Successful Scientific Journal Publishing

By J. Michael Quante, AATCC Science Editor

The Editor-Author relationship is perhaps the most important factor in successful scientific publishing, next to having soundly researched results to publish. A useful analogy is one of the Editor as a gem polisher who brings out the luster and important qualities of the manuscript by helping to sculpt the language and make it more readable to its intended audience.

The first step an author should take before writing is to carefully read the submission guidelines provided by the journal of interest. These include important information such as preferred style (often based on resources like the ACS Style Guide or the Chicago Manual of Style), grammar, formatting (including references and reference citations), and organization. Following these style guidelines closely can help to speed the editorial review and editing process. If English is not the author’s primary language, help can be obtained from various English language editing services prior to formal manuscript submission.

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When to Publish?

When all data is compiled, data analysis is complete, and significant results are obtained, it is time to publish. Most science journals publish both original research and well-documented research papers. Obtaining negative results in original research generally do not preclude publication—these studies often provide important insights to other researchers.

The manuscript must be previously unpublished, not submitted to multiple journals, and be accompanied by written permissions to republish any images or data obtained from previously published work.

What to Publish?

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If an organizational structure is not dictated by a journal’s submission guidelines, use one that clearly delineates the major sections of the manuscript. One structure that is often used is Abstract, Introduction, Experimental, Results and Discussion, Conclusion, Acknowledgement, References, and Author Information.

Keep the Introduction brief, define all acronyms, and include all important, properly formatted references and reference citations. Maintain proper numerical order of all reference citations in the text and ensure that the references listed later reflect the same order as the citations. Provide all relevant information in the Experimental so that other researchers can reproduce your results. This includes material sources and purity, and details regarding all instrumentation used.

Present results in the Results and Discussion section fully and accurately, including statistical analysis. The Discussion section should include detailed analysis of the results. The Conclusion should not be a restatement of the Discussion, but should broadly summarize the importance and novelty of the work, as well as the direction of potential future work. This can include speculation, but it must be clear what is speculation and what is fact based on the obtained results.

How to Publish?

Most publishers provide convenient online submission services that allow electronic transfer of manuscripts and uploading of pertinent information. This is generally followed by the manuscript being peer reviewed and either accepted, accepted with revisions, or rejected for publication. Progress can be monitored online by the author.

The AATCC Journal of Research is a major source of published textile science and is actively seeking new manuscripts. For more information, including submission guidelines and services, visit https://aatcc.org/journal/.

I hope you find these ideas for working with your editor helpful. We want to make the publication experience positive and as expeditious as possible. Thank you for taking the time to explore what a good editor can do to help you get your results out to the greater scientific community!