Caught in the headlights

This is ridiculous.

An abstract I submitted to a conference has been accepted. Great.

I recently submitted revisions to a manuscript on the same research to a journal. The decision is pending. Great. Odds are good, but maybe they'll ask for more revisions?

The association sponsoring the conference wants to publicize my research: press conference, press release, stock footage for media, etc. Great.(!)

BUT, the journal has a press embargo. If it's accepted it's embargoed until it appears in print. If accepted today it could be till next spring. In which case, at the meeting, which is this winter, I will not be able to discuss my results. Only my methods and background and who really cares about that?!

I have an interview tomorrow with a journalist who is putting the press release together.

I have taken the initiative of trying to figure this out, to show that I am trying to be responsible. Dealing with university press people, journal press people, association press people. But holycrap, it's a mess.

After a lot of back and forth here's what it looks like I'll do. Do interviews. Suddenly get article accepted. (Normally this is a good thing!) No longer present at conference. Piss off conference association. Try to retract what I have said from the press release, if possible and not yet released, and attempt to just talk about my methods in any revised press release.

Press embargoes are really ridiculous. Seriously people? It's still my ideas and my work. Well, I guess it's not once I sign a copyright agreement but I haven't yet! But the journal says it's theirs from the moment of acceptance.

I don't think I'll ever submit a manuscript so close to the time of a conference again. Clearly, manuscripts take precedence here but press would be nice. What a weird pickle I'm in!

In print, at long last

Several years after I first thought of the idea, shopped it around, clarified it, did the research, wrote the article, revised the article, revised the article again, and fought with a copy-editor, one of my dissertation papers is in print(!) at long last. Yay, me!

On another, unrelated note, it really creeps me out to watch people lick the tops of their yogurt containers. Ew.

The District, My Manuscripts, and COFFEE!

Baracka is SUCH a celebrity, last night on t.v. I saw his new commercial promoting his stimulus plan, and I thought, wait, isn't the campaign over already? Now turns out he has his own reality show, The District! Awesome! Thanks Dub for the heads up.

For some reason I put together a manuscript time line (and shared it with my mentor) that has me submitting 3 papers in March. Ha! What was I thinking? Maybe I need my own reality vlog to document my own fall from grace. But the good news is.....I FINALLY SUBMITTED ONE OF MY DISSERTATION MANUSCRIPTS! To a top tier journal!

And most importantly, and quite possibly explaining the sheer freneticness of this post, is the following exciting revelation. How long have I worked here? Since October? And how many sleepy afternoons have I passed where I had no hope for a caffeinated kick in the pants other than a Diet Coke? Well, had I moved two feet to the right I might have noticed THIS (ok I wanted to put a picture link here but I'll have to take my own, apparently the internets aren't as enamored with it as I am) a little earlier. Oh yeah, a high class Wolfgang Puck "Crappy Cap" coffee vending machine(i.g. automated caffeine-pusher, which typically produces crappy cappuccinos.) This one, though, WOW, you can specify your degree of desired "STRENGTH" "LIGHTENER" and "SUGAR." (My favorite is the "lightener"--I ordered this extra strength!) And it it is gourmet--with options for vanilla, berry, chocolate, coffee, or combos of any of the above. WOW!! After just one cup: GO ME!



outtie~

Rejection: On Scientific Writing

I don't know about you guys but I have such a tough time getting journals to reject my manuscripts. Fortunately, if you are like me, there is help available. A few years ago the BMJ published a helpful guide by Horacio Plotkin (it's got to be good as it had previously been rejected by JAMA, Science, NEJM, Lancet, and PNAS) replete with useful tips on just how to get a paper tossed by a journal. They include:

Use fancy words.
In the introduction, criticise the work of possible reviewers. Be particularly nasty. This is your chance for revenge.
Use more fancy words.
Start by looking at your data randomly. Something will come out. Why bother with writing a protocol when you already have results?
Use even more fancy words.


Good luck, all! I know that with persistence you can do it!

Best Day Ever and I'm Still in My Pajamas!

I just found out that an article of mine got accepted, and with only minor revisions!

This article came from an idea I had back in 2004 and has probably been finished for a year. I am so happy that it finally has found a home. Actually this is the third journal that I've submitted it to and I was starting to lose hope that it would ever be published in the current form.

Hooray!