Welcome to our first monthly Science Editor Newsletter! As I recently noted in my inaugural Viewpoint, we’re starting this newsletter as a way to highlight Science Editor articles on a more frequent basis, outside of the full issues published each quarter. I’ll also share links from recent issues and those deeper in the archive, along with some (hopefully) fun and interesting extras.
If you haven’t already seen the Fall 2018 issue of Science Editor, you can find it here. If you are a CSE member, check the mail for your print version soon.
As a CSE member, you’ll automatically receive this newsletter, but if you know anyone who is not a member who may enjoy this, I encourage you to forward this to them. At the bottom of each Newsletter will be a link to sign up to start receiving, and you never know, maybe they’ll be inspired to become a member!
As with any new endeavour, I would appreciate your feedback and suggestions by email to scienceeditor@councilscienceeditors.org. We are also always looking for new submissions or article suggestions you may have; for more details, see our Information for Authors.
Jonathan Schultz
Editor-in-Chief, Science Editor
Recent Early Online Articles
This month I’d like to highlight the recently published Summary of the African Journal Partnership Program (AJPP) Annual Review and Planning Meeting, 2018.
If you are unfamiliar with the AJPP and the work they do to strengthen scientific publishing and research in Africa, you can find out more on their website.
Hot Articles from Recent Issues (For CSE Members Only)
As a CSE member benefit, once Science Editor articles are moved to an issue, they are available for CSE Members only for one year.
If they haven’t already, CSE Members are encouraged to check out the following original research article on Student-Run Academic Journals in STEM: A Growing Trend in Scholarly Communication. The authors provide the results of a survey of student-run journals, typically run by students, for students, and provide insights into the next generation of scientific publishing and editing professionals.
From the Archives
To correspond with the AJPP Meeting Report, here is a nice profile from the archives of James Tumwine, editor of the journal African Health Sciences: James Tumwine: The Walking Editor.
Resource of the Month
Being an editor and working at a scientific publication requires being ever knowledgeable of a rapidly changing scientific and publishing landscape, so each month I plan to highlight a resource that will hopefully make this at least a little bit easier.
This month it’s the upcoming CSE Webinar: The “R” Word: Removing the Stigma from Retractions
Retractions are becoming increasingly common and this “webinar will address the dreaded ‘R’ word for journals, in an effort to remove the stigma and discuss the importance of, and how to go about, protecting the integrity of the scientific record.”
A Thread for the Road
I’ll leave you this month with a recent Twitter thread by Science Editor Editorial Board Member Lenny Teytelman:
This thread is going to be a plea for nuance and civility in open access/science discussions. I do this, realizing that Twitter rewards and pushes for extremes, hyperbole, provocation.
I know this is an uphill battle, but please bear with with me. 1/
— Lenny Teytelman (@lteytelman) September 21, 2018
I fully support this “plea for nuance and civility in open access/science discussions” and there are some interesting discussions in the comments, but something I’d like to add is that this lack of nuance also makes enemies out of a lot of people who would otherwise be allies. Hyperbole many times flattens diverse organizations and erases individuals within those organizations working to effect change, sometimes making their work harder in the process.
Feedback and suggestions are always welcome at scienceeditor@councilscienceeditors.org.
We are also always looking for new submissions or article suggestions you may have; for more details, see our Information for Authors.