Publish, don’t perish

Article Outline

• Copyright

I am frequently approached at meetings by colleagues, usually trainees, for advice about getting a paper published. The first thing I ask is “what do you want to say”. Often I am met with a blank look or a reply indicating that the potential author has not actually thought about the subject he or she wishes to write about. I think the ultimate purpose of publishing in a surgical journal is to make life better for patients and easier for surgeons.

So, how do you get published? First it is important that you have something to say that is either innovative, brings insight into the area under discussion or in someway brings to the attention of readers knowledge about an aspect of the specialty that is not widespread.

Next the paper needs to be presented in a succinct and clear format. This does not come naturally to many surgeons. Whichever journal you submit your article to will have guidelines for authors and these should be read carefully before setting pen to paper. Think carefully about what you want to say. Brevity and clarity often go hand in hand. As Evans points out in her article in this journal you should try and “make sure that not only are you understood, but that you cannot be misunderstood”

Having written your paper, submission should follow the journal's guidelines. For this journal it is via the Elsevier Electronic Submission process (EES). Modern electronic systems have the potential to speed up the publication of your paper, but they are not without their drawbacks. Perhaps the major irritation is the number of e-mails that these systems generate. Although they can seem annoying and impersonal (most are automatically generated by the system), you should remember that they fall into two groups, both designed to keep you in touch with your manuscript. The first group is to inform you of the progress of your paper, the second to ask you to make a change or reply to comments by referees or editorial staff. Response to the latter group promptly and clearly will speed up the progress of your paper.

In the British Journal of Oral & Maxillofacial Surgery when a paper has been provisionally accepted by the referees it is passed to the technical editor for editing. This process is unique in Oral & Maxillofacial journals and we think improves the quality of the journal. In the past we have been fairly rigid in our house style and the editing has been to a defined standard. We have decided to change some aspects of this process and in the future editing will be less rigid, but we will continue to insist on clarity and lack of ambiguity. To help potential authors in this area I have invited our technical editor, Ms Mary Evans, to write a short paper outlining the main areas that cause problems in the editing process, which is published in this issue (pages 485–487).

Once a paper has been edited it will pass to the publishing stage. You will be sent a proof to read. It is vitally important that you read and approve this before it is published – once approved changes cannot be made.

It has been said that newspapers are the first rough draft of history, and perhaps medical journals should be read with this in mind. Although the papers we publish have been peer reviewed and edited they are, in the end, the opinions of the authors and, no matter how well founded these opinions are, only time will tell how valid they are. Therefore as a reader you should judge the papers by the arguments presented and in the light of your own knowledge and experience.