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PLoS Computational Biology | www.ploscompbiol.org 0341 October 2005 | Volume 1 | Issue 5 | e57
Rule 8: Become a reviewer early in which is an important ingredient in like Google Scholar and the ISI Web of
your career. deciding where to send your paper. Science are being used by tenure
Reviewing other papers will help you committees and employers to define
Rule 9: Decide early on where to try metrics for the quality of your work. It
write better papers. To start, work with
your mentors; have them give you
to publish your paper. used to be that just the journal name
This will define the form and level of was used as a metric. In the digital
papers they are reviewing and do the
detail and assumed novelty of the work world, everyone knows if a paper has
first cut at the review (most mentors
you are doing. Many journals have a little impact. Try to publish in journals
will be happy to do this). Then, go
presubmission enquiry system
through the final review that gets sent that have high impact factors; chances
available—use it. Even before the paper
in by your mentor, and where allowed, are your paper will have high impact,
is written, get a sense of the novelty of
as is true of this journal, look at the too, if accepted.
the work, and whether a specific
reviews others have written. This will When you are long gone, your
journal will be interested.
provide an important perspective on scientific legacy is, in large part, the
the quality of your reviews and, Rule 10: Quality is everything. literature you left behind and the
hopefully, allow you to see your own It is better to publish one paper in a impact it represents. I hope these ten
work in a more objective way. You will quality journal than multiple papers in simple rules can help you leave behind
also come to understand the review lesser journals. Increasingly, it is harder something future generations of
process and the quality of reviews, to hide the impact of your papers; tools scientists will admire. &
PLoS Computational Biology | www.ploscompbiol.org 0342 October 2005 | Volume 1 | Issue 5 | e57