Introduction to Scientific Writing – A Journal Editor’s Masterclass

in

The Editor’s Note in Wilderness & Environmental Medicine for the past few years has been a fabulous introduction to academic publishing.

The author is Editor-in-Chief, Neal Pollock, PhD, who was appointed associate editor in 2014 and took on the chief role in 2016. With experience as a reviewer of over 20 journals at that time, and expertise in exercise physiology as an associate professor at Laval University, Prof. Pollock has laid out an informal masterclass for the authors, reviewers, editors, and readers of scientific literature.

Topics have included:

For those naïve to (or just curious about) the often obscure processes of journal writing, submission, review, revising, and acceptance/rejection, this serves as a brief overview of the entire process from the mind of a journal editor—one who clearly wants to improve the outcome of science for “the greater good.”1

It is not comprehensive, but is easy to read–the longest article is barely 3 pages, and each note also includes a paragraph or two about that issue’s contents.

While Prof. Pollock acknowledges the limitations and examples of failure of the current peer-review system, he is adamant that it is a key part of the process to ensure the highest quality scientific writing possible. He is a proponent of involvement, mentoring and training,2 and cautious transparency.34

I would have liked the editor-in-chief to address the question of compensation for reviewers which has become a pretty hot topic in recent years. Perhaps this will be the topic of the final note? Neal Pollock’s tenure as editor-in-chief will end in July 2022.

Wilderness & Environmental Medicine is a peer-reviewed scientific journal from the Wilderness Medical Society and is published by Elsevier.

If you’ve been involved with journal publishing I’d love to hear how these notes align with your experience.

Please comment below with your thoughts on scientific writing, peer-review, and everything else related to academic journals.

Nature’s Scientific Writing Masterclass

If you’re looking for a more comprehensive masterclass for students and researchers, check out Nature’s 3-part course on Scientific Writing & Publishing.

  1. Neal W. Pollock, “Ethics and Oversight in Publication,” Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 27, no. 4 (December 2016): 449. ↩︎

  2. Neal W. Pollock, “Prioritizing Reviewer Training,” Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 32, no. 4 (December 2021): 421–22. ↩︎

  3. Neal W. Pollock, “Blinding and Peer Review,” Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 29, no. 4 (December 2018): 423–24. ↩︎

  4. Neal W. Pollock, “The Nature of the Editorial,” Wilderness & Environmental Medicine 33, no. 1 (March 2022): 1. ↩︎