Comments on: Tracey Koehlmoos: The ups and downs of the publishing process

By: Liz Wager

Liz Wager — Thu, 26 Jul 2012 08:26:00 +0000

My publisher made some valiant efforts to make the book available via the HINARI scheme (as I was keen for it to be available in developing countries, which I know will be close to your heart!) but ran into technical problems (the system seemed more geared up to journals than books and the formats weren’t right) … I will nudge them again. The first few chapters are rather different from the rest (which is the AtoZ) so I’m not sure how useful they would be by themselves, and they’re not really representative of the book. Many thanks for the plug!

By: Tracey Perez Koehlmoos

Tracey Perez Koehlmoos — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:21:00 +0000

Dear VA Writer; You misunderstand me completely. No condescension intended. The part where I say I bow to your superior knowledge is not written flippantly. The devotion to detail that is an essential element of daily living for copy editors is admirable. Further, the part further down in the blog where I write about you making other scientists’ dreams come true–is also sincere. Your work is hard and essential and I am always so thankful for the assistance so I hope that you do not view your profession as ‘faceless minions’ who cramp the style of would-be authors. Almost everything and everyone benefits from what you all do–and I think that anyone who has ever helped me bring an article to publication knows that I feel this way. The disappointment is that once your manuscript is accepted, the tendency as an author is to think, “Now we are finished” but the surprising reality is more like, “Miles to go before we rest…”

Am I completely miffed that it is taking so long to correct the name of my colleague? Absolutely! But I also know that I am dealing with people spread around the globe, that the group with whom I am working are having internal changes and that it will just take more time. Am I sorry for my colleague that he cannot send the article to his parents yet? Absolutely.

Thank you so much for taking the time to respond to the blog. b/w TLK

By: Tracey Perez Koehlmoos

Tracey Perez Koehlmoos — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 17:07:00 +0000

Dear Liz; You are spot on–and I would like to put in a plug for your excellent book on the topic: Wager L.Getting Research Published: An A-Z of Publication Strategy which is available on Amazon. This is such a tremendous resource for researchers. I wish I would have had the ability/know-how to attend one of your seminars or read your book earlier in my career. I have been lucky to learn from a few great mentors and work with fantastic senior colleagues–but I know that some people suffer in relative silence. Your book would really help. Are any chapters available open access? (I did not check–but it might be good if the first two or three chapters were available.) Thank you for writing in Liz. –TLK

By: VAWriter

VAWriter — Tue, 24 Jul 2012 10:51:00 +0000

“However, when the manuscript gets to to the copy editing part—which should be easy—it can become a nightmare of endless questions, providing answers, and then being ignored and asked the same question. Frankly, if you are the copy editor, I am willing to bow to your suggestions as to where the commas and other punctuation should go, no need to ask!”
As an editor and writer who has also done original research, I find your comments about copy editing patronizing. Editing and rewriting (call it what it is!) has saved more researchers from embarrassment and has exposed more potential problems in scholarly publishing than it has caused, including editors who have found plagiarism and outright fraud in the manuscripts they work on (serious issues missed by their supposed betters). Editors—how condescending to see them merely as part of a nameless, faceless team unworthily tweaking your prose!–do not get credit for making writers who are mediocre or worse sound great, and they do this routinely. Most editors I’ve worked with can write well, and many have done original research; not every researcher can write, and few can edit. There is so much more to editing than “where the commas and other punctuation should go.” Perhaps realizing this and treating mere “copy editors” as fellow professionals would help you figure out ways to work together to make this process more efficient and effective, rather than complaining about how those nameless, faceless minions cramp your style.

By: Liz Wager

Liz Wager — Mon, 23 Jul 2012 16:42:00 +0000

I completely agree that training about publications can be helpful — but will admit that I’m biased on this subject, as I do run such courses. Life’s too short for all the painful trial and error … and it’s also surprisingly hard to find guidance on all the necessary steps in addition to writing the paper. Good mentoring can be very helpful but most scientists appreciate some formal training as well.