Publication

The major part of a scientist's career is in performing sufficient quality work that is submitted and, ultimately, accepted for publication in a scientific journal following peer review (a process whereby the journal sends the article off to other scientists who evaluate the quality of the work, and the validity of any conclusions drawn). Of course, this not only applies to original research articles (the more important publications) but also to review articles (larger articles aiming to summarise the literature on a particualr subject) whether they are submitted to the journal independently or not (i.e. the journal 'invites' the authors to write a review). In my case, my boss (Yusuf Hannun) had been asked to write a journal for a special issue on Sphingolipids and, being relatively new to the lab (I was asked about this back in January - so had only been here 6 months), the task was offered to me. Naturally, I took the opportunity - not only was it a good chance for me to brush up on my writing skills, but also would be useful in allowing me to get more up to speed with the existing literature on my area of research over here.

The review was written and duly submitted (it took about a month and a half of work followed by a week of revisions) back in March and then it was a case of waiting. We heard back not so long ago - and the article was asked to have minor revisions (very minor, in fact). Revisions done and the review was sent off again and accepted last week - thus, providing my first publication. Okay, so its a review (not original research) and is not in a huge impact factor journal (more middle of the range) but, y'know, it's a start. When the article goes into press, i shall duly let you all know - for those of you who may be interested in getting hold of it. Right now, it's back to the grindstone in putting the finishing touches to my first original research manuscript. Watch this space!