The path from project application to data collection, to data evaluation/ statistical analysis, to writing the manuscript and designing figures, and finally publication is often very long. Various hurdles have to be overcome and it is often difficult to combine the different competencies in one person.
In my experience, the time resources of clinical researchers are often very limited, resulting in enormous delays in the publication process as people try to manage the individual steps more or less on their own alongside their clinical work. Often the data are no longer up to date when the publication is finally completed.
Therefore, I think it would be useful to create a network of people with clearly defined areas of competence who can participate in this process in order to accelerate publication processes and avoid individuals having to reinvent the wheel over and over again.
Examples of areas of competence:
clinical expertise, standardization of large data sets, statistics, creation of figures using appropriate graphics programs, language optimization by native English speakers, possibilities of obtaining grants……
I would be interested in your thoughts and reflections on this.
-Do you think this is a good idea or do you rather think that the publisher should acquire and master all these skills on their own?
-Do you think it’s a way to better connect researchers and increase everyone’s publication output?
-Do you think it would be useful for all DCoP members to indicate their areas of expertise so that we can build such a network within DCoP? Or do you find this unnecessary because you already have this network?
-Do you have any additions to the aspects listed here?
There are further questions that are going through my mind:
-How can we ensure that everyone who takes on a task in this process is rewarded with co-authorship? Do you think all tasks warrant co-authorship? Probably one could always justify co-authorship by combining the various tasks with the “critical revision of the manuscript for intellectual content.”
Looking forward to your feedback!