What Editors Want

Research publications have always been key to building a successful career in science, yet little if any formal guidance is offered to young scientists on how to get research papers peer reviewed, accepted, and published by leading scientific journals. With "What Editors Want", Philippa J. Benson and Susan C. Silver, two well-respected editors from the science publishing community, remedy that situation with a clear, straightforward guide that will be of use to all scientists. Benson and Silver instruct readers on how to identify the journals that are most likely to publish a given paper, how to write an effective cover letter, how to avoid common pitfalls of the submission process, and how to effectively navigate the all-important peer review process, including dealing with revisions and rejection. With supplemental advice from more than a dozen experts, this book will equip scientists with the knowledge they need to usher their papers through publication.

Philippa J. Benson is director of education and author services for the Charlesworth Group, an international organization that supports publishers. Susan C. Silver is editor in chief of Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, published by the Ecological Society of America.

"With this book, Philippa J. Benson and Susan C. Silver have provided a guide to the art of preparing and submitting scientific manuscripts. But they have done much more than that: they have placed their manual in the wider context of the need for science to be communicated to the public. I shall certainly be recommending What Editors Want to authors, particularly those at an early point in their career. And as an editor, I shall even use this book to remind myself what I want." (Andrew Sugden, deputy editor, Science)"