Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
'Diversity of thought implies diversity of communication'. Editing an international journal involves communicating wisely with authors from very different cultures. Indeed an advice or a correction request may be understood very differently depending of the national origin of the authors. There are for instance high differences between northern and southern authors. Therefore communication should be adapted to the author origin. In other words uniform journal instructions - designed almost solely for English natives - are not sufficient. While most reports state that writing in English is the major issue of non-English natives, I argue that culture is the major source of failure to publish in academic journals. This presentation shows major differences observed between southern and northern authors.
Citation preview
Cultural issues at the French journal Agronomy for Sustainable Development"
Eric LICHTFOUSEEditor-in-ChiefINRA, France"
Conference of the European Association of Science Editors, Pisa, Italy, 2009
When I started my job as Editor in 2003..."
... Agronomy was considered by my fellows as the journal for submission of papers that have been rejected elsewhere !"
2003 IMPACT FACTOR 0.566
RANK - AGRONOMY 29/53
REJECTION RATE 44%
PUBLICATION DELAY 11 Months
ARTICLES IN ENGLISH 93%
ARTICLE FLOW Paper/post
Articles written in French"
A strong history of publishing in French"
Articles in French (%)
0
25
50
75
100
1990 1995 2000 2005
Published articles 2008"
PUBLISHED ARTICLES 2008France " 15Italy " 12 Spain" 7USA " 5Pakistan" 3Belgium" 2India " 2Mexico" 2 UK" 2Algeria " 1Australia" 1Austria" 1Bulgaria" 1Cameroun" 1Canada " 1 China" 1Germany " 1 Kenya" 1Iran " 1Morocco " 1Syria" 1"
North 47% South 53%
21 countries: high diversity"
Journal website usageNumber of visits"
France " 17000USA " 6600India " 5500Algeria " 4100Tunisia " 3600Italy " 2700Iran " 2600Morocco " 2500Canada " 2300Germany " 2300(over 9 months/2008)"
North 55% South 45%"
Agriculture is a topic interesting both rich and poor countries"
Journal website usageTime spent on website"
USA " 1’32Canada" 1’35India " 1’57Morocco " 2’05 Italy " 2’08 Germany " 2’09 France" 2’16Tunisia " 2’13Algeria " 2’19 Iran " 2’51"
High differences 1’32 - 2’51Difficult to interpret
Faster internet connections?"
Writing differences"
Southern authors" Northern authors"Long sentences" Short sentences"
Orphan sentences" Well-structured paragraphs"
Repeating not allowed" Repeating allowed"
Romance, flowery prose, unfocussed text" Straight to the point"
Too many results - quantity" 1-3 relevant results - quality"
Unexplained results" All results discussed"
Managing differences"
Southern authors" Northern authors"Easy to convince, flexible, but..."need strong orders"
Hard to convince (they know) but..."follow advice once convinced"
Do not follow instructions" Apply instructions to the letter"
Impatient (email...)" Patient (to some extend...)"
Example: asking revisions"
Southern authors" Northern authors"
Your article is acceptable but not accepted. Please apply.... Please note that the rejection rate at this stage is 50%..."
Your article is accepted. Please apply corrections from the reviewers... Please provide final version in Word..."
Communication should be adapted"
After 5 years of editorial work..."
2003 2008
IMPACT FACTOR 0.566 1.649
RANK - AGRONOMY 29/53 13/49
REJECTION RATE 44% 73%
PUBLICATION DELAY 11 Months 3.8 Months
ARTICLES IN ENGLISH 93% 100%
ARTICLE FLOW Paper/post Electronic
Impact factor
0
1
2
1985 1995 2005
We improved and kept a high diversity of authors origin
(53% South/2008)"
Conclusion"
Smart Editors should be familiar with various cultures: south, north, US, European, Asian...
Editors should adapt their communication to authors origin.
Should we design specific instructions for specific cultures?"
New book (in French) - Writing science"
Springer 2009Will be translated in English ~ 2010"
Thank you!"
Singing Fish, MiroSpain"
Brandenburg GateBerlin"
South" North"
Diversity of thought implies diversity of communication"
