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EditorialTenSimpleRulesforGettingPublishedPhilipE.BourneThestudentcouncil()oftheInternationalSocietyforComputationalBiologyaskedmetopresentmythoughtsongettingpublishedinthefieldofcomputationalbiologyattheIntelligentSystemsinMolecularBiologyconferenceheldinDetroitinlateJuneof2005.Closeto200brightyoungsouls(andafewnotsoyoung)crammedintoasmallroomforwhatprovedtobeawonderfulinterchangeamongagroupofwhomapproximatelyone-halfhadyettopublishtheirfirstpaper.TheadviceIgavethatdayIhavemodifiedandpresentastenrulesforgettingpublished.Rule1:Readmanypapers,andlearnfromboththegoodandthebadworkofothers.Itisnevertooearlytobecomeacritic.Journalclubs,whereyoucritiqueapaperasagroup,areexcellentforhavingthiskindofdialogue.Readingatleasttwopapersadayindetail(notjustinyourareaofresearch)andthinkingabouttheirqualitywillalsohelp.Beingwellreadhasanotherpotentialmajorbenefit—itfacilitatesamoreobjectiveviewofone’sownwork.Itistooeasyaftermanylatenightsspentinfrontofacomputerscreenand/orlaboratorybenchtoconvinceyourselfthatyourworkisthebestinventionsinceslicedbread.Morethanlikelyitisnot,andyourmentorispronetofallingintothesametrap,hencerule2.Rule2:Themoreobjectiveyoucanbeaboutyourwork,thebetterthatworkwillultimatelybecome.Alas,somescientistswillneverbeobjectiveabouttheirownwork,andwillnevermakethebestscientists—learnobjectivityearly,theeditorsandreviewershave.Rule3:Goodeditorsandreviewerswillbeobjectiveaboutyourwork.Thequalityoftheeditorialboardisanearlyindicatorofthereviewprocess.Lookatthemastheadofthejournalinwhichyouplantopublish.Outstandingeditorsdemandandgetoutstandingreviews.Putyourenergyintoimprovingthequalityofthemanuscriptbeforesubmission.Ideally,thereviewswillimproveyourpaper.Buttheywillnotgettoimpartingthatadviceiftherearefundamentalflaws.Rule4:IfyoudonotwritewellintheEnglishlanguage,takelessonsearly;itwillbeinvaluablelater.Thisisnotjustaboutgrammar,butmoreimportantlycomprehension.Thebestpapersarethoseinwhichcomplexideasareexpressedinawaythatthosewhoarelessthanimmersedinthefieldcanunderstand.Haveyounoticedthatthemostrenownedscientistsoftengivethemostlogicalandsimplystatedyetstimulatinglectures?Thisextendstotheirwrittenworkaswell.Notethatwritingclearlyisvaluable,evenifyourultimatecareerdoesnothingeonproducinggoodscientificpapersinEnglishlanguagejournals.SubmittedpapersthatarenotclearlywritteningoodEnglish,unlessthescienceistrulyoutstanding,areoftenrejectedoratbestslowtopublishsincetheyrequireextensivecopyediting.Rule5:Learntolivewithrejection.Afailuretobeobjectivecanmakerejectionhardertotake,andyouwillberejected.Scientificcareersarefullofrejection,evenforthebestscientists.Thecorrectresponsetoapaperbeingrejectedorrequiringmajorrevisionistolistentothereviewersandrespondinanobjective,notsubjective,manner.Reviewsreflecthowyourpaperisbeingjudged—learntolivewithit.Ifreviewersareunanimousaboutthepoorqualityofthepaper,moveon—invirtuallyallcases,theyareright.Iftheyrequestamajorrevision,doitandaddresseverypointtheyraisebothinyourcoverletterandthroughobviousrevisionstothetext.Multipleroundsofrevisionarepainfulforallthoseconcernedandslowthepublishingprocess.Rule6:Theingredientsofgoodscienceareobvious—noveltyofresearchtopic,comprehensivecoverageoftherelevantliterature,gooddata,goodanalysisincludingstrongstatisticalsupport,andathought-provokingdiscussion.Theingredientsofgoodsciencereportingareobvious—goodorganization,theappropriateuseoftablesandfigures,therightlength,writingtotheintendedaudience—donotignoretheobvious.Beobjectiveabouttheseingredientswhenyoureviewthefirstdraft,anddonotrelyonyourmentor.Getacandidopinionbyhavingthepaperreadbycolleagueswithoutavestedinterestinthework,includingthosenotdirectlyinvolvedinthetopicarea.Rule7:Startwritingthepaperthedayyouhavetheideaofwhatquestionstopursue.Somewouldarguethatthisplacestoomuchemphasisonpublishing,butitcouldalsobearguedthatithelpsdefinescopeandfacilitateshypothesis-drivenscience.Thetemptationofnoviceauthorsistotrytoincludeeverythingtheyknowinapaper.Yourthesisis/wasyourkitchensink.Yourpapersshouldbeconcise,andimpartasmuchinformationaspossibleintheleastnumberofwords.Befamiliarwiththeguidetoauthorsandfollowit,theeditorsandreviewersdo.Maintainagoodbibliographicdatabaseasyougo,andreadthepapersinit.Citation:BournePE(2005)Tensimplerulesforgettingpublished.PLoSComputBiol1(5):e57.Copyright:2005PhilipE.Bourne.Thisisanopen-accessarticledistributedunderthetermsoftheCreativeCommonsAttributionLicense,whichpermitsunrestricteduse,distribution,andreproductioninanymedium,providedtheoriginalauthorandsourceareproperlycredited.DOI:10.1371/journal.pcbi.0010057PhilipE.BourneisEditor-in-ChiefofPLoSComputationalBiology.E-mail:bourne@sdsc.eduPLoSComputationalBiology||Volume1|Issue5|e570341Rule8:Becomeareviewerearlyinyourcareer.Reviewingotherpaperswillhelpyouwritebetterpapers.Tostart,workwithyourmentors;havethemgiveyoupaperstheyarereviewinganddothefirstcutatthereview(mostmentorswillbehappytodothis).Then,gothroughthefinalreviewthatgetssentinbyyourmentor,andwhereallowed,asistru