Ten Simple Rules for Getting Published

Rule 1: Read many papers, and learn from both the good and the bad work of others. Rule 2: The more objective you can be about your work, the better that work will ultimately become. Rule 3: Good editors and reviewers will be objective about your work. Rule 4: If you do not write well in the English language, take lessons early; it will be invaluable later. Rule 5: Learn to live with rejection. Rule 6: The ingredients of good science are obvious—novelty of research topic, comprehensive coverage of the relevant literature, good data, good analysis including strong statistical support, and a thought-provoking discussion. The ingredients of good science reporting are obvious—good organization, the appropriate use of tables and figures, the right length, writing to the intended audience— do not ignore the obvious. Rule 7: Start writing the paper the day you have the idea of what questions to pursue. Rule 8: Become a reviewer early in your career. Rule 9: Decide early on where to try to publish your paper. Rule 10: Quality is everything.

Excerpt: The student council of the International Society for Computational Biology asked me to present my thoughts on getting published in the field of computational biology at the Intelligent Systems in Molecular Biology conference held in Detroit in late June of 2005. Close to 200 bright young souls (and a few not so young) crammed into a small room for what proved to be a wonderful interchange among a group of whom approximately one-half had yet to publish their first paper. The advice I gave that day I have modified and present as ten rules for getting published.

Excerpt: The student council (http://www.iscbsc.org/) of the International Society for Computational Biology asked me to present my thoughts on getting published in the field of computational biology at the Intelligent Systems in Molecular Biology conference held in Detroit in late June of 2005. Close to 200 bright young souls (and a few not so young) crammed into a small room for what proved to be a wonderful interchange among a group of whom approximately one-half had yet to publish their first paper. The advice I gave that day I have modified and present as ten rules for getting published.