国际期刊编辑期待怎样的论文？

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近期，科学网举办了一次在线访谈活动，邀请到了两位科学网知名博主和来自《英国医学杂志》（BMJ）、英国物理协会出版社（IOP Publishing）、SAGE 出版集团，以及国际知名学术传播机构 Cactus Communications 的学术出版业“圈内人”。

小编在阅读完全部的319个回复后，为大家总结出了一些期刊投稿的“内部”建议。

从【编辑对稿件第一眼会关注什么】、【如何选择适合自己投稿的期刊】、【编辑更重视文章哪些部分】、【怎么让编辑被投稿信吸引】、【配图应注意什么】、【讨论怎么写】这七个关键点为大家做一些分享。

编辑对稿件第一眼会关注什么

七位嘉宾全部回答了相关问题，半数都提到了cover letter、标题和摘要。

刘谦

编辑重点阅读cover letter，题目，摘要，图表，这些内容是编辑首先重点看的。如果这几部分写的不理想，往往会给编辑很差印象，甚至直接拒稿。

喻海良

通常，我们会去读一下cover letter，看看作者研究工作的亮点。然后，再大致看看论文的格式、语言、论文长短、图标等，如果觉得都还好，就安排送审。

Thomas Sharp 

First impressions definitely count. Firstly, we’ll check our plagiarism detection software to see if the article has significant overlap with published work before we read the paper. Articles with significant overlap are likely to be rejected, or we may ask the authors to address problematic areas. Then we’ll read the paper. Editors have their own personal way of working and reading an article, but I like to start with the title and abstract for a preliminary assessment of whether the article fits the scope of the journal. At this stage if the article doesn’t fit the scope, we may offer a transfer to another IOP title. After reading the abstract I will read the article in full, but paying particular attention to the introduction, figures and conclusions as this helps form an opinion regarding the article’s novelty and impact. At this stage we’re not looking to critique the science of the paper - that is the job of the reviewers - but to quickly assess whether the article matches the journal’s scope and submission requirements. If it does, it will be sent out for review. In my opinion it is worth spending lots of time on the title and abstract of your article and writing them after you’ve written the rest of the paper! The abstract is often the only part that reviewers can see when deciding to accept or decline an invitation to review, so make it count! It should be a clear, concise overview of what you did, what you found out, and why you did it. Make sure your title is clear and descriptive and easy to search for.

Nithya John

它也许不是”最重要“的，但它绝对是重要的。良好的第一印象是避免直接被拒的关键。一些期刊考察论文的语言水平、格式、标题和摘要以及投稿信，据此形成对论文的初步看法。编辑特对会对标题产生持久的印象。避免以这几个表达开头作为标题：“The analysis of”、“The study of”、“The role of”等，尽量做到”开门见山“。例如，与其使用“A study on the role of X in the ABC metabolic cycle,” ，你可以这么表达“X in the ABC metabolic cycle: a mere intermediate compound or key regulator?”。避免通用型标题也很重要。如果你脑海里已经想好一个标题，将他输入谷歌学术，如果检索结果有都是用了高度相似的文章标题，这说明你应该修改标题使之更具体。你是领域内首个研究该课题的吗?你的方法极具创新性吗?如果都是，建议您的文稿标题着重强调首创性和创新型。不要低估你的研究发现！ 

Christopher Leonard 

It might seem superfluous, but the cover letter is a good way to summarize your findings, explain why you submitted to this particular journal, and give the editor a good feeling that this work was meant for this journal - it also shows the authors have spent some time considering this as well. Another strange thing authors may not be aware of. When you submit an article, the editor receives an email detailing the submission with the authors names and article title. The title is their first impression of a paper. If it is short and descriptive, that is ideal. If it is long or whimsical, then you may not be creating the best first impression with the editor. Spend some time refining the title as it’s the first thing the editor sees. 

罗会仟 

第一眼关注的有：1. 论文是不是新颖；2.是不是符合期刊定位；3. 是不是会吸引引用率；4. 作者是不是似曾相识，即有相关方向研究的论文发表过；5. 论文的格式规范问题。

G Kartikeyan 

A first impression is very important and is often gathered from simply reading the abstract. Subsequently, a quick reading of the paper is sufficient to provide an idea regarding the relevance of the research question/topic being addressed, the rigor of the methods used, and the validity of the results.

怎么让编辑被投稿信吸引

既然很多编辑都提到第一眼会关注cover letter，那么该如何写好一篇能够吸引编辑的投稿信呢？

刘谦 

投稿的COVER LETTER非常重要，是投稿后编辑首先认真阅读的部分。所以要在cover letter里面把自己文章的新意和意义用简短的语言阐述，重点突出，简洁明了，不要照搬摘要或者讨论。另外，cover letter要有伦理，版权，署名等的声明。cover letter建议找有经验的作者帮修改，好的cover letter有助于稿件进入评审。

Christopher Leonard 

Cover letters are a dying art. Many people don’t submit them any longer, and in theory they shouldn’t be required - but they do ‘set the tone’ for your submission and introduce you as the author. Some online templates are very long and overly complicated. I would suggest you use two paragraphs to introduce; your paper, why you’re working on this, what the main findings are - and why you are submitting to this journal. Then, introduce yourself and your coauthors (names, institutions, subjects) and confirm it hasn’t been submitted anywhere else - and that’s it. Don’t make it too long and try to sound enthusiastic!

Nithya John 

Do not rehash the abstract in the cover letter; journal editors are going to read the abstract anyway, and you don’t want them to assume that you have nothing new to say in the cover letter. In your summary, focus on the importance of your study, what your study found/achieved, and the implications of the study findings. Comment on how the study ties in with the target journal’s aims and scope and why the study would be of interest to the readership of the journal. Don’t simply go by what the “Aims and Scope” section of the journal’s website says, understand what the journal typically publishes and look for papers related to your topic of study that have been published in earlier editions. Bonus tip: Evaluate how these papers have been written and prepared to understand what the journal appreciates. Following suit may boost your chances of acceptance! Several journals have specific requirements for the cover letter, so make sure your cover letter is prepared in the recommended format and includes all the necessary information and disclaimers.

编辑更重视文章哪些部分

如果能了解到编辑更侧重文章的哪些部分，相信是对大家写文章最有助益的“内部知识”。

许多编辑都给出了他们的意见，尽管不尽相同，但是都非常具体参考价值：

G Kartikeyan 

As an editor, I look at all aspects of the manuscript before making a decision or recommendation. But at the outset I would generally focus on the following: 1. Clarity of objectives and methods, best presented in accordance with research reporting guidelines; concentrate on presenting a clear abstract 2. Briefly highlight the uniqueness of the paper in the cover letter (and elsewhere) 3. Simple and clear language

刘谦 

原则上，多数高水平期刊最看重创新性，学科重要性，科学性。不一定要花费巨资的临床试验才是杂志感兴趣的，很多临床实践中的重要发现一样可以发高水平期刊。例如NEJM,LANCET等期刊里面发表很多临床重要工作可以值得我们学习。

Nithya John 

文稿准备：确保论文撰写得当，并且严格按照期刊作者指导排版。 文稿内容：确保文稿的标题体现该研究的本质，体现新颖性，容易抓住读者的注意力。通过摘要来强调该研究的重要性，以及研究结果对该领域的研究、临床实践、政策等层面的影响。投稿信：主要用于向期刊推荐您的研究。除了强调这项研究的重大发现及其意义，还应分别解释你的研究与目标期刊的目标和范围的相关性，以及为什么这项研究会引起期刊读者的兴趣。 

G Kartikeyan 

A good paper is born of a clear question answered using sound research methods. Ideally the question should be clinically important. But the research question can also simply reflect scientific curiosity. Whatever the motivation of the research, however, the methods should be rigorous and appropriate to the research question. Adequately powered, randomised controlled trials and rigorously performed systematic reviews are in general preferred by journals. But this does not mean that other study designs will not be published. In fact, many journals appreciate that large randomised trials are rarely possible, particularly in resource-poo countries. In general, the focus of most journals is on publishing methodologically sound, locally relevant research, irrespective of study size or study design, without compromising on the quality of content. The next critical step is writing the report which clearly reflects the objectives and results of the research and places it in the context of existing evidence in the field. You should follow published reporting guidelines (see http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/manuscript-preparation/preparing-forsubmission.html) so as to allow editors and reviewers to adequately evaluate your manuscript. You should particularly carefully craft your abstract as this is often the only part of your paper that may be seen by busy journal editors. Finally, it often helps to write a brief and clear cover letter explaining what is unique about your paper. 

讨论怎么写

论文的“讨论”部分是最能反映作者掌握的文献量和对某个学术问题的了解和理解程度。对于如此重要的“讨论”部分，我们应该怎么下手呢？

刘谦 

讨论主要基于作者结果得出结论，不要立题万里做过大的讨论，也不要复制前言部分。原则上来说，讨论要让读者（编辑，审稿人）相信，你做的数据可以得到有一定新意的结论，这是个逻辑上说服读者的过程。如果结论过大，或者没有涉及到局限性的讨论，往往不利于稿件接受。

喻海良 

讨论部分一定要针对论文的论点进行讨论，不能够太发散。另外，讨论部分需要适当引用一些前人的工作，和他们的工作进行比较。

如何选择适合自己投稿的期刊

最后，当你完成了一篇不错的文章，要如何选择适合自己投稿的期刊从而提高中刊率呢？

除了求助导师和有经验者以外，编辑们也给了很多技巧性的建议：

Christopher Leonard 

Use an online journal finder. Paste in your abstract and let them suggest journals which have published work with similar abstracts in the past.

刘谦 

首先可以通过平时阅读的参考文献来了解哪些期刊发表自己研究相关的内容，其次可以参考Journal citation reports等目录，然后到网站阅读稿约里面的aims and scope，同时也要到期刊网站检索一下近年是否有自己研究相关内容发表。如果不能确定，可以发邮件给主编或者编辑部进行presubmission inquiry。

可以看一下自己文章的参考文献，大体就知道自己学科文章发表在哪些期刊了，另外平时阅读的文献也是重要参考。如果某几篇文章和自己文章水平差不多，该刊可以考虑做投稿候选。

喻海良 

如果不着急论文马上被发表，那就去冲击一下领域内的顶级期刊，即使被拒稿，也会有一些不错的审稿意见的。

Thomas Sharp 

I would highly recommend exploring the journal’s website to check if it is suitable for your work. They should provide an overview of the scope and standards there. Make sure you read some of the most recent articles in the journal - do they cover a similar subject to your work? I would also recommend looking at the Editorial Board of the journal. If you recognize any of them as researchers within your field, then the journal is likely a good fit for your work. It is also a good idea to talk to your supervisors to find out where they would recommend publishing your work.

配图应注意什么

“图表是文章结果里面很重要的部分，如果图表呈现不好，读者阅读困难，有可能会被推荐退稿。所以建议对图表制作做专业学习，这对提高稿件质量帮助很大。”

那么配图应该注意什么呢？这里也给出了一些建议：

Christopher Leonard 

高质量的图形、图表和照片可以极大地增加读者对手稿的理解，以及阅读的乐趣。一些复杂的概念可以很容易地通过图形例如沟通(我想尤其是冠状病毒成长图表。

是的，编辑们非常看重好的数据。但你也说得对，“糟糕的”数据将对文章不利。至少有一点。常见的例子是从其他期刊复制粘贴，人们经常花很长时间在图像处理图像的复制部分,旋转它,作物,假装这是他们自己的工作。与文本一样，存在一系列的不当行为，从没有署名的复制图像和质量低劣的图像，到作为伪造形式的法医学处理图像。你的文稿中的任何数字都应该是高质量的，可以印刷(300dpi)，应该是你自己的作品，或者——如果来自另一篇论文——明确引用，你可能需要联系出版商，获得在你的文稿中重新出版它的权利。

Thomas Sharp 

Figures are definitely an important thing to consider when preparing your article. While they do not have to be “pretty”, they should always be clear and easy to understand. You should also ensure that your figure captions are detailed and free of acronyms so that each figure can be understood as a self- contained entity. I have definitely seen cases where reviewers have rejected articles because the figures could not be understood.

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