[Editors] MIT Editors' Club Minutes, September 2007

Thu Sep 27 17:29:31 EDT 2007

Dear All,

As a former editor with Nature, I should clarify Nature's policy on prior
publicity, which differs from that of Science.  

Nature's policy is stated in their online guide to authors: 

"Contributions being prepared for or submitted to a Nature journal can be
posted on recognized preprint servers (such as ArXiv <http://www.arxiv.org>
or  <http://precedings.nature.com/> Nature Precedings), and on collaborative
websites such as wikis or the author's blog."

http://www.nature.com/authors/editorial_policies/confidentiality.html

The thinking behind this policy is that such postings are more akin to
communication with colleagues than to formal publication, even if the web
site is publicly accessible.

Science, in contrast, discourages this, as you noted at your meeting:  

"Distribution on the Internet may be considered prior publication and may
compromise the originality of the paper as a submission to Science. Please
contact the editors with questions regarding allowable postings."

http://www.sciencemag.org/about/authors/prep/gen_info.dtl#embargo 

Rightly or wrongly, Science and Nature (and most other major journals)
strongly discourage authors from actively seeking media coverage for
unpublished work.  Defenders of this policy (the so-called Ingelfinger rule,
named for a former editor of NEJM) argue that it serves to protect the
public from misinformation that would arise from dissemination of scientific
claims that have not been peer reviewed. Critics argue that this is
paternalism, that peer review provides little assurance of quality, and that
the true purpose of the rule is to protect the commercial interests of the
publishers.  Take your pick!

Regards,

Charles Jennings

McGovern Institute for Brain Research

  _____  

From: editors-bounces at MIT.EDU [mailto:editors-bounces at MIT.EDU] On Behalf Of
Elizabeth Thomson
Sent: Thursday, September 27, 2007 4:50 PM
To: editors at mit.edu
Cc: Deborah Bohren; Kirk D Kolenbrander
Subject: [Editors] MIT Editors' Club Minutes, September 2007

MIT EDITORS' CLUB

*Meeting Notes from September 19, 2007*

About 15 people attended our first Editors' Club meeting of the 07-08 school
year, and the hour flew by as we discussed such things as scientific
journals and exactly what a planned gift is. (As Editors' Club member Sarah
Rowley of the Office of Gift Planning told us, "most people don't know what
a planned gift is. That's why I have a job.")

*Stories, Please!*

My colleague Greg Frost, the News Manager for the News Office, encouraged
everyone to send MIT stories or story ideas his way. Here's a great example:
a few weeks ago Editors' Club member Karla Mansur of CSAIL sent Greg a note
about a young man who hadn't even heard of MIT as of three years ago, but is
now a freshman. He's here as a result of a program founded by other MIT
students to bring together Israeli and Palestinian youths in an educational
environment. End result: a fantastic feature (go to
http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2007/meet-tt0919.html).

What about more modest announcements, like the need for host families of
international students? Send 'em along, said Greg. He's at frost at mit.edu or
x8-5401.

Of course, I'm always interested in research news from your
department.....As I mentioned at this meeting, the key is advance notice.
For example, I'd rather know about a paper that's been *accepted* by a
journal than one that was published a few months ago. A paper that's already
been published has lost its "news hook." 

*Careful....Careful!*

That was my advice when Editors' Club member Nancy Stauffer of the MIT
Energy Initiative called about some really cool research she's writing about
that is ALSO the subject of a technical article the researchers had
submitted to the journal Science.

Nancy was wondering if a story about the work could affect the researchers'
chances of getting into Science. 

And the answer is: yes. Journals like Science and Nature are quite strict
about papers they're reviewing or that have been accepted. They're quick to
bounce anything that has already appeared in a public forum. In this case,
the MIT team had derived their Science paper from a "working paper" they
planned to post on the web. My guess was that the "working paper," once
posted on the web, would indeed break the rules. And although Nancy's own
story about the work wouldn't be too technical, I thought it best not to
post that, either....to err on the safe side. A quick call to Science
confirmed my suspicions.

*So what IS a planned gift? *

According to Sarah, who is the marketing coordinator for the Office of Gift
Planning, a planned gift involves money given to the Institute before a
person dies. MIT cannot use that money, however, until the person dies. In
the meantime, that person receives income from MIT based on the gift, and
there are tax advantages to that.

*Open House!*

The Environment, Health, and Safety Office will be holding an open house on
October 11. Emily Ranken of EHS invites everyone to come on by. Plus, she
says, "if people bring in a sample of water, they can have it tested for
lead. We also will give Radon test kits to those who request them so they
can test their houses for radon (our office will analyze the kit)." How's
that for a great MIT bene? For more info, go to
http://web.mit.edu/environment/openhouse.html

*Next Meetings*

The next meetings of MIT Editors' Club are as follows. All meetings are from
12-1 in the News Office (11-400). Please feel free to bring a lunch. 

Tuesday, October 16

Thursday, November 15

Monday, December 17

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Tuesday, February 12

Friday, March 14

Monday, April 14

Friday, May 16

Tuesday, June 10

Cheers!

Elizabeth

================================

Elizabeth A. Thomson

Senior Science and Engineering Editor

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

News Office, Room 11-400

77 Massachusetts Ave.

Cambridge, MA 02139-4307

617-258-5402 (ph); 617-258-8762 (fax)

<thomson at mit.edu>

<http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/www>

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