Tim Smith, Senior Publisher

DPG Spring Meeting 25 March 2012, Berlin, Germany

tim.smith@iop.org, www.iop.org

From submission to publication with IOP journals – a guide for authors

Outline IOP Publishing

Choosing a journal Writing and formatting your article The peer-review process Promoting your published work

New Journal of Physics (NJP) Specific article criteria

Video abstracts What are they and why bother?

IOP Publishing

The publishing arm of UK Institute of Physics A not-for-profit organisation

A leading publisher in physical sciences Oldest content dates from 1874

Over 60 journals including partner titles Journal of Physics range New Journal of Physics (on behalf of IOP and DPG) Physics World

Editorial offices in UK, USA, Russia, China, Japan, Germany

The physics market

~140,000 articles in 2011 Peaked in 2008

IOP has ~ 11% market share of physics research

Fall in 2011 due to tightening of quality standards

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

5,000

10,000

15,000

20,000

25,000

30,000

Elsevier,

Springer

Wiley

AIP

APS

IOP Publishing

Number of Published Physics Articles 2002-2011

Num

ber o

f arti

cles

IOP journals - readership

More than 22 million downloads in 2011

Order of magnitude increase in last 10 years

Dominant usage is to the online version

2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 20110

5,000,000

10,000,000

15,000,000

20,000,000

25,000,000Annual full-text downloads to IOP content for the period 2002-

2011

Year

Dow

nloa

ds

Choosing where to submit – broad or niche? Broad titles offer

Large readership High Impact Factors Greater opportunity to reach researchers from other

fields “General Interest” element

Choosing where to submit – broad or niche? Niche titles offer

Smaller but more specialised readership More technical articles Represent different communities of physicists Same quality standards

Choosing where to submit – OA or subscription? IOP Publishing is one of the largest OA publishers in

physics Gold OA and now ‘Hybrid OA’ titles

Free to read, but somebody has to pay! Are funds available?

Increased visibility (measured through downloads) Author-friendly copyright

Writing and formatting your article - planning Consider the best way to structure your article to maximise

visibility and impact Title – an opportunity to catch the reader’s eye

Abstract – usually less than 200 words. Should succinctly capture the main result and conclusions

Introduction – state clearly the object of the work, its scope and the main advances you are reporting

Methods – give sufficient information to allow someone else to duplicate your method

Results and discussion – clearly presented with potential implications. State the impact of your results compared with other recent work

Conclusions – summarise key results and plans for future directions of study

References - acknowledge the work of others and cite publications that have influenced the direction of your study

Writing and formatting your article – writing and editing Clarity

Your paper must be easy to understand Bear in mind the expected audience Introduce ideas that may be unfamiliar early in the paper so that later

results can be understood All content should be relevant to main result

Figures and multimedia Carefully chosen, can greatly enhance the accessibility of your article

Editing process Re-read first draft – if necessary reconsider original plan to improve clarity

and conciseness Send your paper to colleagues and co-authors for feedback If necessary seek native English speaker for assistance

Cover letter state the significance and originality of your work how does your study advance on previously published work? conflicts of interest?

Peer review – why? As a service to authors - peer review should improve the

paper!

To ensure that the paper is suitable for our journals based on: Quality Originality Importance

Gain a seal of approval from independent experts

Quality rather than quantity (rejection rate for J. Phys. journals >70%)

The peer-review process

How long will peer-review take?

We are aware of the importance of service to our authors

As a leading physics publisher, we aim to (on average): Process your paper within 1 working day Reach a first decision within 4 weeks of submission Publish your paper within 100 days of submission (if

accepted)

However, quality is paramount and we must ensure: Peer review is rigorous and fair That speed should not compromise this commitment

Is publication the end? No Publication should be the start of the next phase – the

communication of your work Increase the visibility and citations to your work

What does IOP do to promote your work? Press releases through a dedicated press team Coverage in Physics World and our other community websites LabTalk and Video Abstract options ‘Recommended reader’ campaigns

What can you do? Highlight your work on personal/group website Use your network of colleagues/peers Use your own institute press office/media opportunities

Recent coverage for IOP content

Recent coverage for IOP content

New Journal of Physics

Launched in 1998 by IOP and the German Physical Society

The first peer-reviewed, open-access journal to cover the whole of physics In 1998 the term “open access” did not even exist

Launched as a “novel experiment” Now considered to be pioneering Growing number of OA titles

New Journal of Physics – citation performance Current Impact Factor

is 3.85 The highest OA

journal in physics

3rd highest IF out of all general physics, original research journals

Articles are increasingly being cited Immediacy Index

high in 2009 and 2010

NJP Impact Factor and Immediacy Index since 2002

0

0.5

1

1.5

2

2.5

3

3.5

4

4.5

"2002" "2003" "2004" "2005" "2006" "2007" "2008" "2009" "2010"

Publication year

Impa

ct F

acto

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0

0.2

0.4

0.6

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1

1.2

1.4

Imm

edia

cy In

dex

Impact Factor Immediacy Index

New Journal of Physics – unique criteria

“……..research results should make substantial advances within a particular subfield of physics. The impact of an NJP article should be such that it will appeal to the journal's broad readership…….” Authors will be redirected to an archival journal for incremental or

highly specialised work

Every submission is personally handled by a member of the Editorial Board Preliminarily assess for suitability – breadth of appeal and likely

significance on field Oversee referee selection (at least two independent) > 75% of submissions are rejected

New Journal of Physics – article style

“…….. article abstracts, introductions and conclusions should be accessible to the non-specialist, stressing any wider implications of the work within physics.…….”

“…..authors are encouraged to take full advantage of the electronic medium to include colour, video, audio or other innovative presentation formats and links to more extensive tutorial information or data……”

Article length flexibility authors are encouraged to include full background information

General Scientific Summaries and Video Abstracts

New Journal of Physics – General Scientific Summary

The GSS should be structured into the following three distinct sub-sections

Introduction and background – a short and accessible introduction to the topic aimed at providing a brief outline of the current state of scientific knowledge in the field.

The main result(s) – a synopsis of the main result(s) reported in the paper and a statement of how scientific knowledge on the topic has been extended as a result of the study.

Wider implications – a summarizing statement that puts the work into a broader context and highlights any wider implications and directions for future study.

New Journal of Physics – General Scientific Summary

Video abstracts Launched on NJP in February 2011

Will be launched on other IOP journals in 2012

Unique new content stream aimed at: increasing the visibility of articles and authors conveying complex themes to a broad audience enable authors to go beyond the constraints of their written article enhancing the overall user experience

Aligned with NJP’s strategy to disseminate research as widely as possible and embrace online medium Integrated as part of the archival full-text article

Free-to-view No additional charge for authors Usage terms recognise prevalence for online sharing and reuse

Video abstracts – an integral part of the article

Why make a video abstract?

A great way to explain your research to a broad audience

Demonstrate your experiments running in real time

Illustrate complex theoretical phenomena through practical demonstrations

Showcase simulations and visualisations with verbal narration

Convey your enthusiasm for the work in a way that your written article cannot

Raise your visibility

Top tips Video abstracts should last no longer than 4 minutes

Structure your video to tell a story Retain the attention of viewers all the way through

Include a mix of content/styles Practical demonstrations, animations, interviews, lab

tours Include multiple presenters and film group discussions

Choose the location carefully and remove all background noise Include a transcript to maximise accessibility

Be creative - let your enthusiasm and personality come across!

Video abstracts – early results

>70 published since February 2011 Monthly growth since November 2011

>27,000 views

> 400 views per video abstract

Articles with a video abstract so far receive (on average) five times more downloads Videos drive readership

Video abstracts – author quotes

“Video abstracts are a great way to communicate some of our enthusiasm and excitement, which tends to get lost in a scholarly publication.” Carlo W J Beenakker, Leiden University, The Netherlands

‘”Video abstracts allow the presenter to get across the key message of their article in an open and accessible way. A visually striking abstract, as well as being fun to make, can really make an article stand out from the crowd.” Alex Chin, Universität Ulm, Germany

“By featuring the people behind the science, video abstracts have the potential to convey inspiration and enthusiasm, and thereby the significance of scientific results, beyond the concise text of articles.”

Achim Kempf, Waterloo University, Canada

Video Abstracts – more information and guidelines

www.njp.org/videoabstracts

Thank you!

Pick up our ‘Introductory guide for authors’ this week at booth FOG7 in the exhibition area!