Behind the scenes at Science and AAAS Pamela
Behind the scenes at Science and AAAS Pamela J. Hines, Ph. D. Senior Editor SCIENCE, AAAS Washington DC Email: phines@aaas. org
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Supporting you, your science, and your university: AAAS 3
AAAS - Non-profit- - International - - seeks to: l Enhance communication among scientists, engineers, and the public l Promote and defend the integrity of science and its use l Strengthen support for the science and technology enterprise l Provide a voice for science on societal issues l Promote the responsible use of science in public policy l Strengthen and diversify the science and technology workforce l Foster education in science and technology for everyone l Increase public engagement with science and technology l Advance international cooperation in science 4
• AAAS established in 1848 to represent all disciplines of science • Science founded in 1880 on $10, 000 of seed money from Thomas Edison • Total readership > 1 million each week • Research papers free after 12 months 5 Together since 1900
AAAS Programs – Science and Policy l Science, Policy and Society l promotes research competitiveness, scientific freedom and responsibility l Science Diplomacy l builds bridges between countries and to promote scientific cooperation l Research Competitiveness l provides expertise to organizations engaged in S&T research l Invention Ambassadors l cultivates a new and diverse generation of inventors l Science, Ethics and Religion l fosters communication between the scientific and religious communities l Science, Human Rights and Law l 6 addresses ethical, legal and human rights issues related to science and technology
The AAAS and Science Family Promoting international cooperation 7
AAAS Programs – Science Education l Project 2061 l Research and development of tools and services for educators l STEM Volunteer Program l Places retired science professionals in K-12 classrooms l Science Books & Films l Critical review of science media l Science in the Classroom l Annotates research papers to improve accessibility for non-experts l Science Update l 8 8 Podcasts about the latest discoveries in science, technology and medicine
The AAAS and Science Family Decoding complex science 9
The AAAS and Science Family Supporting interdisciplinary research 10
The AAAS and Science Family Broadening opportunities • Manuscript submission begins Fall of 2014 • First publication expected February 2015 • Spans science, technology, engineering, mathematics, and the social sciences • Manuscripts can cascade from Science Signaling, Science Translational Medicine, and Science • Selective peer review process, low acceptance rate • Open access 11
In which manuscripts get submitted, considered, rejected or edited and published SCIENCE 12
Publishing your research SCIENCE looks for l Outliers l Closers l Leaders And rejects l Incremental advances l Unconvincing conclusions Consider your audiences Editors, Referees, Expert readers, Non-specialist readers 13
What topics does Science publish? 14
Submitting a manuscript l All authors must agree All data necessary for l Declare all financial entanglements a reader to l Include all affiliations, and all funding understand evaluate the l In the Acknowledgments, list: conclusions of the paper should be l All patents included in the paper l All MTAs l Sources of data from public repositories or its supplement or archived in an l Later, you may be asked: approved database. l What did you contribute to the paper? All reagents and data must be made l What experiments did you do? available to any l What data are you responsible for? reader. 15 15
Your manuscript at Science Over 200 research papers submitted each week Editorial and Bo. RE analysis 25% 75% Advice from reviewers Editorial analysis, revisions, re-review, & editing 6% Publication in Science 16 94% Manuscript rejected
• Typical reasons for early rejection: – Question addressed is not of broad interest and therefore belongs in a specialty journal – The work is not a sufficiently large advance – The most interesting aspects are speculative 17
What do editors do? Watch and understand researchers in a broad field Handle manuscript submissions across a range of topics Discuss papers with colleagues, other scientists, authors Find referees, analyze, evaluate, accept/reject Attend meetings, visit labs Edit papers with positive reviews A bit of writing 18
Peer review Pluses l Reassuring to the public l Improves the quality of the manuscript and research l Helps identify research worth more attention 19 Minuses l Not all peer reviewers avoid bias l Difficult to know what is enough and what is too much to ask for l Unable to detect intentional fraud l Everyone is very busy
Choosing Referees Author suggestions should avoid: More than two exclusions Your former advisor, students, post-docs Author suggestions should include: Young professors, people in other countries, technical experts in each subspecialty represented in your manuscript 20
What we ask of Referees Cite precedents Elaborate on why significance is broad or too narrow Confirm that you have not missed details, especially in the Supplement Be honest with us about how long you will need 21
The ideal referee Qualified Objective Constructive Courteous Careful Prompt Confidential 22
Is supplementary material out of control? It’s in your hands… Depends on: What referees ask for (more controls, more raw data), What authors want to show (data unpublishable elsewhere). 23 But: Authors and referees are the same people.
Dealing with the data deluge Have you uploaded your data to the appropriate database? Did you provide data in Supporting Online Material? Have you archived the original data? Are there any restrictions on data use? Are there any mentions of unpublished data? 24
The editors’ problems: l More good papers that we can publish in Science l When scientists go bad l Fraud l Erroneous work l Overinterpreted data l Non-disclosed conflicts of interest
Getting the word out 26
Altmetrics 27
Beyond the Bench CAREERS 28
http: //sciencecareers. sciencemag. org/ 29
At Science Careers: 30 30
At AAAS Member Central: Webinars http: //membercentral. aaas. org/ Getting Published: Finding collaborators, submitting papers, and the review process Working in Industry: From your resume, to interviewing, to skills for success Building Your First Lab: Tips, success stories, and how to build your own team High-Level Scientific Talks: How to give powerful, dynamic presentations to further your career Thinking Outside the Lab: Finding a fulfilling non-research career 31
AAAS Mass Media Science & Engineering Fellows Program l 10 -week summer program l Fellows have worked as l l Reporters Editors Researchers Production assistants l Located at (for example) l l l l 32 Chicago Tribune Los Angeles Times National Public Radio Sacramento Bee Scientific American Popular Science US News & World Report St. Louis Post-Dispatch
Take chances! n Apply for positions that you can do- even if you don’t have all the requirements (or aren’t sure you’ll like them) n Initiate discussions even when no job is immediately visible n Attend career fairs and conferences n Network, network n If it doesn’t work out, try elsewhere
Psychosocial Skills: The Missing Piece in Talent Development, by Rena Subotnik (in press) l Lesson 1: Abilities matter l Lesson 2: Opportunity matters l Lesson 3: Talent development is short and long term l Lesson 4: Psychosocial skills matter Mental toughness, resilience Goal setting ability Coachability Optimism Adaptive perfectionism Psychosocial skills can be taught and learned. Emotional control (ability to relax and activate) 34
The Business of Science l You are in school in the hope that you will be able to make a living doing what you have studied. l It’s a long haul before you are really developed, you feel pressure and uncertainty about what’s in store. l You would like to l Know how to deal with reviewers, how to publicize your work, what editors/funders look for l Meet with a life coach l Develop a profile and learn how to share it l Figure out who you are in this career 35
My IDP: Individual Development Plan Same concept in industry helps employees define and pursue career goals. My. IDP hosted at AAAS is for graduate students, postdocs, and further career stages in any of the sciences. Interests - Skills - Values 36
You have skills employers want l Ability to learn l Data analysis and management l Project management l Communication l Technical and computer skills l Teaching and leadership l Problem solving and critical thinking l Technical knowledge
Coping With a Career Crisis, by Robert J. Sternberg The Chronicle of Higher Education, January 27, 2014 http: //chronicle. com/article/Coping-With-a-Career-Crisis/144191/ l Realize you are not alone. l You have to be resilient, not just smart. l Most of the time, it’s nothing personal. l Learn from the experience. l Seek out a support network to help you move on. l Use any downtime you have to do something you really enjoy. l Think twice before striking back. l Don’t hide. l View the crisis as an opportunity. l Move on. 38
What will you do to COMMUNICATE 39
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What makes science news? The Five “Boyce Rensberger tests” l Fascination value l Size of natural audience l Importance Rensberger has been a science writer or science editor for more than 32 years: l Reliability of the results The Detroit Free Press l Timeliness The New York Times Freelance PBS science series for children, "3 -2 -1 - Contact!" Senior editor of Science 81 -Science 84 magazine The Washington Post Director of the Knight Fellowship at MIT
Communication in different settings l Verbal, conversation l What’s your tag line? l Verbal, 60 seconds l What will you say? l Verbal and written, limited attention l How do you present a poster? l Written, 3000 words, technical l Main point? opening and closing? l Written, 200 words, general audience l How will you get people interested? 42
It is important to recognize the fact that every It is important recognize thetotally fact that every subject, given that itstocontent is not subject, given thatsubject its content not totally reducible to some other area, ispresents a to some other subject area, aspresents a specialreducible set of pedagogic problems arising a set of its own pedagogic problems result special of the distinctive character of their arising as a result of the distinctive contents and their essential nature. The character of theirmay contents and their nature. The problems be regarded as essential particularizations may be regarded as particularizations of the problems general pedagogical considerations which of treated the general pedagogical considerations must be by and all teachers who seekwhich must be treated by andeducational all teachers who seek to seriously discharge hisany or her to seriously his or her educational responsibilities in discharge a highly efficacious manner. responsibilities in a highly efficacious manner. Every subject presents its own pedagogic problems. in 43
Common writing pitfalls Too many acronyms: TMA Too much information: TMI Run-on sentences Copying the lab notebook Sloppy on the details No clear message 44 Failure to communicate beyond specialists
Know Your Audience 45
Scientists and reporters communicate differently Punchline Background Scientists So What? Supporting Evidence Results/ Reporters Broad Perspective Conclusions Source: Clive Cookson 46
Communicate about your research “Part of the art of any kind of total scholarship is to say it well. ” -- Stephen Jay Gould, Past AAAS President Settings: The scientific paper An entertaining dinner-lecture The elevator speech Audiences: The people you go to conferences with The people you ask money from The people you meet at a party or around town Training: AAAS Communication Workshops Gail Shumway/Getty Images 47 How Stuff Works
AAAS Annual Meeting 12 -16 February 2015 San Jose, CA AAAS seeks to advance science and innovation throughout the world for the benefit of all people. http: //www. aaas. org/ 48
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