Judge by the Content Not the Cover: A Pragmatic Publication Philosophy

The objective of this editorial was to underline the importance of the scientific significance and content of a publication rather than its cover or the hosting journal or publisher in determining its ultimate credibility and merit. I write this editorial in response to a few popular questions often asked by mentees in academia and the industry regarding optimal publication philosophies. Students, mentees, or even experienced scholars usually inquire about what the philosophy of publishing is. Why can it be subjective? Why try to publish in some seemingly impactful journals and not publish in others known as predatory journals? My response is as follows. It may be quite useful for a beginner to publish in high-impact journals to gain a rapid and time-efficient worldwide reputation. However, it is not the journal that determines credibility and value when a student or scholar/scientist becomes specialized and distinguished. Authors are definitely the ones who impact journals and can add value to local and global publishers.

In other words, gold noble science words and findings are invaluable no matter where they are published or disseminated. Here is a pragmatic example. Assuming the bin has little or no value, I usually tell my mentees to dispose of their gold rings in the recycling trash bin. While the rings are in the bin, I ask them if and how the price of their rings and the bin have changed. They told me that “The rings still possess the same price but the merit of the bin has dramatically increased”. The rings are written by distinguished and influential scientists and authors and the bin could be any journal or publisher. Mentees are usually excited to pragmatically understand and profoundly perceive the above-mentioned philosophy of publication.

It is always meritorious to help make numerous publishers grow and expand and become elite and influential instead of merely sticking to those that are already known and impactful. The art is making elites from non-elites. And not simply following the already known paths of not making significant differences. With this approach, we all can be more constructive and evolving and indeed become distinguished in generating better than our own. An ultimate frontier is to make future generations more influential and qualified than current generations^1,2. Don’t you think so?

REFERENCES

1. Nikkhah, A., 2015. Science of the new times: A circle not a line. Adv. Crop Sci. Technol.
   
2. Nikkhah, A., 2011. Science education of the new millennium: Mentorship arts for creative lives. Creative Educ., 2: 341-345