Manuscript Support: Yes, We Do That!

About a year ago, a friend, former coworker, and all-around awesome person posted the following on LinkedIn:

Academics: Have you ever hired someone to help write manuscripts? Not a long-term post-doc, but a short-term consultant to help write up papers where the data are already analyzed. Is this a thing?

Cut to me frantically waving my arms.

YES! I DO THIS!!

Data Soapbox develops a lot of highly visual communication pieces…presentation slides, brief reports, infographics, graphical abstracts, conference posters. Potential clients are often surprised to hear that we can (and do!) also support academic writing projects.

Today, I’m using my psychic powers to anticipate the questions you have about our manuscript work. And then, graciously, I’ll answer them. 😉

Why would I want to collaborate with an outside consultant on manuscript writing?

Academics have unbelievable demands on their time. Conducting research can be a full-time job in and of itself, but many academics are also expected to teach (a full-time job), mentor students and post-docs, and serve their department, institution, and field. Some of those tasks are things only *they* can do…conceptualizing grants, giving lectures, attending committee meetings. But some of those tasks can be delegated.

Typically, it’s tough to delegate the trickiest manuscript tasks. Grad students and post docs are typically still on the steep part of the manuscript learning curve, so their work may take calendar time or oversight energy that are in short supply. Maybe your co-investigators could help, but chances are that they’re just as swamped as you are. Delegating manuscript tasks to an experienced, PhD-level social scientist can be a way to produce work that’s pretty close in quality to what you would do, while freeing up your time for the things only you can do.

Beyond the relief of delegation, academic writing can often benefit from an outside perspective. You may think your terminology, your procedures, your train of thought are totally clear…but, chances are, there is some room for improvement. Don’t let a journal’s editor and reviewers be your first outside readers.

Why would I want to collaborate with Data Soapbox (and, specifically, Lori P.) on manuscript writing?

Technically, I was an artist (e.g., fingerpainting) before I was a writer (e.g., cat, dog, Mom). But I have been writing, and writing fairly well, for a pretty long time.

Despite working outside of academia, I’ve co-authored more than 25 peer-reviewed journal articles (10 of those as first author), and I’ve reviewed manuscript submissions for 16 different peer-reviewed journals. I know what journal reviewers are looking for,* and I know what it takes to be accepted.

Isn’t working with an outside consultant sort of…cheating?

Nope!

Let’s say you have a research grant. That grant pays for (among other expenses) your time to write manuscripts, your co-investigators’ time to write manuscripts, your post-doc’s time to write manuscripts, and your grad students’ time to write manuscripts.

There’s nothing wrong with paying for an outside consultant’s time to write manuscripts, as long as their contributions are accurately represented (see authorship, below).

What kinds of manuscript tasks can Data Soapbox help with?

Here’s a pretty-comprehensive-but-probably-not-exhaustive list:

• Vetting target journals
• Outlining manuscripts or manuscript sections
• Conducting literature reviews
• Writing manuscript sections
• Developing manuscript tables and figures
• Providing feedback and revisions on draft manuscripts
• Entering, checking, and formatting references
• Reformatting manuscripts to align with journal requirements
• Writing cover letters for manuscript submission
• Preparing responses to peer reviewer comments

What kind of manuscript tasks does Data Soapbox NOT help with?

At this time, the big one is data analysis.

At one point, I could’ve helped you with analyses. I took a lot of statistics classes and was a fellow in Penn State’s Prevention and Methodology Training (PAMT) program.

Then, I took a job where other people ran analyses for me. After 15 years, the statistics sector of my brain has been reallocated to the list of medications taken by my geriatric cats. I remember enough about statistics to understand and interpret most results, but you don’t want me running your models.

Would Lori be a manuscript co-author?

It depends.

My co-authorship (or not) boils down to whether my contributions rise to the level of authorship according to widely accepted standards, like those from APA and JAMA.

Did I only re-format a figure or identify a target journal for you? Those aren’t scientific contributions and don’t merit authorship. (Acknowledgements are always welcome, though!)

Did I provide substantive feedback on a draft, beyond commas and typos? Did I write (or rewrite) entire chunks of text? Those are the kinds of contributions that would merit authorship for your academic colleagues, and they merit my authorship, too.

My clients and I assess authorship on a manuscript-by-manuscript basis, and revisit authorship decisions as needed during the writing process.

How can I learn more about collaborating with Data Soapbox on scientific manuscripts?

We’d love to chat with you about your needs! Contact us here.

* Except for Reviewer #2; they’re a lost cause.