Contributor Lynn Kimlicka

{credit}David Fox{/credit}

Publish or perish holds true in most research environments, but a single publication in a high-tier journal can make a huge impact on one’s academic career path. For this reason, Kyle Vogan, a senior editor at Nature Genetics, provided insider publishing tips May 20 to early-career scientists at the Naturejobs Career Expo in Boston on how to land a paper in one’s dream journal. Nature Genetics ranks among the top five subdivisions of Nature, so the audience received wisdom from someone in the know.

Editors at top journals seek exceptional qualities, in particular, in two components of a paper, Vogan says: its content and its style. When it comes to content, Nature editors look for novelty and conceptual advancement. The finding must not have been published before, however not all new concepts merit publication in high-impact journals, where the readership is broad. The work must provide a significant step forward for the field and provide a new direction. Continue reading →