manual for editors of health science journals

7/29/2019 Manual for Editors of Health Science Journals

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WHO Library Caaloguing in Publicaion DaaWorld Healh Organizaion. egional Oce or he Easern MedierraneanManual or ediors o healh science journals / WHO egional Oce or he Easern Medierraneanp.

Arabic ediion published in Cairo (ISBN: 978-92-9021-690-2)(ISBN: 978-92-9021-691-9) (online)

French ediion published in Cairo (ISBN: 978-92-9021-692-6)(ISBN: 978-92-9021-693-3) (online)1. Ediorial Policies - guidelines 2. Periodicals as opic 3. Scienic Misconduc 4. Publishing ehics 5. Wriing ehics 6.Healh - periodicals I. ile II egional Oce or he Easern Medierranean(ISBN: 978-92-9021-688-9) (NLM Classicaion: WZ 345)(ISBN: 978-92-9021-689-6) (online)

World Health Organization 2009

All righs reserved.

Te designaions employed and he presenaion o he maerial in his publicaion do no imply he expression o any opinionwhasoever on he par o he World Healh Organizaion concerning he legal saus o any counr y, erriory, ciy or area or o isauhoriies, or concerning he delimiaion o is roniers or boundaries. Doted lines on maps represen approximae border lines

or which here may no ye be ull agreemen.Te menion o specic companies or o cerain manuacurers producs does no imply ha hey are endorsed or recommended

by he World Healh Organizaion in preerence o ohers o a similar naure ha are no menioned. Errors and omissions exceped,he names o proprieary producs are disinguished by iniial capial leters.

All reasonable precauions have been aken by he World Healh Organizaion o veriy he inormaion conained in his publicaion.However, he published maerial is being disribued wihou warrany o any kind, eiher expressed or implied. Te responsibiliyor he inerpreaion and use o he maerial lies wih he reader. In no even shall he World Healh Organizaion be liable ordamages arising rom is use.

Publicaions o he World Healh Organizaion can be obained rom Disribuion and Sales, World Healh Organizaion, egionalOce or he Easern Medierranean, PO Box 7608, Nasr Ciy, Cairo 11371, Egyp (el: +202 2670 2535, ax: +202 2670 2492;email: [email protected]). equess or permission o reproduce, in par or in whole, or o ranslae publicaions o WHO

egional Oce or he Easern Medierranean wheher or sale or or noncommercial disribuion should be addressed oWHO egional Oce or he Easern Medierranean, a he above address: email: [email protected]

Graphic design by: Hany Mahrous

Prined by: Insigh Graphics


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Conens

Preace .................................................................................................................................................5

Inroducion .......................................................................................................................................71. Policy and procedures ..................................................................................................................11

1.1 Why do you need policies? ...................................................................................................111.2 Journal scope and srucure ..................................................................................................131.3 Governance ..............................................................................................................................191.4 Ehics and publishing .............................................................................................................211.5 Managemen ............................................................................................................................28

2. People ..............................................................................................................................................412.1 Ediorial eam ..........................................................................................................................412.2 Auhors .....................................................................................................................................47

2.3 eviewers .................................................................................................................................512.4 eaders .....................................................................................................................................542.5 Publishers, owners or sponsoring sociey .........................................................................55

3. Produc ...........................................................................................................................................573.1 Producion process .................................................................................................................573.2 Qualiy .......................................................................................................................................64

Annex 1. SWO analysis ................................................................................................................. 69Annex 2. Indexing services .............................................................................................................. 70Annex 3. Sample manuscrip ow char ....................................................................................... 72Annex 4. Checkliss .......................................................................................................................... 73


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Preace

Healh science journals are an imporan elemen in healh sysems. Tey provide a orum or

disseminaion o research ndings and evidence o improve boh paien care and healh sysemsin general. Since he mid 1990s, boh he WHO egional Oce or he Easern Medierranean andediors o biomedical and oher healh science journals have sough o raise he qualiy and proleo journals in he egion. Tis has coincided wih a global recogniion o he need or beter qualiyevidence-inormed inormaion o improve paien care and healh sysems. WHOs sraegy inhe egion owards meeing he needs in relaion o journals included, on he one hand, raining

workshops a counry level or auhors and ediors, and on he oher hand, developmen o he IndexMedicus or he Easern Medierranean.

ecognizing ha his was no enough, in 2001 he egional Oce organized, in collaboraion wih

he Saudi Medical Journal, he rs regional conerence on medical journals. One o he oucomeso ha rs conerence was he esablishmen o he Easern Medierranean Associaion o MedicalEdiors (EMAME), a orum or neworking among ediors o he egion. Working closely, WHOand EMAME idenied a number o areas or collaboraion, including he need or more susainableraining.

Tis manual is argeed a ediors o healh science journals, wheher in he eld o medicine, nursingand allied healh, public healh, social healh, environmenal healh or oher healh-relaed areas. Iis paricularly argeed a ediors working in counries ha are seeking o develop heir capaciies opromoe, conduc and disseminae research and o inorm policy and pracice.

Manual or ediors o healh science journals was developed in 2006 by members o he EMAMEEducaion and raining Commitee wih suppor rom he WHO egional Oce or he EasernMedierranean: Ahmed Jamal (Journal o he Bahrain Medical Sociey), Hassan Bella (Journal o Familyand Communiy Medicine), Arash Eemadi (Archives o Iranian Medicine), Nada Al Ward (Iraqi Medical

Journal), Mahdi Shamad (Sudanese Journal o Dermaology), Fiona Curle (Easern MedierraneanHealh Journal) and Jane Nicholson (WHO egional Oce or he Easern Medierranean). Temanual was reviewed by EMAME and FAME members and esed in workshops a counry level.Subsequen and nal dras were reviewed by Farrokh Habibzadeh (Iranian Journal o MedicalSciences), Maqbool Jaary (Pakisan Journal o Medical Sciences), Diaa izk (Inernaional Journal oUrogynecology and Pelvic Floor Dysuncion), Clare Pierard (Inernaional Journal o uberculosis and

Lung Disease), Maria L Clark (Te Bullein o WHO) and Abdul Ghafar (WHO egional Oce orhe Easern Medierranean). Te publicaion was edied by Pippa Smar (PSP Consuling).


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Inroducion

Te pas wo decades have seen vas changes in he world o healh science journals. One aspec o

such changes concerns he rapid advances in science, he changes in he eld o research in general,and he shi in global ocus rom healh research o research or healh. Anoher aspec concernshe role o journals in reporing research, advancing paien reamen and care, educaing healhproessionals, and helping o bridge he communicaion gap beween researchers and policy-makers.

A hird aspec concerns he way in which inormaion is delivered and knowledge is shared, an areaha has been revoluionized by compuer echnology and elecronic media. One hing ha has nochanged is he role o ediors in seering a journal on is course and selecing conen ha bes meeshe needs o he communiy i serves. How ediors accomplish hese goals while mainaining highsandards and conrolling qualiy is subjec o increasing challenges.

Te WHO Easern Medierranean egion is home o over 300 medical journals. As he resul oa drive by he WHO egional Oce or he Easern Medierranean ha began in he mid 1990s,many o hese journals are indexed in regional indexes such as he Index Medicus or he EasernMedierranean and he Arican Index Medicus. An increasing number, alhough sill a minoriy, areindexed a an inernaional level, such as in he Index Medicus o he US Naional Library o Medicine,Index Copernicus and he Cumulaive Index o Nursing and Allied Healh Lieraure (CINAHL),and an increasing number are being picked up by global search engines such as Google Scholar.

aising visibiliy and recogniion and reaching a wider audience are issues ha concern all journals, buis a paricular concern o journals in middle- and low-income counries. Local healh science journalsare an imporan publishing oule or researchers and source o inormaion or he communiy in

which he research was conduced. Tereore visibiliy a he local level is essenial. A he same imeediors increasingly eel he need o reach a wider audience, boh o share he knowledge conainedin he journal and o enhance he global evidence base. Increased global visibiliy also helps o buildhe scienic repuaion o he journal, in urn enhancing he conen i publishes.

Te vas majoriy o journals in he egion are produced in an environmen where he resources andinrasrucure available or research are low in comparison wih oher regions, no necessarily becausehe nancial resources are lacking (alhough ha is rue in some cases) bu raher because a researchculure is lacking. Paradoxically, as in oher regions, academics are expeced o conduc research inorder o gain promoion. Ediors hereore eel under pressure o publish wha hey may someimes

consider poor qualiy research while a he same ime wishing o improve he overall qualiy o hejournal and widen heir audience. Tese compeing demands oen mean ha ediors are unsure oheir role and wha hey can do o address he siuaion, paricularly i hey are newly appoined.

Te role o he edior encompasses a wide variey o uncions which are increased in small localjournals wih limied resources. Te edior is, above all, a leader. An edior needs o have a clear visiono he aim and goals o he journal, and o he consiuency he journal serves. Te edior reads aline beween accounabiliy o he owners o he journal and accounabiliy o is consiuency heineress o which may no always coincide. I is hereore imperaive ha he edior is independen,

boh in leter and in spiri, in order o be able o implemen he journals vision. Te edior is he

ulimae decision-maker wih regard o journal conen, on issues o concern, and on direcion. Teedior may also be a manager o nance, process and people. Many ediors consider educaion o

be an imporan componen o heir role.


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Tis manual is inended o help ediors boh in he WHO Easern Medierranean egion and elsewhere,wheher newly appoined or well esablished, o clearly dene heir own individual role, and o se goalsand plans or enhancing he qualiy o heir journals. I is inended o provide ediors wih a pracical oolocusing on hree main areas: policy and procedures, people and produc. Te manual can be sudiedindividually as a sel-learning experience, or can be used in a raining workshop, wih all he benes oshared experience ofered by ha mehodology. While ediors orm he principal audience argeed byhe manual, i is also relevan o and will bene all hose involved in publicaion o a journal.

Te manual draws on he many sources ha have become available o ediors and he various iniiaives hahave been developed a a global level in recen years. Tese are documened hroughou he publicaionand include he ollowing key reerences, all o which are considered useul urher reading.

FAME ediorial guidelines;COPE guidelines on good publicaion pracice;

WAME syllabus or prospecive and newly appoined ediors;

ICMJE Uniorm requiremens or manuscrips submited o biomedical journals;

EASE Science ediors handbook.

Te manual is divided ino hree main secions. Secion 1, Policy and procedures, ses he scene orediors, discussing he need o esablish principles and policies and proposing areas where i is essenialo have a clear policy direcion. Secion 2, People, inroduces he main players in he journal publicaionprocess and delineaes roles and responsibiliies or hose players. Secion 3, Produc, describes heessenial processes involved in managing a journal and draws atenion o qualiy issues ha should

be considered. Four annexes comprise addiional resources, including SWO analysis, a lis o indexservices, a manuscrip ow char and ediorial checkliss.

Finally, he ollowing communiies o pracice are recommended o ediors.Easern Medierranean Associaion o Medical Ediors (EMAME)Description: EMAME is a non-governmenal, non-parisan and non-pro organizaion whose missionis o suppor and promoe medical journalism in he area covered by he WHO Easern Medierraneanegion by osering neworking, educaion, discussion, and exchange o inormaion and knowledge.Te Associaion was esablished ollowing he rs and second regional conerences on medical journals,held in Cairo in 2003 and iyadh in 2004, respecively. Te WHO egional Oce or he EasernMedierranean hoss he EMAME web sie and lisserv.Membership: Free

URL: htp://www.emro.who.in/EMAME/Forum or Arican Medical Ediors (FAME)Description: FAME was esablished by 15 Arican medical journal ediors who se up a proessionalassociaion and nework specically o review he problems aced by heir journals and ry o ndcommon soluions. Te Seering Commitee me or he rs ime in 2003. Te FAME secrearia is apresen locaed in Kenya Medical esearch Insiue (KEMI), Nairobi, Kenya. Te web sie and lisservis suppored by he Special Programme or esearch and raining in ropical Diseases, sponsored by heUnied Naions Childrens Fund (UNICEF), he Unied Naions Developmen Programme (UNDP),he World Bank and WHO.Membership: FreeURL: htp://apps.who.in/dr/svc/resources/parnerships-neworks/ame-guidelines


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World Associaion o Medical Ediors (WAME)Description: Esablished in 1995, WAME is a volunary associaion o ediors rom counrieshroughou he world who seek o oser inernaional cooperaion among ediors o peer-reviewedmedical journals.Membership: FreeURL: htp://www.wame.org/

European Associaion o Science Ediors (EASE)Description:EASE is an inernaionally oriened communiy o individuals rom diverse backgrounds,linguisic radiions and proessional experience who share an ineres in science communicaionand ediing. Based in he UK, i has members rom 55 counries around he world, holds a regularconerence, and provides a quarerly newsleter.Membership: SubscripionURL: www.ease.org.uk/

Council o Science Ediors (CSE)Description: Esablished in 1957 as he Council o Biology Ediors, i changed is name o CSE in2000 o more correcly reec is membership. Te Council provides an annual conerence, a bi-monhly newsleter, and an exensive web sie and publishes a regularly updaed syle manual orauhors, ediors and publishers.Membership: SubscripionURL: www.councilscienceediors.org/

Commitee on Publicaion Ehics (COPE)Description: COPE is a orum or publishers and ediors o peer-reviewed journals o discuss issuesrelaed o he inegriy o work submited o or published in heir journals. I suppors and encouragesediors o repor, caalogue and insigae invesigaions ino ehical problems in he publicaionprocess. I provides services o members o allow hem o resolve ehical publishing issues.Membership: SubscripionURL: htp://publicaionehics.org/

Inernaional Sociey o Managing and echnical Ediors (ISME)Description: Te Inernaional Sociey o Managing and echnical Ediors (ISME) launched in2008 o enhance he proessionalism o ediorial oce saf by providing neworking and raininginrasrucure, esablishing bes pracices and sudying and reporing on ediorial oce pracices,ISME is an advocae on all issues relaing o ediorial oce operaions.

Membership: SubscripionURL: htp://www.isme.org/


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1.1 Why do you need policies?

Objective: Te edior will be able o consider wha policies are essenialo mee he goals and vision o he journal.

1.2 Journal scope and srucureObjective: Te edior will be able o develop a vision or his/her journal,and communicae a policy saemen covering he aims and scope andhe srucure and orma o he journal.

1.3 Governance

Objective: Te edior will be able o advise he ediorial board andoher governing bodies on he mos appropriae division o roles andresponsibiliies o ensure success o he journal.

1.4 Ehics and publishing

Objective: Te edior will be able o esablish and implemen an ehicspolicy or he journal.

1.5 Managemen

Objective:Te edior will be able o deermine he opimum managemensysems o ensure susainable publicaion o he journal.

1. Policy and procedures

Purpose: o enable ediors o esablish and mainain clear journal policies in erms o

scope, orma, managemen, procedures and ehical issues.

1.1 Why do you need policies?

Objecive: Te edior will be able o consider wha policies are essenial o mee he goalsand vision o he journal.

All journals need o have esablished principles and policies which guide heir operaion and ensure

consisency in decision-making. Tis is as imporan or new journals as i is or esablished journals.For new journals, esablishing journal policies is crucial when deciding why and how o publish.For exising journals i is imporan o periodically re-revaluae he journals policies, o ensure


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ha hey are sill conribuing o he journals goals and vision. Esablishing policies helps he journaladminisraion o make he righ decisions regarding how he journal will reac o challenges and changes,and how i will keep is ideniy over ime.

Tis secion considers some o he mos prominen policies, bu i is helpul o consider policies or he

ollowing iems:aims and scope;process o decision-making or journal policies;process o decision-making or individual manuscrips, including peer review;ediing and peer review o non-aricle maerial such as ediorials and leters;appeals/conics;auhorship and conribuorship;raud and plagiarism;duplicae submission/redundan publicaion;

compeing ineress (also called conic o ineres);

adverising;copyrigh and oher legal issues;disribuion models, including ree disribuion, such as open access online publishing;

journal unding;journal pricing;roles o ediors and governing bodies;scope o aciviies o he ediorial board and srucure o he ediorial eam;communicaion o research o inorm policy and pracice.

In consideraion o he las poin, i is paricularly imporan o remember ha he purpose o journalsis no only o orm a communicaion link beween researchers, bu also o inorm and help inuencenaional and inernaional policies and pracice. Indeed, i could be argued ha he later role is he mosimporan role o a journal and suppors dialogue beween he research communiy and policy-makers.Developing ediorial policies o ensure ha he journal perorms his role may, or example, involveinviing appropriae people o join he ediorial board, or ensuring ha he journal provides press releaseso imporan iems.

Can you hink o any oher iems or which you should sepolicies? Do you have a se o guidelines or how o respond oproblems in each o he areas lised above? Who do you hink isresponsible or esablishing policy on he iems above?


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1.2 Journal scope and srucure

Objecive: Te edior will be able o develop a vision or his/her journal, and communicaea policy saemen covering he aims and scope and he srucure and orma o hejournal.

Aims and scope

All journals should have a clear idea o why hey are publishing. Tis could be described as heirmission and mandae. In mos journals i is usually presened as heir aims and scope. I is viallyimporan ha every journal clearly ariculaes heir aims and he scope o wha hey publish. Tis

will provide everyone involved wih he journal (readers, auhors, ediors and owners) wih clearguidance o exacly wha conen he journal publishes, and why hey are publishing i.

Alhough esablishing he aims and scope is acceped as a vial par o esablishing a new journal, iis also worhwhile rom ime o ime reconsidering he aims and scope o an exising journal, as youmay nd ha revision is required because o changes in your submissions, your ediorial board, or

your discipline. Te published aims and scope are necessarily concise. However, you may wish odevelop a more deailed descripion or use by members o he ediorial board and reviewers, in ordero help in making decisions abou wha conen o invie and accep.

Tere is someimes disagreemen abou he primary audience o a journal is i he readers or heauhors? Is he prime aim o he journal o provide a cerain communiy o readers wih maerial or isi o provide a publishing oule or a cerain communiy o auhors? Ulimaely he poin o a journalis o boh publish and be read, bu being able o ideniy he prime audience can assis he ediors

and publisher o make decisions regarding he scope o he journal and he delivery mehodologies.For example, i he journals aim is o provide inormaion o rural general physicians, hen he bespublishing model may be a journal comprising coninuing medical educaion (CME), case sudiesand discussions o new proocols and research, published in prin in he local language. On he oherhand, i he journals aim is o make naional research more widely known, hen he bes publishingmodel may be a journal comprising original research aricles, published online in English.

Tereore, o develop he aims and scope, ediors and owners need o answer he ollowing quesions:

raionale or he journal why is he journal publishing?arge audience or whom is he journal publishing?

opic coverage wha is he journal publishing?ypes o aricles how should he journal presen is conen?

Le us consider each o hese quesions in urn.

Rationale or the journal

Why is your journal publishing? I is imporan ha you are clear abou he need or your journal ashis will help you o clariy exacly wha he aims o journal should be. For example, he raionale or

your journal may be ha here is no nursing journal in your region, or perhaps ha he presige o

your associaion would be enhanced by he publicaion o a journal.Once you are clear abou he raionale or your journal, you can speciy he aims (and objecives) ohe journal ha will mee he raionale. Using he wo examples in he previous paragraph, i your


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raionale is ha here is no nursing journal in your region, hen your aim should be o provide nurses wihaccess o relevan inormaion. I he raionale is o provide a presigious journal or your associaion hen

your aim may be o provide a publishing oule or your membership.

Mos healh science journals would say ha heir aim was o improve healh care, however his is a very

broad aim and you need o be more specic i you are o esablish an ideniy separae rom ha o oherexising journals.

Target audience

Can you clearly describe your arge audience? For his you need o have a clear idea o he public you wano read he journal and he auhors you wan o wrie or he journal. Tey may be he same communiy,

or hey may be diferen. Tink abou where hese communiies operae in which counries, and in whaypes o areas (rural or urban), and consider heir needs and he way in which hey wan o receive andpublish inormaion.

Te language o he journal will be decided by ideniying your arge audience. You may decide hapublishing in a local language is required eiher or he ull aricle, or or an absrac. I is generallyrecommended ha journals published in a local language should have English iles, auhors and absracso allow or inernaional visibiliy. Equally, English-language journals may also nd i useul o have heile and absrac in he local language or he same reason.

Topic coverageTere are many, many journals around he world publishing on wha appear o be he same subjecdisciplines. Tereore, you need o consider wha opic coverage provides you wih a sense o ideniy ha

Spend a ew momens considering your audience. Wrie downwho i is, where i is, and wha you hink is prime moivaionmay be or reading your journal, and or wriing or i.

Spend a ew momens considering he raionale or your journaland wrie his down. From he raionale you have idenied, wrieou wha he aims are ha mee he raionale. How diferen are

your aims rom hose o oher journals in your counry/region?

Are here oher journals wih he same aims as you and i so,wha raionale is here or you o publish your journal?


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separaes you rom oher journals, and mos saises he arge audiences ha you have idenied.Wha is your subjec discipline, and wha ype o conen do you wan o publish and provide o yourreaders?

Types o article

Now ha you have your aims, your audiences and your opics clearly idenied, you can consider whaypes o aricles you wan o include your journal. Mos journals would assume ha original researcharicles will be heir main conen, bu do no orge oher ypes o conen ha your audience mayalso nd equally valuable: or example ediorials, reviews, news, shor communicaions, case sudies,leters, obiuaries, inerviews, ec.

I is imporan o remember ha no every issue will necessarily have every ype o aricle. You may

wish o se limis on some ypes o conen, such as case sudies, or example only allowing one everyissue. You may decide o include only some ypes, such as obiuaries, very occasionally, when i isparicularly relevan o he readership.

One imporan consideraion o be made concerns ranslaed aricles. Increasingly, aricles are beingpublished in boh local languages and in English. Tis is considered accepable so long as he originalaricle is acknowledged and permission is graned by he publisher o he original language aricle.However, some journals have a policy o only publish original aricles, and do no accep ranslaionso published aricles. I is imporan ha you se a policy on his issue, so you can make consisendecisions.

Spend a ew momens considering he opics you wan opublish. Tis may include no only he subjec discipline, bualso he specialy ha gives your journal a paricular ideniy is i he geographic subspecialy ha separaes you rom yourcompeiors or he ocus on a paricular subdiscipline?

Spend a ew momens hinking abou he ype o conen hayou wan o include wihin your journal wha will your policybe regarding ranslaions? Wha policies do you need o pu inoplace i you receive a ype o aricle ha you had no previouslyconsidered?


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Esablishing a niche or qualiy submissions

Manuscrips provide he raw maerial or a journal. I canno survive wihou sucien inpu. Many localjournals in he egion have sared enhusiasically wih he goal o producing a leas our issues a year,bu have ailed o do so due o lack o maerial. Tis indicaes a lack o planning and o marke research.

Te poenial or a new journal should be sudied careully. I here are oo many journals compeing orhe same maerial, hose which canno susain regular publicaion may have o accep weaker researchpapers, and will be caugh in a cycle o low qualiy. I here is insucien research maerial o suppor asmall local journal, merging wih oher journals in he counry or region may be an opion.

o be successul, he journal mus nd ways o atrac he bes work rom a wide communiy o auhors,since relying on a ew regular auhors will ulimaely lead o poor percepion o he journal and oisolaion. o atrac aricles, he journal mus have a niche or speciciy which gives i a unique atracion.Supporing his, he journal mus provide a qualiy service o auhors wih clear submission guidelines,ecien communicaion, ec. Speciciy can be creaed in diferen ways including:

easier and more efecive submission and racking han oher similar journals;links wih proessional socieies;unique ocus on a specic aspec o he opic;diversiy in he ypes o manuscrips considered;involving he research communiy hrough encouraging commens and oher eedback romreaders and auhors;innovaive orma and presenaion;addiional readable maerial such as book reviews, news, leters, ec.;speed in publicaion.

Journal srucure and orma

Once he journal has decided on is aims and scope, his will naurally lead o a discussion o heappropriae orma or publishing. Journals can publish in prined orm only, in boh prin and elecronicorm, or in elecronic orm only (e-only). Alhough here are sill some communiies ha are concernedha elecronic-only does no consiue a repuable journal, his is changing and i is becoming moreaccepable or new journals o publish in elecronic orm only. In ac many indexes have recenly changedheir policies and are happy o index e-only journals (so long as hey adhere o he oher accepancecrieria).

Te journal srucure is he organizaion o aricles and oher conen so ha readers can easily nd whahey wan o read wihin he journal. In a prin environmen he srucure can be exremely simple: ableo conens hen aricles. Alernaively, he journal may decide o include highlighs o each issue a he

Wha do you consider o be your own journals niche? Whaseparaes you rom oher journals publishing in your disciplineor region?


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sar o he issue, perhaps seleced quoaions rom aricles o atrac readers. Perhaps aricles will begrouped hemaically or example regional anaeshesia, inensive care, and general anaeshesia.

Wihin he online environmen, he srucure may be more complex, as users are presened wihseveral issues, and wih he possibiliy o accessing he original daa behind he research aricles.Tere is also he opporuniy o include addiional navigaional ools (or example consan sidebarlinks o oher secions o he journal).

When a journal is published in boh prin and online ormas, he siuaion becomes more complicaed.I is no only possible, bu becoming increasingly common, or he online journal o difer rom isprin version. A he mos basic level some illusraions may be published in colour online, bu only

black-and-whie in prin. However many journals are now including some conen in only he prin,or only he elecronic version, and hereore in efec publishing wo diferen journals wih a coreo common conen. ecognizing he separaion o online and prin ediions o he same journal, youare now required o obain separae ISSNs or each commonly called an e-ISSN and a p-ISSN.

Tere are also opporuniies o be more creaive in he online environmen and o presen he journalconen in more innovaive ways. Some examples o how diferen journals are srucuring heir onlineconen diferenly are presened below:

Uploading pre-press aricles, i.e. hose ha have been acceped or publicaion and areawaiing selecion or he nex issue, e.g. see Te Lances Online Firs

htp://www.helance.com/journals/lance/onliners;Publishing aricles online as soon as hey are ready, raher han collecing in an issue, e.g.seePLoS One. htp://www.plosone.org/ar icle/browse.acion?eld=dae;Gahering collecions o aricles in one subjec area, e.g. see Te Lances collecions pagehtp://www.helance.com/collecions/neurology?collexcode=115;Providing conen in oher media, such as podcass, videos and audioapes o ineresingproocols, inerviews or discussions, e.g. see heBMJweb sie. htp://www.bmj.com/;Encouraging involvemen o readers hrough discussion orums, e.g. see PloS Medicine .htp://ww w.plosmedicine.org /ar icle/commens/ino%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjourna l.pmed.1000072;

Providing addiional conen, such as daa ses o help researchers evaluae he ndings behindhe aricle, and oher online supplemenary maerial;Ineracive CME aricles o allow users o check heir knowledge agains es shees,e.g. see heBMJe-learning sie. htp://learning.bmj.com/learning/main.hml.

For a prin journal, wha srucure do you wan o pu ino place?Wha journals have you seen ha have srucures ha you like?Wha will work in your environmen, and how will your userswan o navigae he prined conen? Wrie down a sequeniallis o he ype o conen and inormaion ha you would likeo presen in prin.


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Clariying he roles and responsibiliies o all parners is vial o avoid conic and help ensure hesuccess o a journal.

Ediorial board

Te ediorial board provides he execuive leadership or a journal. Te ediorial board ocuses on heshor-erm and long-erm goals o he journal o ensure i ollows he aims and scope saemen asclosely as possible. Ediorial boards assume diferen roles and responsibiliies in diferen journals,ranging rom hose o an advisory board ha mees only occasionally, o hose o a uncionaldecision-making body ha works closely wih he edior and assiss wih he daily aciviies o he

journal. Tis group may have anoher name such as board o ediors, ediorial commitee, advisoryediors, ec. Te size o he group depends on he size and he scope o he journal. Possible roles andresponsibiliies are discussed in Secion 2.

Journal ownersTe owner o he journal may be a proessional associaion, a commercial company, or perhaps auniversiy or governmen deparmen. Te owner may be responsible or he overall nancialsuccess o he journal, and may also eel ha i has a vesed ineres o ensure ha he journal servesis membership and policies. I is very imporan ha he relaionship beween he ediors and heowners is ransparen, and ha each knows exacly wha is expeced o he oher.

Wih regard o ediorial policy, he edior mus be ree and independen o make decisions regardinghe ediorial conen o he journal. Many journals publish a disclaimer in his regard, usually closeo he aims and scope. More deailed descripion on ediorial independence and reedom can be

ound in he World Associaion o Medical Ediors (WAME) saemen on Te relaionship beweenjournal ediors-in-chie and owners (htp://www.wame.org/wamesm.hm#independence) and heInernaional Commitee o Medical Journal Ediors (ICMJE) Uniorm equiremens (htp://www.icmje.org/#edior). Frequenly he edior is employed by he owner, and hereore will (or should)have a conrac ha clearly saes wha he owner expecs o he edior or example he requencyo publicaion, ec.

PublisherTe owner o he journal is oen he publisher, bu i is increasingly common or he publishing o

be conraced ou o a commercial publisher. In many cases he publisher works in parnership wih

Do you eel ha you have ull ediorial independence? Do youhave a clear idea o wha is expeced o you by he journalsowners, and do you eel ha here are any conics beween

wha hey and you expec? Do you have a conrac as he edioro your journal, and do you eel ha you should have one?


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he journal owner. Te publisher may have diferen prioriies o ha o he owner or he edior, and aswih he journal owner, i is imporan ha he edior esablishes wha expecaions he publisher has ois role. Tis will involve issues such as delivery schedules, and decision-making levels (e.g. over design).Te publisher may also expec involvemen in some o he publishing aspecs o he journal, or examplepromoing he journal a conerences, ec.

Summary

In summary, i is necessary o dene he organizaion o he journal in deail so ha he roles andresponsibiliies o he edior and governing bodies are explici. Te edior can advise he owner andediorial board on he oulines o heir ineracion and o wha exen he ediorial board is involved inediorial decisions. Tese issues mus be included in he ediors conrac. Te conrac mus also clearlyindicae he ediors independence in all ediorial decisions.

For more deail on he roles and responsibiliies o he individuals involved in he publishing process, seeSecion 2.

Resources and urher reading

ICMJE. Te role o he edior. In: Uniorm requiremens or manuscrips submited o biomedical journals: wriing andediing or biomedical publicaion. Updaed Ocober 2008. Inernaional Commitee o Medical Journal Ediors (ICMJE).

Visied 29 June 2009. htp://www.icmje.org/#edior

Marcovich H, Williamson A. Ediorial boards. In: Maisonneuve J e al. (eds). Science ediors handbook. UK, EuropeanAssociaion o Science Ediors (EASE), 2007. Secion 1-1.3.

Marusic A, Marusic M. Organizing he ediorial oce and educaing conribuors. In: Maisonneuve J e al. (eds).Science ediors handbook. UK, European Associaion o Science Ediors (EASE), 2007. Secion 4-3.3.

Uiger D. Syllabus or prospecive and newly appoined ediors. USA, World Associaion o Medical Ediors (WAME),2001. Visied 29 June 2009. htp://www.wame.org/syllabus.hm

WAME. WAME saemen on he relaionship beween journal ediors-in-chie and owners. [Undaed] USA, WorldAssociaion o Medical Ediors (WAME). Visied 29 June 2009. htp://www.wame.org/wamesm.hm

Do you eel ha he prioriies o he owner, he publisher (ihey are diferen) and he edior are he same? Wha are hediferences, and do hey lead o conic? I here is a conic,

wha can you do abou his?


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1.4 Ehics and publishing

Objecive: Te edior will be able o esablish and implemen an ehics policy or hejournal.

Inroducion

Unehical conduc among he biomedical research communiy and wihin biomedical researchpublicaion unorunaely exiss everywhere and akes many orms. When i does occur, i cass ashadow ha can have ar-reaching consequences or example i he wrong inormaion is used oormulae or subsaniae changes in policy. I is imporan hereore ha he biomedical proessionand he public are assured ha research has been conduced wihin a scienically acceped, ehicalramework, and ha wha is published is genuine, original research.

Furhermore, auhors and readers need o be conden ha a manuscrip was deal wih in anappropriae manner while being processed. On all sides, a degree o rus is necessary: ha namedauhors are indeed he aricle auhors; ha all conics o ineres are declared, ec. Each imesandards o ehical conduc are breached or compromised ha rus is undermined. All journalsmus have policies in place o ensure as ar as possible ha ehical sandards are mainained, and ha

where hey have been breached, procedures are in place o deal wih he siuaion.

Ehics and auhors

Conduct o the study

I is imporan o ascerain ha auhors have adhered o ehical sandards or biomedical researchin relaion o humans and animals (or example he validiy o he research, inormed consen,principles o respec or auonomy, non-maleasance, jusice, ec.). Alhough he journal can only

judge he ehics o research aer i has been compleed, all papers should be assessed o ensure ha heresearch has ollowed relevan good pracice guidelines. Where relevan, he journal should requiresaemens indicaing ha ehical approval or a sudy was obained rom a relevan insiuional

body and ha inormed consen (wheher verbal or writen) was given. Te journal can ask o seehe inormed consen orm and approval o he relevan insiuional review board. In some counriesehical review boards do no always exis, bu where hey do exis, heir approval should have been

sough i appropriae. Where hey do no exis, ediors have a role o play in advocaing or heiresablishmen and in encouraging insiuions o creae hem. For example, aricles may be urnedaway i he auhors have no ollowed inernaionally recommended guidelines or research.

Auhors should be encouraged o ollow he relevan reporing guidelines or heir specialy, and hejournal should promoe good pracice by direcing auhors o he relevan web sies so ha hey canensure he validiy o heir research. Te Equaor nework provides a gaeway o diferen guidelines,and provides resources or ediors as well as auhors in heir mission o improve and endorse reporingguidelines. See htp://www.equaor-nework.org.


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Authorship

Tere are oen disagreemens regarding who should be included wihin a lis o auhors. According ohe Uniorm requiremens or manuscrips submited o biomedical journals: wriing and ediing or biomedical

publicaion, an auhor is someone who conribued subsanively o he paper based on conribuion o allo he ollowing aspecs o he sudy: concep and design, acquisiion o daa or analysis and inerpreaiono daa, draing or revising he aricle criically and nal approval o he version o be published.

Some journals require all auhors o describe heir conribuions o he work o ensure ha hey shouldall be included. A common pracice in his egion and elsewhere is ha o gi auhorship headso deparmen or supervisors are oen included as auhors even hough hey do no ull he crieriaabove. Supervising he research group, on is own, is no jusicaion or auhorship alhough supervisorsand oher conribuors should be acknowledged. I can perhaps be dicul or auhors o avoid giauhorship, bu i he journal requires a writen saemen o he conribuion o all auhors, his may help

o discourage his pracice.Some researchers use ghos auhors o help hem prepare an aricle or publicaion. Tese may be whaare called auhors ediors who underake o rewrie he dra paper o improve he English and ensureha i is suiable or submission o inernaional journals. Oher ghos auhors may be employed by hepharmaceuical companies who have unded he original research, and hese medical wriers ake he rawdaa ndings o he researchers and develop aricles rom hem. So long as here is ransparency over hearicle creaion process (boh o he ediors and he readers), neiher o hese groups o ghos auhorsneeds o be discouraged. Te rs group provides a valuable service o auhors who are no compleelyuen in he language o publicaion, and may help o repor he researchers ndings in a more accurae

and comprehensive manner. Te later group may provide a valuable service o busy researchers, byreporing heir ndings aser, and perhaps more comprehensively han he auhors would have beenable o do hemselves. In boh cases, however, here are wo imporan poins. Firs, he named auhorsake ull responsibiliy or he conen o he published aricle, and mus approve i beore publicaion,and second, i is vially imporan ha hese ghos auhors are acknowledged clearly, so ha readers areaware o any poenial bias. Ghos auhors should no be named wihin he lis o auhors, bu mus beacknowledged clearly wihin he aricle.

Do you have a policy on publishing good research? Do youcommunicae his o your auhors in your auhor guidelines?

Wha would you do i you received a paper wih ineresing and

novel resuls, bu which you el had been produced as a resulo unehical research mehodology?


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Sources o unding

An auhor may have been unded by a company/body and his ac may inuence he resuls o heresearch. While his does no preclude publicaion o a paper, i should be declared and made clear

ha his unding has neiher inuenced he resuls nor he independence o he auhor o publish heresuls or own he daa.

Competing interests (also called conict o interest)

An auhor may have oher ineress ha could resul in bias or improper decisions regarding heresearch. Again, his should no preclude publicaion, bu i mus be disclosed so ha ediors,reviewers and readers can draw heir own conclusions. Many journals require he auhors o declareany compeing ineress as par o he submission process.

Fraud

Fraud is he presenaion o aked/invened daa, or inererence wih mehods, or selecive reporingo daa. Tis is hard o deec a he submission sage bu ediors and reviewers should be aler o hepossibiliy o raud. Tis is serious misconduc: i is a breach o rus and undermines he spiri oscienic research and can mislead readers.

Plagiarism

Plagiarism is he use o work/daa/ideas o ohers (wheher published or unpublished) wihouatribuion and implying ha he work/daa/ideas were originaed by someone else (usually heauhor). Tis includes sel-plagiarism which is when an auhor re-publishes heir own work (orexensive secions o i) wihou acknowledging ha i has already been published.

Wih he inerne, plagiarism has become easier o commi (as i is easy o cu-and-pase conenrom online publicaions), bu i has also become easier o deec. Tere are increasing numberso specialis programs (some ree) o deec his orm o misconduc, alhough mos o hem aredesigned o work wihin universiies, raher han comparing agains oher conen available online.Some auhors, especially hose wriing in a language ha is no heir moher ongue, may see no harmin copying ex rom oher peoples work as long as i is acknowledged in he ciaions. However,

plagiarism can also hide/indicae a lack o undersanding o he science a issue on he par o heauhors. I is dicul o say how much can be copied verbaim wihou consiuing plagiarism buauhors should be encouraged o express hemselves in heir own words, no only o avoid inringing

Do you conac all named auhors o ensure ha hey complywih he deniion o an auhor? Do you have a policy o dealwih problems aer publicaion when eiher an auhor has beenincluded incorrecly, or an auhor has been omited rom hepaper? Do you have a policy abou ghos auhorship?


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he righs o ohers, bu also o develop heir own skills in comprehension and wriing. I hey mus quoeverbaim, i should be represened as such (or example in invered commas, and atribued) and limiedo an occasional senence. Ediors have an imporan role o play in raising awareness o plagiarism andin advocaing agains i.

Duplicate submission

Tis is when an auhor submis an aricle simulaneously o more han one journal. Tis pracice shouldbe discouraged because i resuls in duplicaion o reviewing, ediing and adminisraive work and conicbeween journals or he righ o publish. More imporan, a sudy published in more han one journalresuls in a variey o problems (e.g. biased oucomes or sysemaic reviews and mea-analyses, ciaionerrors, variaion due o ediing, ec.), and means ha neiher journal can claim o be publishing heoriginal aricle. All journals should make i clear ha hey will only accep submissions ha are no underconsideraion (or have been published) elsewhere. I an aricle is rejeced hen o course he auhor can

submi i o anoher journal. Someimes auhors eel compelled o submi heir aricle o a second journali hey eel ha he ediorial oce is aking oo long o review or publish heir aricle. Tereore, here is aduy on ediorial oces o work ecienly o preven auhors eeling his way, as well as o educae hemas o why duplicae submission is unaccepable.

Duplicae publicaion may be permissible in cerain siuaions: or example i he paper is a ranslaion, ori i is o ineres o very diferen audiences who may no be aware o he rs publicaion. In boh cases,he auhors mus inorm he journal when hey submi he paper, and he journal mus acknowledgehe original publicaion so ha readers are also kep inormed. Te auhors mus also ensure ha i heygraned exclusive licence o publish, or assigned copyrigh o he rs publisher, hey have he permissiono he rs publisher o reproduce he aricle.

Redundant submission

Tis is he submission o a manuscrip ha subsanially duplicaes anoher paper ha has already beenpublished by he same auhor or group o auhors. Tis ypically happens when a research projec is

writen up several imes or diferen publicaions. Publishing such papers gives undue prominence o heunderlying research, and possibly also wases he ime o readers, reviewers, ec. Finally, i undermineshe originaliy o conen which he journal publishes, and hereore is qualiy. o avoid his, he journal

should require ha he auhors declare all o heir publicaions ha are similar (or based on he sameresearch) o he submited paper so ha he edior can assess how much overlap here is. I is very empingor researchers o publish as many papers as hey can rom heir daa (also called salami publishing)

Do you provide he auhors wih clear guidelines abou yourpolicies on plagiarism, duplicae submission, ec.? Do yourequire auhors o conrm he validiy o heir papers when heysubmi, by conrming ha he aricle is original and no underconsideraion elsewhere?


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so hey can add o heir lis o publicaions. Ediors should acively discourage and look ou orredundan submission.

Competing manuscripts

Tese are papers based on he same sudy or daa bu submited separaely by wo or more researcherswho have worked on he same sudy. Tis leads o loss o originaliy and here may be issues ocopyrigh i he same conen is published in muliple journals. I he analyses are he same hen iis up o he auhors o sor ou beween hemselves wha hey inend o publish and where. I heanalyses are diferen, hen boh papers could possibly be published.

Copyright iningements

Auhors may include iems wihin heir aricle ha have already been published, and or which heyrequire permission (e.g. gures). o avoid problems, you should require auhors o conrm ha heyhave received permission o include any already-published conen. You should also noe ha i anauhor has published an aricle and signed over copyrigh o he publisher, hen he auhor may nore-publish iems rom ha aricle elsewhere wihou permission rom he original publisher. Manyauhors are unaware o his, so i is imporan o ask hem i any o heir conen has been publishedelsewhere.

I is good pracice or he journal o provide is auhors wih a permission reques orm or heauhors o use when requesing permission o include already published iems wihin heir aricle. Bydoing his, he journal can ensure ha i has he righs i needs o publish he iems in boh he prinand he online journal.

Ehics and ediors/reviewers/journal sa

Competing interests (also called conict o interest)

Tese exis when ediors, reviewers or journal saf have oher ineress or ies ha couldinappropriaely afec heir judgemen o a paper (e.g. personal relaionship, academic compeiion,nancial ineress). All such individuals mus be requesed o declare any such conics i hey arise,and he journal should ake appropriae acion. For example a paper may be submited by a member

o he ediors amily, in which case he decision regarding wheher o publish should be delegaed oanoher member o he ediorial board. Te journal mus have a policy in place or dealing wih such

Do you have policies in place o deal wih ehics problemsrelaing o auhors? Have you experienced any problems, andhow did you resolve hem? Wha could you do o anicipae andpu processes ino place o avoid hese problems in he uure?


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conics. I any cases are uncovered where conics o ineres have jeopardized ehical sandards and airreamen o a paper, hen he journal should have a policy on how o deal wih his.

Some journals do no accep submissions rom members o heir own ediorial board, or rom he journaledior. Oher journals encourage all members o he ediorial board o submi heir bes maerial o he

journal. So long as a journal does no exclusively publish aricles writen by members o is own ediorialboard, i is accepable o publish such maerial. However, o avoid criicism o bias he journal shouldhave a clear policy regarding such submissions, so ha he readers can be assured ha he decision opublish was based on meri, raher han he relaionship wih he auhors.

Confdentiality

Manuscrips, or pars hereo, or commens o reviewers, mus be proeced rom any personal use byediors, reviewers or journal saf. For example, here have been cases where a reviewer has aken maerialrom papers hey are evaluaing and incorporaed i ino heir own aricles. Te journal should have a

sric policy o condenialiy in his regard and should ensure ha reviewers are all well inormed oheir ehical responsibiliies owards auhors. Te journal should also have a policy on how o deal wihinringemen.

Ehics and owners/suppor organizaions

In he ineress o scienic objeciviy, inegriy and equiy, owners/suppor organizaions need orespec he independence o he edior and no inuence he conen o he journal. Te edior mus

reques assurance o his a he beginning o his/her enure.

Ehics and adverisemens

Many journals accep adverisemens and may need hem o bring in essenial revenue. However, suchadverising mus no be allowed o inuence ediorial decisions. In biomedical journals, adverising oencomes rom pharmaceuical companies or heir producs. A journal mus have a clear writen policy onadverising, and he edior should ensure ha all exising local sandards or adverisemens ha apply oheir counry are enorced.

Issues ha should be considered when creaing an adverising policy include he ollowing:No adverisemens o producs proved o be harmul should be carried.

Do you sress he need or condenialiy wih your reviewers?Do you have a policy ha all members o he ediorial board arerequired o agree o when hey join he journal? Are here any

oher ehical issues relaing o ediors, journal saf and reviewersha you can hink o?


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Journals should no conain excessive adverising especially rom only one or wo adverisers,as readers may perceive ha hese adverisers have inuenced he edior and biased heconen.I is no usual or adverisemens o appear beween aricles (hey are usually placed eihera he sar or he end o he journal). Te reason or his is ha i may appear ha he aricleendorses a produc i he adverisemen is near a relaed paper.Ediors should be aler o misleading or exaggeraed claims in adverisemens and shouldreserve he righ o edi adverisemens or o reuse o include hem.Te nal decision o carry specic adverisemens should be he ediors alone.

Dealing wih misconduc

So ha misconduc can be deal wih quickly and correcly, he journal should have policies andsraegies o deal wih possible misconduc in relaion o all he individuals or bodies menioned.However, siuaions may arise which are no covered by prepared policies. I his happens, a wealh oinormaion on how o deal wih specic problems is available rom he Commitee on PublicaionEhics (COPE) which also provides useul owchars on how o deal wih commonplace misconducissues, such as plagiarism, incorrec auhors, ec.

Te usual seps o deal wih misconduc include:

reques or conrmaion o daa;reques or re-wriing;rejecion o a paper;reerral o he insiue he auhor is aliaed wih;

reracing a paper;

naming and shaming.

How hese can be used in specic cases can be seen rom he COPE owchars. See htp://www.publicaionehics.org/


CSE. CSEs whie paper on promoing inegriy in scienifc journal publicaions. USA, Council o Science Ediors(CSE), 2006. Visied 29 June 2009. htp://www.councilscienceediors.org/ediorial_policies/whie_paper.cm

COPE.Bes pracice guidelines or journal ediors. UK, Commitee on Publicaion Ehics (COPE), 2002. Visied 29

June 2009. htp://publicaionehics.org/code-conducEhical issues, In: Maisonneuve J e al. (eds). Science ediors handbook. UK, European Associaion o ScienceEdiors (EASE), 2007. Secion 1-4.

ake a look a he COPE websie. Do you agree wih he owcharsha hey presen and i no, wha oher procedures would you

use o address issues o misconduc?


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ICMJE. Uniorm requiremens or manuscrips submited o biomedical journals: wriing and ediing or biomedicalpublicaion. Updaed Ocober 2008. Inernaional Commitee o Medical Journal Ediors (ICMJE). Visied 29 June2009. htp://www.icmje.org

WAME.Publicaion ehics policies or medical journals. [Undaed] Te World Associaion o Medical Ediors (WAME),USA. Visied 29 June 2009. htp://www.wame.org/resources/publicaion-ehics-policies-or-medical-journals

1.5 Managemen

Objecive: Te edior will be able o deermine he opimum managemen sysems o ensuresusainable publicaion o he journal.

o ensure a successul and susainable journal you need o make sure ha you have good qualiy aricleso publish, ha you publish i efecively, and ha you disseminae i o he maximum number o readers.Tis requires managemen o nances and people, and implemenaion o sound business sysems o

atrac conen and promoe visibiliy o he journal o is communiy. Tis secion will consider hesysems ha need o be pu in place.

Finance and business planning

For he susainabiliy o he journal, nancial issues are imporan. Te edior mus have an idea o heresources s/he can rely on, where he revenues are expeced o come rom (prin and online subscripions,adverising, suppor rom organizaions/associaions/insiuions, ec.), and how susainable hey are. Inaddiion, he edior (or anoher appropriae person) mus monior expendiure o ensure ha he journaldoes no spend more han i can aford.

Projecing he nances or a new journal can be very dicul, bu i is crucial o do his o deerminewheher a new venure can succeed. Wih an exising journal i is equally imporan o evaluae he nanceso deermine wha improvemens or new developmens can be aforded or example publishing moreregularly, or employing an addiional member o saf.

Many journals are sared on he iniiaive o one or wo enhusiasic scholars. Tis is no usually enougho guaranee he coninued publicaion o he journal. Te edior mus ry o build an adminisraive bodyincluding enough ediors and ediorial saf. Money and raining are boh necessary or his purpose, andi is likely ha a journal will ade in he long run, or indeed he shor run, i i does no have a plan orediors and saf recruimen and raining. Tis is a key issue o consider in saring up a new journal.

Do you have a clear undersanding o he income and expendiureor your journal? How would you und new developmens?


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For an exising journal i is recommended ha you periodically underake a SWO analysis (srenghs,weaknesses, opporuniies and hreas) or he journal. Tis will help o ideniy areas where i couldimprove, eiher by aking advanage o new opporuniies (perhaps a new edior), or by addressingproblems (perhaps oo ew manuscrips submited). See Annex 1 or more deail on underaking aSWO analysis.

Te publishing model

Wih changing echnologies and changing expecaions, i is worhwhile reconsidering he publishingmodel periodically. Te online environmen also ofers grea opporuniy o develop your journalino new markes, and srenghen is publishing operaion. Some o he opporuniies ofered byonline publishing are discussed below.

Open access or subscription-based online access

Subscripion-based access requires a secure sie ha only allows access o auhorized users (subscribers,plus a lis o oher accredied users, e.g. he ediorial board). I may also ofer a pay-per-view opion opurchase access o individual online aricles using credi cards. Tis is very common in commerciallypublished journals in developed counries. Te disadvanages o his model are woold. In he rsplace obaining and mainaining he secure echnology required may be expensive. Second, onlypaying subscribers (and oher auhorized users) can access he journal, which resrics visibiliy.

In open access publishing he aricles are published wih no barrier o access. rue open accessalso allows users o re-use he conen (including modiying and re-publishing) wihou seekingpermission, so long as hey ully credi he auhor. Tere is a grea body o argumen or onlineresearch conen o be made open access as i grealy increases he visibiliy o research across he

world. One disadvanage or a journal may be a loss o subscripion revenue, however here areconicing argumens abou he acual efec o his, paricularly wihin he low- and middle-incomecounries. Possible loss o revenue can be ofse by charging auhors publicaion ees, or obaining

Do you have a plan or mainaining skills and enhusiasm romhe members o he journal eam? Do you have a succession planin place (how o replace members o he ediorial board and he

edior-in-chie when hey sep down)?

Have you ever underaken an analysis o he srenghs andweaknesses o your journal? Who do you hink should beinvolved in such an exercise?


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gran unding. Open access publishing is paricularly popular wihin he biomedical sciences, wih manypublishers saring o adop i: or example Hindawi in Egyp, MedKnow in India, PLoS in he USA, andBioMed Cenral in he UK.

I is possible o efec a compromise beween open or resriced access by publishing wih eiher a delayed

open access aciliy, or graning open access o seleced aricles. Wih delayed open access, aer an agreeddelay (or insance 6 monhs, or one year), he journal makes all o is conen available o any reader, wihno barrier on access. Te bene o his model is ha i proecs subscripion revenue, bu helps visibiliy

by making he conen available o all aer a specied ime.

Wih seleced open access some o he conen is available o all wih no barrier, while oher conen isproeced and only available o subscribers. An example is he BMJ which makes is research ariclesreely available o all, bu proecs is value-added conen (reviews, ec.) behind subscripion-onlyaccess. Oher publishers make aricles reely available i he auhors pay a publicaion ee, or exampleSpringers Open Choice model.

Other publishing models

Publish ofen online, print inrequently. Making use o he relaive cheapness o online publishing comparedo he cos o prining and disribuing, a model o publishing requenly online, bu only prining onceor wice a year may be a way o increase your periodiciy. In his model he online version could be openaccess or resriced access.

Publish article-by-article online. Following he above example, some journals have moved anoher sep on,and publish each aricle online as soon as i is ready. For example, all he journals published by BioMedCenral publish in his manner. Te bene o auhors is ha heir work is published very quickly, and

also akes advanage o he relaive cheapness and ease o publishing online. Some publishers hen prin acompiled issue (or volume) once or wice a year, whereas ohers do no produce a prin ediion unless iis specically requesed (and paid or). In his model he online could be open access or closed access.

Pre-publication articles. Many journals do no publish as oen as hey wish, which means ha auhorsmay have o wai a long ime o see heir aricle published aer accepance. o make an auhors workpublic in advance o being seleced or an issue, a specic area o he journal web sie can be se up o hosaricles ha are waiing or publicaion. Usually hese are aricles ha have gone hrough producion,and are held or press (i.e. awaiing selecion and paginaion). Tere is some evidence ha his ype oservice is mos valued by auhors, and no by readers (excep in some as-moving disciplines), hereore

use o a pre-publicaion sie can be disappoining, and be an addiional cos o he journal wih litlereward. In addiion, some auhors may no wan heir aricles o appear in a pre-publicaion sie, orinsance i hey have paens pending, or i hey are concerned abou heir aricle appearing beore i has

been associaed wih a volume/issue. Also, you will need o obain digial objecive ideniers (DOI) orhe aricles in his case, and he work o he ediorial oce will be increased. Te pros and cons need o

be weighed careully.

Online only. Prining and disribuion can be a high cos, so i may be worhwhile considering publishingas an online-only journal. A ew years ago his was rowned on, bu increasingly (paricularly in he

biomedical area), i is becoming more acceped or example PLoS Medicine, and all he journals

published by BioMed Cenral. Tese examples are open access, however here are oher examples whichpublish online only, bu are closed access or subscribers only. One poin ha you should consider is


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ha in some counries and disciplines here are auhors and insiuional bodies which may sill norecognize he online publicaion as a rue publicaion, making his model unsuiable bu opinionsare changing as.

Promoion o he journal

I is unrealisic o expec ha a journal will naurally become well known even i i is publishinghigh qualiy maerial. o raise he visibiliy o a journal ouside is own small communiy akes efor,

bu i is well worh he invesmen o ime and resources. I does no require large budges o promoea journal, bu i does ake some imaginaion and ime.

Te prime audience o which a journal mus promoe isel is o poenial new auhors, so ha i willatrac he high qualiy manuscrips which are vial o increasing journal use and impac. Frequenly,

boh readers and auhors orm par o he same communiy, so by promoing o one communiy, youauomaically reach he oher.

In planning promoional aciviies he edior mus have a clear idea o he audience s/he is argeing.Dening he arge audience can preven he edior rom wasing resources and energy on aciviiesha do no lead o efecive journal promoion.

A journal can build a good repuaion wih is auhors by providing good services, such as:

working wih auhors and aking an acive role in producing good manuscrips: his can bedone in he orm o efecive review repors, raining workshops, ec.;providing good, clear, concise auhor guidelines;

dening and mainaining high publishing sandards: his can be done hrough using rained

proessional saf, language ediors, mehodological advisers, and inernal reviewers;developing an efecive online submission and racking sysem which helps auhors o submi,reviewers o review and ediors o oversee he process;dening and mainaining high sandards o efecive ediorial process: horough peer review,speed o decision-making, qualiy o proos beore publicaion, ec.;increasing visibiliy o he arge readers: online and prin versions wih imely and efecivedisribuion, presence in libraries, indexing in bibliographic daabases.

Have you considered alernaive publishing models o helpincrease he visibiliy and susainabiliy o your journal? Whicho he above ideas do you hink would be appropriae or your

journal? Wha oher ideas do you have o ake advanage o newpublishing models?


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A journal can promoe is conen o prospecive readers (and auhors) hrough aciviies such as:

work ing wih oher journals by exchanging journals, ediors, reviewers ec.;collaboraing wih oher journals o exchange absracs, supply each ohers subscribers wihcopies o he journal, ec.;

making good use o he ediorial board o ac as journal represenaives and atrac

conribuions;providing he ediorial board wih a supply o leaes o hand ou a meeings;atending conerences and meeings;asking members o he ediorial board o include heir posiion on he journal as par o heire-mail signaure;

working w ih large proessional publishers where appropriae;ensuring he journal is included wihin he relevan indexes (see below);signing agreemens wih subscripion agens o promoe and sell he journal abroad;exchanging adverisemens w ih oher journals;

sending ou calls or papers or hemed issues;e-mailing arge groups wih inormaion abou he laes issue;providing e-mail able-o-conens alers.

More deailed descripion o journal promoion mehods can be ound in he EASE Science EdiorsHandbook see he reerence a he end o his secion.

Having a policy or journal disseminaion helps he journal reach is audience. As already menioned,dening his arge audience is crucial, since i deermines he circulaion o he journal.

Examples o such arge audiences include:

pro essionals and researchers;libraries;socieies and insiuions;oher journals;companies;hospials;govern men ocials.

Sraegies o reach his audience can include:

subscrip ion;

complemenary copies;online ull ex aricles;including journal web sie link in ediors correspondence;providing leaes, posers, and oher promoional maerial;e-mail alers including able o conens;posers a conerences and proessional meeings.


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Indexing

One o he major challenges or journals is geting more visibiliy hrough indexing in bibliographicdaabases. Tere are generally hree caegories o such daabases:

general inernaional indexes (such as Web o Knowledge, H.W. Wilson);

specialized/opic-oriened indexes (such as Medline, Embase, Chemical Absracs,oxline);local/geographic indexes (such as Index Medicus or Easern Medierranean egion[IMEM], Arican Index Medicus, Arican Journals OnLine [AJOL], naional indexes.).

All indexes have some minimal requiremens or inclusion. Depending on he vision o he indexingservice, hey may se sric crieria on conen (or example Web o Science), or be more inclusive

bu require oher qualicaions such as geographical locaion (like local indexes). Te mos commoncrieria include he ollowing.

Qualiy o ediorial workuniormiy, and he presence o journal house syle or diferen pars and ypes omanuscrips;inormaive journal ile;ul ly descripive aricle iles and absracs;complee bibliographic inormaion or al l cied reerences;address inormaion or auhors;applicaion o he peer review process;

adherence o ehical guidelines or conduc o research.

Producion qualiyimeliness o publicaion;qualiy o he layou, prining, graphics and illusraions.

Conenemerging opics;ho elds in he lieraure;

val idiy, imporance, originaliy and conribuion o coverage o he eld;predominance o original and sae-o-he-ar review aricles raher han reprinsand ranslaions.

Language requiremens

alhough many journals are published in oher languages, English ar icle iles, absracs,and keywords are required by many indexes.

Wha oher means o promoion o auhors, librarians andreaders can you hink o? Wha promoion have you underakenha you hough was paricularly successul wha have you

learn rom his?


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Diversiydiversiy among auhors o boh source aricles and cied aricles;diversiy o auhors aliaions.

Journals mus have a plan or geting indexed. I may be appropriae or a new journal o seek inclusion in

he counry index as soon as hey sar publishing, bu no o seek indexing in some o he more specialisindexes unil hey have become more esablished, and can prove ha hey mee he requisie crieria.For example some indexes require a minimum number o issues, or a ime period beween applicaions.Mos indexing services provide ac shees indicaing deails o heir inclusion crieria. Some o he more

well known indexing services are lised in he Annex 2 including he Index Medicus or he EasernMedierranean egion (IMEM), which indexes peer-reviewed journals rom he counries covered byhe WHO Easern Medierranean egion, and he Arican Index Medicus which indexes peer-reviewed

Arican journals.

Ediorial oce operaions

Te success o a journal involves no only good science, bu also ecien managemen o he publicaionprocess. In paricular, managing he ow o submited or commissioned aricles is crucial o success.Tis includes rouine oce asks managing he ow o manuscrips and oher documens, soring andaccessing inormaion, and monioring and evaluaing he processes. Sysems or hese processes mus bepu in place and managed. I possible, i is advisable o have a ull ime manager or he ediorial oce soha he edior can ocus on ediing asks. Te manager will ideally be amiliar wih he journal opic andalso have some ediorship abiliies.

While i may no be easy o nd suppor saf wih previous experience o working or a science journal,especially in developing counries, many o he uncions involved are comparable o hose o any oce.In an insiuional seting, such as a universiy, here should be no diculy nding ineresed suppor

rom graduaes and aculy. Generally speaking, he ollowing uncions are necessary, while here needno be one person or each ask:

adminisraive suppor (secrearial/clerical);language/copy edior;echnical edior;graphic designer or illusraor;publishing echnician;compuer echnician.

unning he journal oce needs hardware, soware and oher equipmen in order o operaeproessionally. Even i hese are no available a rs, he edior can make a lis o such requiremenso esablish prioriies and needs in he uure. Te lis mus ake ino accoun space requiremens andequipmen, such as ables and chairs, compuers, soware, inerne connecions, elephone, ax, ec.

Is your journal included in any naional or inernaional indexes?Do you have a plan or obaining inclusion?


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Te processes inside a journals oce can be divided ino hree major caegories: rouine oce workand correspondence, manuscrip handling and producion. Alhough pars o each o hese aciviiesmigh be done ouside he oce, he ask o nal supervision and qualiy conrol should be heresponsibiliy o he oce eam, which is in urn supervised by he edior and his/her appoinedmanager. Tus, preparing a deailed manual o operaions or he oce is a useul ool o ensure haall members o he eam know heir roles, and will help ree he edior o concenrae on he coneno he journal.

Manuscrips can be received in hree diferen ways; on paper, online or by email. Many journalsnow preer eiher o he las wo, due o ease and speed and he ac ha i aciliaes review andproducion processes. Online submission sysems (also someimes called peer review soware oraricle managemen soware)are becoming more common, bu any decision on implemening suchsysems, apar rom easibiliy issues, mus ake ino accoun he coss o esablishing and managinghem. Tere are some open source soware programmes available, bu heir use and implemenaionmay need echnical assisance. A good example o an open source sysem is Open Journal Sysems(htp://pkp.su.ca/?q=ojs). Tere is also a range o commercial sysems.

I can help undersanding o he processes i a ow diagram o he manuscrip handling processes isdrawn up. Tis should include he person(s) responsible or each sage, he sages rom submission onal accepance or rejecion, showing he communicaion seps o he edior, he board, he reviewers,ec., and he correspondence necessary a each poin, deadlines or each sage, and he repors o begiven o he edior or he manager. A simple example is given in Annex 3.

Te process can bes be handled wih an ecien ediorial managemen soware and daabase, buin he absence o such soware, an organized paper-based regisraion and ollow-up sysem mighserve he purpose jus as well or a small or mid-sized journal. As he journal grows, he use o acompuer-based searchable daabase and managemen sysem becomes more necessary.

o make communicaion more ecien, i is worhwhile seting up a series o correspondenceemplaes, preerably more han one or each purpose, o ease he ask o composing he righ letera he righ ime. Some o he usual correspondence emplaes include:

acknowledgmen o receip (original and revised versions), o auhors;enquiry abou availabiliy o review, o reviewers;leter wih reviewing insrucions, o reviewers;reques or revision, o auhors;decision leters (rejecion, accepance, condiional accepance), o auhors;reques or claricaion regarding copyrigh, ehical/insiuional review board approval,

auhorship ec., o auhors;eedback, o reviewers.

Wha resources do you have o operae he ediorial oce? Arepeoples roles clearly dened?


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Examples o diferen ypes o peer review include:

open review, e.g. all BioMed Cenral medical journals, BMJ;open peer review and publicaion: all aricles are published i auhors obain hree reviewsrom he ediorial board, which are published nex o he amended aricle, e.g. Biology

Direc;wo-sage inernal and communiy peer review: ediors ensure he basic scienic andechnical qualiy, hen upload aricle or open review, e.g. PLoS One;hree-sage inernal and communiy peer review: rs, a closed radiional review ollowedby auhor revision; hen he online pre-prin is published or user commens, ollowed byauhor revision; inally, ediorial decision and publicaion, e.g. Journal o Ineracive

Media in Educaion;peer review consorium: i one journal rejecs, hen oher journals in he consorium willaccep he peer review commens o avoid requiri ng ur her peer review, e.g. a groupo neuroscience journals (htp://nprc.inc.org).

While i is quie accepable or a peer reviewed journal o only peer review original aricles (includingreview aricles), some journals also exernally review conen such as leters, ediorials and evenadverisemens. However, his is probably o be discouraged (unless he edior paricularly wansexernal opinion), as i may overburden he willing reviewers.

Once you have decided which process o peer review o adop, he journal mus se up a searchabledaabase o reviewers. Tis daabase could be as simple as an indexed address book, or become paro he ediorial and submission daabase. Many ediorial managemen sysems incorporae suchinormaion.

I is useul o esablish writen crieria or he selecion o reviewers, and i is worh keeping in mindha younger researchers, alhough less well qualied or experienced, oen produce he bes reviews.Te FAME guideline on selecing reviewers is a useul resource or such selecion (htp://apps.who.in/dr/svc/resources/parnerships-neworks/ame-guidelines).

Manuscrips can be reviewed by edior(s), he ediorial board or exernal reviewers. I is usual o sendmanuscrips o a minimum o wo exernal reviewers so ha balanced eedback can be obained.Some papers may need o be evaluaed by diferen people in diferen specialies. Original ariclesmay also need o be reviewed by a biosaisician o assess he mehodology and saisical analyses.

Online review sysems aciliae he communicaion beween ediors and reviewers and poeniallyincrease he speed o peer review. Online submission sysems usually include a reviewing sysemo allow he enire process rom submission o nal decision o ake place online, e.g. Open JournalSysems (htp://pkp.su.ca/?q=ojs).

Wha sysem o peer review do you operae? Have you consideredany o he alernaive sysems? Do you hink any o hem wouldhelp you o obain good eedback and improve he papers ha

you publish?


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I is recommended ha journals monior he perormance o heir reviewers periodically. Some journalsapply a raing sysem o mainain an up-o-dae lis o hose reviewers who are mos horough and reliable.

A checklis or reviewer evaluaion will help in choosing more efecive and helpul reviewers in he uure.esuls o his checklis can be kep in he reviewers daabase as he prole o each reviewer. Examples oiems ha can be included in reviewers evaluaion are:

imeliness;ease o communicaion;deph o he review;clear and insrucive commens;posiive atiude;lack o bias;

wi llingness o cooperae.

A useul reviewer evaluaion orm can also be ound among he FAME ools (htp://apps.who.in/dr/

svc/resources/parnerships-neworks/ame-guidelines).

o avoid overburdening a small group, he edior and he ediorial board should always be looking ornew reviewers. Expers, hough very knowledgeable and experienced, may no have enough ime o readand review a manuscrip in deph, and i is a good idea o recrui young reviewers, as well as o reain moreexperienced reviewers o serve as ediorial advisers or reviewers o more complicaed papers.

Ways o enlarging your daabase o reviewers include:

asking colleagues;asking he auhors o sugges names o reviewers;

searching suiable daabases (e.g. PubMed) o ideniy people working in he same area;

asking members o he ediorial board o sugges new people;asking respeced reviewers o sugges and menor new (young) reviewers;using he reerence liss in he aricles; he e-mail addresses o many o he auhors can be oundon he inerne.

raining o reviewers (i possible) may help no only o increase he qualiy o he reviewing bu also oimprove he submited papers. Ediors will usually no have he resources o run raining programmes orheir reviewers alone, bu may be able o underake such aciviies joinly in associaion wih oher ediorsor organizaions.

o suppor your reviewers, he journal should have a review orm (guidelines or reviewers) o be seno he reviewer. I is helpul o boh he reviewer and he journal o provide such guidance, raher han

How many reviewers do you have in your daabase? Do youhave a sysem o increase your daabase o reviewers? How do

you evaluae heir perormance?


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expecing he reviewer o creae an independen response (which may be dicul o compare wihanoher review o he same paper).

Samples o such orms and oher guidance can be ound on some journal web sies.

See he journal Ophhalmology or an example o such a orm, plus a reviewer evaluaion sysem:

htp://www.ophsource.org/periodicals/ophha/conen/peer_reviewTe Annals o Emergency Medicine, provides useul examples o good reviews, plus guidelinesin heir Insrucional Guide or Peer eviewers o Biomedical Manuscrips: htp://www3.us.elsevierhealh.com/exracor/graphics/em-acep/

A FAME ool is available as anoher example: htp://apps.who.in/dr/svc/resources/parnerships-neworks/ame-guidelines

BMJ also provides useul inormaion on is web sie: htp://resources.bmj.com/bmj/reviewers/

eviewers should be asked o keep inormaion in he manuscrip condenial. Tis includes no

discussing he conen wih oher colleagues, no making use o he conen or ciing i beorepublicaion and no making or keeping a copy o he unpublished manuscrip. eviewers should also

be encouraged o send heir repors on ime. imeliness is no always achieved by giving reviewersmore ime han necessary, and i is oen beter o ask or a review wihin a shor period o ime hano give a long ime. Te journal oce should conac he reviewers near he deadline, remindinghem o he approaching ime limi. I is no uncommon or a reviewer o ail o respond, in whichcase an addiional reviewer needs o be ound as soon as possible.

eviewers are, in a broad sense, also cusomerso he journal (oher cusomers include auhors andreaders.) Tey are essenial o he journal in mainaining is scienic inegriy and pursuing is goals.

In order o expec imely and ecien reviews, a ew principles mus be observed.I is imporan no o overload good reviewers. Many journals inadverenly punish goodand imely reviewers by bombarding hem wih more manuscrips. A maximum o our per yearis advised.I is polie or he journal o ask he poenial reviewer i s/he is willing and has he ime o dohe review beore sending hem a manuscrip. Besides showing respec or he reviewers imeand opinion, his will reduce he number o unanswered reviews and speed up he manuscripevaluaion process.eviewers should be hanked or heir work.

Giving eedback o reviewers will help hem eel par o a eam, and encourage hem o ake moreacive roles. Feedback can be in he orm o a simple acknowledgmen o receip o review, hankingreviewers i hey provide an especially helpul review or review a paricularly challenging paper,asking heir opinion abou he nal decision on a manuscrip hey have already reviewed, and letinghem know how heir review has afeced he decision.

Oher ways o involve and encourage good reviewers include asking heir opinion abou he reviewprocess and journal policies, and ormally hanking hem by menioning heir names (wihouspeciying manuscrips hey have reviewed, i he journal has a blind review policy) in (usually)he las issue o a volume. A ew journals creae maerial incenives or he reviewers, such as a ree

(perhaps online) subscripion o he journal, or supplying hem wih a promoional iem rom hejournal, such as a pen. No all journals have he resources o do his, and no all reviewers nd suchincenives an imporan or even posiive gesure. However, i a journal does have he resources, i canmake he reviewers eel valued i some o he bes ones are hanked in some ormal manner.


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FAME. FAME guidelines or reviewers. Kenya, Forum or Arican Medical Ediors (FAME), 2005. Visied 29 June 2009.htp://apps.who.in/dr/svc/resources/parnerships-neworks/ame-guidelines

INASP.Publishing workshop maerials. UK, Inernaional Nework or he Availabiliy o Scienic Publicaions, 2005.

Visied 29 June 2009. htp://www.inasp.ino/le/e03e0ce7ca5d2c6dd8a7ba722624630/publisher-workshops.hmlJeferson e al. Efecs o ediorial peer review: a sysemaic review.JAMA, 2002, 287(21): 2784-2786.

Marusic A, Marusic M. Promoion o journals, especially small scholarly journals. In: Maisonneuve J e al. (eds). Scienceediors handbook. UK, European Associaion o Science Ediors (EASE), 2007. Secion 4-3.3.

Marusic A, Marusic M. Organizing he ediorial oce and educaing conribuors. In: Maisonneuve J e al. (eds).Science ediors handbook. UK, European Associaion o Science Ediors (EASE), 2007. Secion 4-3.2.

Uiger D. Syllabus or prospecive and newly appoined ediors. USA, World Associaion o Medical Ediors (WAME),2001. Visied 29 June 2009. htp://www.wame.org/syllabus.hm

How do you hank reviewers or improving he qualiy owha you publish? Can you hink o ways o hank hem hahe journal can aford and which would be appreciaed by your

reviewers?


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2. People

Purpose:o enable ediors o develop and mainain eecive ineracion wih and beween

he ediorial eam, auhors, reviewers and readers.

2.1 Ediorial eam

Objecive: Te edior will be able o dene he individual roles o members o he ediorialeam.

Te ediorial eam comprises several roles. Te principal roles are described in his secion ogeherwih heir atendan responsibiliies.

2.1 Ediorial eam

Objective: Te edior will be able o dene he individual roles o members o heediorial eam.

2.2 AuhorsObjective: Te edior will be able o prepare and publish clear insrucions orauhors and esablish efecive mechanisms or communicaion and ineracion

wih auhors

2.3 Reviewers

Objective: Te edior will be able o prepare guidelines or reviewers, develop aplan o encourage good and imely reviews, and develop a plan o atrac new

reviewers.

2.4 Readers

Objective: Te edior will be able o develop a plan o enhance he readership ohe journal and encourage eedback rom readers.

2.5 Publishers, owners or sponsoring sociey

Objective: Te edior will be able o clariy and develop srong working

relaionships wih he publishers, owners or he sponsors o he journal.


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Edior-in-chie/edior

Te edior is he seward o he journal. S/he provides direcion or he journal and is responsible orbuilding a srong managemen eam. S/he mus consider and balance he

manual for editors of health science journals

Documents