Conferences and 'pre-publication'

From: Barry Mahon <barry.mahon_at_IOL.IE>
Date: Sun, 3 Jun 2007 19:42:17 +0200

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In the latest edition of Chemical and Engineering News (May 28th p34; www.cen-online.org) there is an item by Bethany Halford about the problems for journalists attending major conferences who are asked by scientists not to write about work described at the conference. The view of CEN for example is that the summary reporting done by them is unlikely to inhibit journal publication, the justification given by scientists when asking for their silence.

Reaction from publishers (Science, Nature, Angewandte Chemie, JACS) was mixed. 'Science never seeks to stifle the exchange of scientific information' authors are free to present their research at conferences, even before submission to Science. The only inhibition - no reference to a potential publication in Science.... Nature asks people not to present their work to the press if they know it has been submitted(!) or accepted. Scientists can discuss conference presentations with their peers, but no press presence. Angewandte says authors are always allowed to report their latest results at conferences but they have to be careful that these are not part of work accepted but not yet online at Angewandte. The ACS, or specifically JACS, says it depends on what the author said about the work at a conference. Reference to ongoing work is generally ok, but the Editor in Chief said he 'will pull a paper if extensive details or the fundamental concepts are revealed in any media'

The author of the piece asks 'how can a researcher present new information at a meeting without jeopardizing its future publication?'

I am sure she will receive plenty of advice from the members of this Forum.....

The strap line on the piece says the views are those of the author and not of ACS, publisher of CEN.

Bye, Barry
Received on Sun Jun 03 2007 - 19:09:39 BST