How to make it into print

Science is nothing without communication of ideas and results, and whatever the publication you chose to tell the world of your insights, there are several key things you need to know if you want to be published. Here, our resident editorial expert Maria Anguita gives us the top tips on getting your article into print

WRITING for publication should not be a daunting prospect as it is no longer restricted to stratospheric academic circles. There is a voracious demand for information from the public and publishers are more than happy to oblige, be it from the randomised controlled trial double-blind peer reviewed paper, to the opinion columns and discussion forums. On the internet everything and anything is valid, and of particular value are the articles written by scientists (or ‘expert writers’ as commissioning editors like to call them) for the lay-readers. This is because increasingly complex technology comes with a whole new vocabulary, and the public are increasingly demanding expert opinion on increasingly complex and ethically controversial takes on science.

With your scientific knowledge, and a little bit of creative flair, publishing should be your oyster. However, before you take pen to paper - or finger to keyboard - take a few moments to think though the following points to ensure that your work gets accepted.

1. Gather your thoughts and form a clear idea

What is it that you want to write about? Are you passionate about a specific aspect of your work? Is there something that you think about ‘differently’? Do you have a different take on an aspect of your research that is different to your colleagues?

2. Do your research

Before writing your article, make time to do a little research. Has your article already been published by somebody else? Do you have anything new to add to an old debate? Has the topic you are writing done the rounds and has it already received enough media coverage? If you have heard something in the news the chances are that it has been covered to death elsewhere. For example, when news on the avian flu broke out it would have been too late to write an article about it as it was already plastered all over the place. If it is in the news it is because somebody has already written about it and you are too late. Aim to be original and not simply follow the trend. The media buzz word right now is ‘the environment’, but for a well seasoned writer this is already old news and editors will already be looking for a new spin on the theme or the next big thing. Do not shy away from controversy; if you think the public are being deceived speak up about it.

3. Target a publication and get to know it

You may think that once you have compiled your set of lab results the hard work is over. It has only just started. 90% of your success publishing chances are based on where you send your article. Most people will write an article and then send it off to various publishers in the hope that one of them will like it and publish it. However this method is rarely successful. Editors have an innate sixth sense for sniffing out and rejecting articles which have been written with no particular publication in mind, and regardless of how good the article is most publishers will unceremoniously bin your article out of pride – they do not want to feel like they are second, third of fourth choice. Publishers like to feel that you are writing specially for them and that you are their first and only choice. Publishers like to feel loved. The best, and only, way of making a publisher feel loved is by getting to know them - read other articles already published, and get to know the tone of their publication. Do not send an article on your novel take on the polymerase chain reaction to a lad’s magazine. Do not write an academically referenced research paper to your local newspaper. Write your article appropriately for the publication in which you want it to appear.

4. Approach the editor

You have spent time choosing your publication and now you need to go in for the kill. How do you do this? Earn brownie points by picking up the phone and calling the editor. Give them a brief outline of the article you have in mind and why you think they should publish it. This is where having done a bit previous research will pay off. The editor will be impressed by your knowledge of their publication and he will feel loved and special. Also, they are probably very busy and will be keen to get you off the phone and will probably say: “Yes we are interested send it by e-mail”.

Bear in mind that the editor receives a lot of unsolicited articles and they will only have a few minutes to decide which ones to look at and which ones to bin, and if your name rings a bell they are more likely to look at it.

5. How to earn a gold star

You can earn yourself a gold start in publishing terms by asking the editor for the publication’s house style and the instructions to authors. Many publications have their own style. While it is the role of the sub-editors to make sure that all articles adhere to the house style, if you write your article according to the publication’s house style your article will already stand out from the pack. In addition, many publishers will have a set of guidelines they will send to authors when they commission articles. These guidelines are there to help you structure your article in a logical way and make your life and that of the editor and the sub-editor’s easier. Also, they will remember a good writer and are more likely to accept more work from you in the future if they know that there is some sort of logic in your writing.
 
Make a good impression by delivering your work on time - if you are given a deadline stick to it. Telling the editor you dog ate your article is not going to make a good first impression.

6. Follow up your article

You have sent your article and a week later you have still not heard from the publishing house. You assume that this means they are not going to publish it and that your publishing career is over before it has even started, so you head off to the pub to drown out the bitter pang of rejection. Wrong. Some publications are published daily, weekly, fortnightly, monthly, and some are only published a few times a year. The less frequently the publication is published the longer it will take to get the article to come out at the other end. For articles that need to be reviewed you need to allow some months for the reviewing process. Before binning your laptop give the publication a quick call to find out at what stage of the publishing process your article is at. It is very likely you will receive a rejection letter if your article is not published therefore, as they say, no news is good news.

7. If you need to make corrections, do them!

It is likely that you may need to make corrections to your article, so be prepared to have to revise your work. Even if the article has not been reviewed the editor may ask you to include extra information on a particularly interesting point or ask for further details. Do not be put off by this and do not take it personally. Many times I have had angry authors on the phone telling me that they do not ‘see’ why they should change their work. Unfortunately getting angry is not going to change an editor’s mind and threatening to take the article away is not going to help - the editor will be more than happy to see the back of a grumpy author.

During the editing process the editor may change around paragraphs of your article, delete sections, and re-write bits of it. If this happens do not throw a tantrum and demand that the article be changed back to exactly how it was when you sent it. Your article would have been changed to conform to house style policy and to make it more readable, so do not become precious over your work.

Finally, keep a copy of your published article as you may want to show it to future prospective publishers as examples of what you are capable of.

By Maria Anguita. Maria is a freelance science and health writer. She has previously edited several science and health magazines.