As the New Year Approaches

Welcome to my last blog post of 2010. I hope the year is ending well for you.

For many of us, the New Year’s arrival is a time to look back and look ahead.

Now might be a time to review your progress writing and publishing in the past year. Also, some journals look back at their past year.

For example, the December 2010 issue of Environmental Microbiology quotes some comments received from peer reviewers during the year. Some of the comments are humorous, some serious. Here are 2 examples:

• This paper is desperate. Please reject it completely and then block the author’s email ID so they can’t use the online system in future.
• I found the manuscript to be well performed in all aspects, from the experimental design to the writing of the manuscript. I wish all manuscripts I review were of this quality.

I hope your papers receive the latter type of comments.

Looking ahead: On New Year’s, many of us make resolutions. Some resolutions can regard our work. For example, they can regard planning our careers more effectively.

For early-career researchers, a resource on this topic is the new brochure “Step by Step: Your Career from Undergrad to Postdoc”. After registering at ScienceCareers.org, you can access this booklet at ScienceCareers.org/booklets.

Some of us might benefit from a resolution to complete work promptly, rather than procrastinating. Recently I learned of a website to help procrastinators. Perhaps consider looking at it.

Wishing everyone an excellent New Year! —Barbara