Conflicting reviewer comments are one of the most frustrating aspects of the peer review process. It is understandable to be irritated when, for example, Reviewer 1 wants you to remove Table 1, but Reviewer 2 wants you to expand Table 1. Or Reviewer 1 says “drop the STRUCTURE analysis and provide only the AMOVA”; Reviewer […]
Academic conferences in a post-COVID-19 world
The outbreak of COVID-19 has resulted in the cancellation of numerous academic conferences worldwide, with Nature questioning whether 2020 could be the “year without conferences” [1]. It is not so unusual for academic events to be cancelled. For example, the 2012 American Political Science Association (APSA) Annual Meeting was cancelled because of Hurricane Isaac [2]. […]
Supporting the Scientific Research Community in the Global Effort to Contain COVID-19
Press Release, Shannon, March 24, 2020 International Science Editing Supporting the Scientific Research Community in the Global Effort to Contain COVID–19 For nearly 30 years, International Science Editing (ISE) has striven to take care of authors by providing high quality editorial services and customer support. These enduring values guide us during these difficult times. Our […]
COVID-19-related resources for academics
In this short blog, we discuss the latest resources and initiatives freely available to academics and the public to combat the COVID-19 pandemic. Preprint servers and expedited peer-review Preprint servers are the fastest way to disseminate your research. Over 600 COVID-19-related preprints have already been posted on medRxiv and bioRxiv (see Visit Medrxiv for latest […]
China to end the reign of the impact factor?
Despite numerous commentators denouncing the metric and many prestigious journals discontinuing its use as a promotional tool, the journal impact factor (JIF) refuses to go away and remains pervasive in scientific publishing. “The impact factor is a statistically indefensible indicator of journal performance; it flatters to deceive, distributing credit that has been earned by only […]
