Manuscript Writing 101: Essentials for Journal Acceptance

1. November 8, 2008 Early Career and FIT Program: Track A for the Basic Scientist Scientific Sessions 2008 New Orleans Manuscript Writing 101:Essentials for Journal Acceptance Junichi Sadoshima Department of Cell Biology and Molecular Medicine, Cardiovascular Research Institute, UMDNJ, NJMS Newark, NJ Sadoshju@umdnj.edu DISCLOSURE INFORMATION Vasade Bioscience Inc.

2. All papers co-authored by a previous mentor No papers co-authored by a previous mentor 15 Junior faculty position 10 Number of publications per year NIH funding 9/00 -present 5 0 86 87 88 89 90 91 92 93 94 95 96 97 98 99 00 01 02 03 04 05 06 07 08 Pre-doc Post-doc Independent Lab Morisco C, Zebrowski DC, Vatner SF, Sadoshima J. The Akt-GSK3b pathway regulates transcription of ANF induced by b adrenergic receptor stimulation in cardiac myocytes. J. Biol. Chem.: 275, 14466-14475, 2000. (accepted in January)

3. Contents • How can we successfully prepare manuscripts? • How can we improve our productivity?

4. PNAS • Suitable Quality? • Sufficient General Interest? • Conclusions Justified? • Clearly Written? • Procedures Described?

5. Clarity-1 • Clarify a central message before you start writing. Use PowerPoint presentations. Describe your work to a colleague in one or two sentences. • A paper should address one main question. • Irrelevant experimental data should be excluded. • Write in your own voice. • Eliminate the possibility of being misunderstood.

6. Clarity-2 • Putting oneself in the reader’s position. Identify readers Keep to the word limit (Short papers are not equal to short manuscripts) Be consistent Present Figures and Tables clearly Avoid excessive abbreviations Use English editing services Assist reviewers in understanding your work, and get constructive criticisms Assist readers in understanding your paper, and get more citations

7. Clarity-3 • Seek opinions from non-experts. Find out which part of your manuscript is difficult to follow.

8. Circ Res • Degree of Novelty (Excellent, Good, Satisfactory, Fair, Poor) • Strength of Mechanistic Insights • Technical Excellence • Priority (Top 5%, Top 20%, Satisfactory, Fair, Poor) • Recommendation (Accept, Reconsider after moderate revision, Reconsider after major revision, Reject)

9. When should we submit? • Manuscript with novel findings cannot be rejected easily. Completeness Novelty

10. Mechanistic insights • Find the underlying mechanism of the biological response. • Study the functional significance of the biological response. • Find the relevance of the biological response to pathophysiology. • Study the properties of the endogenous molecule, using loss of function approaches. • Study the in vivo significance of the biological response studied in vitro. • Plan these experiments in the early stages of your study.

11. How to increase your productivity • Assemble Figures and Tables in the early stages of your work. • Prepare a folder for data and references. • Start writing wherever you can. Write the paper in parts. • Prepare outlines and headings and write the first sentence. • Write quickly and put the draft aside for at least one day before revising • Prepare for the revision in advance. Don’t be afraid of receiving criticisms. • Always make a wish list for improvement.

12. Manuscript Review • The best opportunity to learn what is necessary for acceptance of the journal. • It is not a waste of time. A good way to practice time management. • The best exercise to improve the quality of your science. • Making constructive comments benefits your experimental design as well.

13. Meeting presentations • The best opportunity to understand the quality of your data objectively. • A good opportunity to make your wish list for future presentations. • Always include new data. • Accept criticism, assess the response of the audience, and improve the clarity of your presentation. • Bring your manuscript to meetings.

14. Yamamoto M, Yang G, Hong C, Liu J, Holle E, Yu X, Wagner T, Vatner SF, Sadoshima J. Inhibition of thioredoxin in the heart increases oxidative stress and cardiac hypertrophy. J Clin Invest:112, 1395-1406, 2003. 2003 Microarray analyses, Bioinformatics 2004 AHA summer conference Initial interest in DnaJb5 Information regarding Mrj (Dr. Molkentin) Wish list-1 (to elucidate the mechanism by which Dnajb5 inhibits hypertrophy) 2005 AHA Scientific Sessions The role of DnaJb5 in mediating the anti-hypertrophic actions of Trx1 Wish list-2 (to elucidate the Cysteine modification of DnaJb5 and HDAC4, using proteomics) 2006 AHA summer conferences, Scientific Sessions Trx1, TBP-2, DnaJb5, and HDAC4 form a complex Wish list-3 (to elucidate the Cysteine modification or proteins in situ) 2007 AHA Scientific Sessions Trx1 regulates cysteine modification of DnaJb5 and HDAC4 Extensive proteomic analysis of proteins in situ Ago T, Liu T, Zhai P, Chen W, Li H, Molkentin JD, Vatner SF, Sadoshima J. A redox dependent pathway for regulating class II HDAC and cardiac hypertrophy. Cell: 133, 978-993, 2008.

15. Bottomley, M. J. et al. J. Biol. Chem. 283,26694-26704, 2008

16. Sadoshima Lab • Weekly report • Submit abstracts to AHA Summer Conference and Scientific Sessions (a good indicator of the impact of your work) • Abstract grading • Critical reading at Journal Club • Preparation of reviews, editorials, book chapters

17. Concluding remarks • Nothing happens in one day. One publication helps your next publication. A publication could open up invaluable opportunities. • If your observation is really true, even very difficult criticisms can be addressed.

18. Acknowledgements • Sadoshima Lab members (http://www.sadoshimalab.org) • Supports from NIH and AHA • Dr. Stephen F Vatner