Yuki Hamada (EVS), a second-year postdoc at Argonne and a geospatial scientist, recently initiated the Manuscript Development and Review Group (MDRG) in the Environmental Science (EVS) Division. The aim of this innovative group is to create an encouraging environment for active publications on peer-reviewed scientific journals.
The formation of the MDRG was prompted by several needs. Hamada found a common interest among her colleagues in EVS regarding publication and the potential benefits of collaboration outside their own teams. She noticed that after she had completed her Ph.D. dissertation, she no longer had the support of her advisers and committee members like she did when she was at school. She was on her own. Hamada wanted to actively publish her work and needed support and guidance from a network of established scientists and researchers. So she started the MDRG.
The MDRG currently consists of 34 members from EVS and the Decision and Information Sciences (DIS) Division. Participants range from postdocs and entry level technicians to senior scientists and even the division director. Some of the benefits of participating in the MDRG include increasing one’s chances of acceptance by improving the quality of a manuscript prior to submission, encouraging completion of manuscripts and learning more about colleagues’ recent work.
“One of the many advantages of being engaged with the MDRG is membership in a community of scientific colleagues with collective experience and insight unavailable from any other resource,” said Hamada.
The responsibilities of members of MDRG include posting and reviewing manuscript drafts; exchanging “call-for-manuscript” announcements and journal information; sharing ideas such as how to select an appropriate journal for one’s work and how to identify publishable materials from projects; discussing issues and concerns such as data ownership, time management and funding; and compiling and maintaining a member profile to exchange expertise and interests among members. The group stays in contact by emails, phone, regular meetings and a mailing list.
“It is absolutely essential to give and receive honest opinions and constructive criticism from colleagues in order to improve the quality of manuscripts,” said Hamada.
So far, the MDRG has reviewed four manuscript drafts and of these reviewed three have been submitted to journals. The MDRG focuses the discussion on common issues and interests of the group.
While editing manuscripts for grammar, sentence structure and tone is not the primary focus of the MDRG, members are there to help. Anyone interested in becoming part of MDRG is invited to send an email to Yuki Hamada at [email protected] and she will add your email to the group mailing list.
Yuki Hamada (EVS) is a second-year postdoc in the Environmental Science Division. As a geospatial scientist having expertise in remote sensing and image analysis, she has been engaged in multiple projects pertaining to environmental and ecological impacts associated with energy development using geospatial information technologies such as remote sensing, geographic information system (GIS) and spatial statistics/geostatistics.
March 2012
