5 Tips on How to Get your Paper Published

Once your paper is ready, it is time to send it for publication! These are my tips on how to achieve the sometimes frustrating and time consuming goal of publishing your hard work.

1. Make sure your paper is worth sharing: journal editors are interested in novelty or a significant contribution in a particular field that might become interesting for the readership.
2. Find the adequate journal: which audience are you trying to reach? This is one of the most important factors to have in mind when looking for a journal. Some journals only publish highly specialized subjects and are very selective. Check the frequency and quality of previous papers submitted in the journal you are looking for.
3. Follow the journal’s guidelines: each journal has its own specific and unique regulations on how to submit your paper. Be 200% sure that your manuscript follows the guidelines of the journal you choose, otherwise, you can have immediate rejection without even having a proper peer review. As an editor in chief of an important journal quoted: “if authors disrespect my time submitting a work in progress, they will experience my disapproval”.
4. Always be willing to ask for help: especially during your first publications, try to involve your mentors from the very beginning or ask for advice to someone more experienced in the particular field that you are working on. A great benefit of being a member of the PAAO-YO is to have access to the PAAO-YO Mentorship program, which creates connections between senior ophthalmologists and YOs.
5. Do not quit: if you abandoned an original idea or a well documented paper just because you have encounter some rejection, you have wasted your time (lots of time!) and opportunity to share it with the scientific world and even missed an eventual positive impact on patients. Go back and check on the reviewers’ suggestions/comments carefully, make the proper changes, and keep trying.

Learning from criticism is an art in academic life

Erick Hernández-Bogantes, MD

Erick Hernández-Bogantes, MD

Cornea, refractive surgery and external disease specialist

•MD and Ophthalmology degrees from the University of Costa Rica

•Cornea, Refractive and External Disease fellowship at Fundación Conde de Valenciana, Mexico City, Mexico

•Current private and public practice in Costa Rica