Springer Nature

Author Workshop

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Be an effective communicator

Your goal is not only to be published, but

also to be widely read in your field

Logical manuscript Efficient publication

structure strategy

Successful journal
submission
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 1.0
Introduction to
Springer Nature

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Springer Nature is a leading global research publisher handling over 1million
submissions a year

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SPRINGER NATURE MAINTAINED ALL ITS LEADING POSITIONS IN 2022
High performance in JCR 2022 enabled continued success

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We have championed the value and impact of OA for over 20 years

In 2021 Springer Nature became the first publisher to publish 1 million articles
immediately OA

16% of all immediate OA articles published globally come from Springer Nature

Growing portfolio of: 580+ Open Access journals, 1500+ OA books and over 2,200
journals in our transformative and hybrid portfolio, including Springer Nature owned
titles plus majority of journals we publish on behalf of partners

Supported over 2,500,000+ authors globally to publish OA

New routes to open access, such as transformative agreements, serve to democratise

access. The number of HSS articles published OA at Springer Nature more than tripled
between 2016 and 2020.

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Books: SN maintained position as largest book publisher in 2022
By far largest portfolio of STM books, especially leading in Science & Technology titles

Source: PubAlley 2022 + BFlux patch for SN; if a book is published simultaneously in hard- and paperback editions,
6 only the hardback edition is included. Content levels advanced-academic, general-academic, professional, and
titles with missing content level. Titles in English. Here Life Sci. under Science & Technology.
SN continues to lead in all STM discipline clusters, ranks 2nd in HSS
SN leads with 23% - 44% market share in STM clusters, also well positioned in Social Sciences @21%

Source: PubAlley 2022 + BFlux patch for SN; if a book is published simultaneously in hard- and paperback editions, only the hardback
edition is included. Content levels: advanced-academic (plus titles with missing content level). Titles in English.

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Spectrum of publications

Arti cl es

Da ta bases Revi ews

Ma jor
Bri efs &
Reference
Works Springer Pi vots

Nature

Ha ndbooks Thes es

Proceedings
Books & Lecture
Notes

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 2.0
Logical Manuscript
Structure

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Your readers have 4 key questions
Methods Results

What did you do? What did you find?

Introduction Discussion
Why did you do How does the study
the study? advance the field?

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Introduction: Why does your research need to be done?
Introduce the topic
• Worldwide/regional relevance
• Broad/specialized audience

What is known about topic

• Up-to-date studies
• Cite broadly worldwide

What is not known

• Clear description of problem
• Use keywords like ‘however’

Aims Specific aims

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 CC0

Methods: What did you do?

Researchers in your field

• Reproduce your findings

• Build on your research

Peer reviewers

• Evaluate your study design

• Validate your results

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JWi1son, CC BY-SA 4.0

Methods: What do your

readers need to know?
Who/what was used in the study
• Samples or participants
• Materials (where purchased)

How you conducted the study

• Methodology and techniques
• Discuss specific conditions and controls

How you analyzed your data

• Quantification methods/software
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• Statistical tests (consult a statistician)
 Results: What did you find?
1. Initial observation
Logical presentation 2. Characterization
3. Application

Example:
1. Fabricate new membrane for water treatment
2. Evaluate physical and chemical properties (e.g., under
different temperatures/pressures)
3. Efficacy in removing particulate contamination
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RIA Novosti archive, image #708515 / Iliya Pitalev / CC-BY-SA 3.0

Results: Guide your readers through your findings

Results
Clear subheading 1
• Introduce experiment (figure 1) Figure 1. Descriptive figure caption
• Discuss trends & relationships
• Summarize key finding

Clear subheading 2
• Introduce experiment (figure 2)
• Discuss trends & relationships
• Summarize key finding
Figure 2. Descriptive figure caption

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Discussion: How does your study contribute to the field?
Summarize what you did
• Begin with research problem
• Briefly describe study design
• Summarize key findings

Interpret your findings

• Similarities & differences
• Unexpected/negative results
• Limitations

Why important to the field

• Main conclusion
Implications • Implications

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Logically link your ideas throughout your manuscript

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 Titles: Get your reader’s attention

Should include… Should avoid…

✓ What’s important Questions

✓ Keywords for indexing Being too vague
✓ Conciseness (<15 words) Abbreviations

State what was investigated, what was measured,

and the sample the measurements were taken from
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Photo by Vladyslav Dukhin via Pexels
 Abstracts: The first
impression of your paper

Importance of your topic

Significance of your study

Relevance of your research

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Photo by Eren Li via Pexels
Abstracts: The first impression of your paper

Why did the study Introduce relevancy of the topic and

need to be done? your novel research problem

What did you do? Describe your aims and methodology

What did you find? Summarize your key results

How will the study State the main conclusion and

advance the field? implications for the field

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 3.0
Efficient publishing
strategy

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 Publication goals

Publish quickly
& have impact

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Davide Restivo from Aarau, Switzerland / CC BY-SA 2.0
 Impact ≠ Impact Factor

Impact is your impact and influence in the field

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 The most important question…

Who is your target audience?

• Researchers in your region or worldwide
• Researchers in your subject area or related areas
• Industry, policymakers, educators, general public

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Patricia Costillo, CC BY-SA 4.0
Choosing an appropriate journal: Where are the findings relevant?

Choose an international journal

Worldwide to reach a worldwide audience

Choose a regional journal to

Locally reach a local audience

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Choosing an appropriate journal: For whom are they relevant?

Only your Choose a specialized journal to

field reach readers in your field

Your and Choose a broad-focused journal to

other fields reach readers across fields

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Choosing an appropriate journal: How much accessibility?

Limited to only those that have

Subscription access to the journal ($$$)

Freely available to everyone

Open access worldwide to maximize impact

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Open Access: How to identify trustworthy OA journals

Published by reputable publisher

1 (e.g., Springer Nature, Elsevier, Wiley, PLOS, etc.)

Indexed in reputable databases

2 (e.g., Web of Science, Scopus, MEDLINE, Ei Compendex)

Processing fee is paid after acceptance

3 (not when submitting to the journal)

Recognizable editorial board members

4 (i.e., you have heard of them before)

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29 www.thinkchecksubmit.org
Useful checklist for identifying trustworthy journals

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 ❑ Appropriate journal
❑ Logically organized manuscript

Ready to submit!

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 4.0
Successful journal
submission

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 Journal editors are busy!

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Most editors are
full-time professors

Journal editors when

they have time

You are competing with many other researchers

for the journal editor’s limited time
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*christopher* from San Francisco, USA, CC BY 2.0
 Cover letters: Make the best first impression for journal editors

Significance and Suitable to be published

relevance of your study by their journal
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Photo by fauxels via Pexels
Cover letters: What to include
• Manuscript title
Introduce your manuscript • Article type (if necessary)

Scope of your study (relevant • Brief background

to journal’s scope) • Research problem & aims

Achievements (level of impact • Study design

appropriate for the journal) • 2 or 3 key findings

Study relevance (how useful for • Conclusion

the journal’s readership) • Implications for the field

• Publication ethics
Additional information • Include/exclude reviewers
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Also review what they have already
published recently to determine
what to highlight in your cover
letter to emphasize novelty
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Editorial policies: Be familiar with the editor’s expectations

http://www.nature.com/authors/policies/publication.html

https://www.springer.com/gp/editorial-policies

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Your manuscript’s journey

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 If you convince the editor of the
suitability of your manuscript

Peer review

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CC0
Peer review is a positive process
Experts give advice on how
Cartoon by Nick D Kim, scienceandink.com. Used by permission.

to improve your study and

your manuscript

Ensures only relevant

studies are published

Peer review helps to

advance the field

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Photo by Mikhail Nilov via Pexels

Writing response letters

Clearly discuss all your revisions

✓ Briefly state what was revised

✓ Always refer to page and line numbers
✓ In manuscript, highlight revised text

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 Controversial reviewer comments
What would you do if 1. Discuss with colleagues
you have a comment
2. Check journal articles
that you think is unfair?

• Need additional support for conclusions

• Not appropriate for journal’s scope
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Photo by Andrea Piacquadio via Pexels

Photo by Christina Morillo via Pexels

But if colleagues agree comment is

not appropriate & journal articles do
not support the reviewer’s requests…

• Reviewer may not have

understood the study
• Reviewer is unfair or
unprofessional

Contact the editor

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 What should you
do if rejected?

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Fotorech / CC0
 Let us help!
https://www.springernature.com/gp/authors/transferdesk

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Journal transfer at Nature

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Journal transfer at Springer

Broad-focused journals
covering a range of disciplines

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If you are accepted…

Celebrate!

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久留米市民(Kurume-Shimin) / CC BY-SA 3.0
 Don’t passively wait for people to
find your article…

Promote it!
International conferences

Social media

Press releases / media

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Witzel (L.A.) / CC0
SharedIt: Allow anyone to read your article!

https://www.springernature.com/gp/researchers/sharedIt

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SharedIt: Allow anyone to read your article!

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Be an effective communicator

✓ Logical manuscript structure

✓ Effective publication strategy
✓ Successful journal submission

You will increase your chance of

publication and your research impact

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Do you want more support?

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We provide on-demand and live training workshops for researchers

https://masterclasses.nature.com
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 We also provide free online researcher support
https://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/authorandreviewertutorials

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 Thank you

Name
Position
Contact information

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