Behind the Scenes of Scientific Publishing

Katherine Brown, Scientific Editor, The EMBO Journal

The European Molecular Biology Organisation (EMBO) promotes excellence in molecular life sciences through a range of activities: recognising outstanding researchers throughout the world through the EMBO Membership, funding and training researchers at all levels in their careers, organising scientific meetings, and also publishing four high quality journals: The EMBO Journal, EMBO Reports, Molecular Systems Biology and EMBO Molecular Medicine.

The EMBO Journal publishes full-length, original research articles in all areas of molecular biology (including developmental biology), with an emphasis on mechanistic insight and physiological relevance. In this seminar, I will give a “behind the scenes” perspective on what happens to your paper once it is submitted to a journal, explaining how the editorial process works at The EMBO Journal. I will also discuss the current state and future directions of scientific publishing, at a time when technological advances and community opinions are challenging the existing publishing systems.