Doctor = Publisher

5. Being an Editor

After submission by the authors, the manuscripts start a long editorial journey. Keep in mind the following points for the best possible launch of your textbook:

1. Editing manuscripts is a refining process. Some manuscripts are perfect, others are like raw gems, and only multiple rounds of revision will transform them into diamonds. As an editor, you have to prove that you are capable of editing and that you earn the merits to see your name printed on a book cover one day.
2. If the length of a manuscript is within ±10 % of the agreed number of pages or words, the manuscript can usually be accepted. If not, or if the references are not composed in a consistent manner, don't read the manuscript and send it back to the authors. If needed, recommend the Amedeo Reference Generator (see www.freemedicalinformation.com/pmid.php).
3. When accepted, at least two editors should check the manuscripts for style and consistency. A medical textbook is not a showcase for physicians to display what they know and what they have achieved, but a well-structured and easy introduction into a given subject. Every chapter should take the readers by the hand and introduce them into the topic as deeply as possible, but also as fast as possible. In particular, the editors will check the following points:
• Is the reader gradually introduced into the subject and is the language used by the authors the simplest and most straightforward language possible?
• Can students or young doctors or scientists, who are not specialists of the subject treated in the textbook, understand the text?
• May some paragraphs be deleted because they are too specialized for a medical textbook?
4. The manuscript is returned to the authors with questions and suggestions. Ask the authors to record the corrections using the "track changes" function.
5. The authors' corrections are checked by at least one editor. If accepted, the manuscript is sent to a professional proofreader.
6. Corrected by the proofreader, the manuscripts must be checked by the authors one last time. It does not occur often, but I have seen errors being introduced by proofreaders.
7. Once it has gone through this process, your textbook will be of remarkable quality - a formidable basis for coming editions and for your global success.

If you need any further information, please contact me at the email address you know.

Bernd Sebastian Kamps, www.bsk1.com - Paris, 27.5.2007