from the hospital for 50,000 CNY; the other is from the National Natural Science Fund for 200,000 CNY. My colleagues in our hospital have grants with amounts ranging from just 10,000 - 20,000 CNY to tens of millions of yuan.

Grants and incentives?

“If I write a case report, it will not be supported by a grant.”

“Our hospital does currently have a policy rewarding articles published in SCI journals. However, I am not sure how long this policy will last; maybe it will be canceled next year.”

A typicalChinese author

Why publish?

“If I want to be promoted from an associate professor to a professor, then I must publish sufficient articles and obtain grants. Getting published will also give me visibility in my field.”

Author Challenges

SurveyCulture / Experience

n=333

Author Challenges

SurveyCulture / Experience

n=620

Author Challenges

SurveyLanguage

Language barriers

46%

n=333

A typicalChinese author

“I usually write my manuscript in Chinese then get it translated into English. However, the translation often can not perfectly deliver the same meanings in Chinese.

Language barriers

If I write in English myself then because of my limited knowledge and skills in English writing, I cannot satisfactorily express the key messages and uniqueness of my article.”

Author Challenges

SurveyJournal Selection

n=333

Author Challenges

SurveyJournal Selection

Convenience20%

Aimed at Reaching Target Audience and

Gaining Recognition

69%

n=333

A typicalChinese author Journal Selection

“When I write an article I hope to submit to an SCI journal with an IF of at least 1.0, which will be useful for me.”

Publication goals

A typicalChinese author

“I will list all the professional journals on hepatology, ranking them from top to bottom by IF.

If all of them reject or are not suitable for my article, I will seek a more general journal that is still related with hepatology.”

How do you choose a journal?

A typicalChinese author

“I wish peer review could be faster. For example, one of my articles underwent peer review for 4 months, which was really too long.”

Speed

A typicalChinese author

“The pressure to publish unavoidably leads to improper ethics. But on the other hand, the pressure is also what is encouraging Chinese authors to publish in the first place.”

Double-edged sword

A typicalChinese author How does Open Access fit in?

“Articles published in OA journals may reach a wider audience.”

Perceived advantages

A typicalChinese author How does Open Access fit in?

“OA journals have no SCI IF. Maybe they will have some years later, but not now. However, since they have no SCI IF, they are basically useless for us.”

Misconceptions

Publisher Adaptations

Positive ways to engage with international authors

Encourage: Reading Participation as peer

reviewers

Follow us on Twitter

@JournalAdvisor

Contact me

bshaw@edanzgroup.com

Downloads and further author-centric reading

www.edanzediting.com/STM-China