Forensic text books: how to publish and perish, all at the same time.

Abstract

In a previous editorial in Forensic Science Medicine and Pathology the mechanics of publishing research papers were discussed from the stand point of the author and also the editor [1]. The focus was on common mistakes that are made by writers in crafting their research results into a paper, with advice on how best to ensure timely and appropriate publication. The editorial did not deal with issues of plagiarism or dishonest research, nor did it mention the very real hurdles that authors may face when dealing with publishers and their associated companies. Nowadays the speed of processing and publishing papers and texts has been greatly increased with the evolution of word processors into computers, and the use of rapid online uploads. A paper can be generated relatively quickly once the data are compiled and journal review times are generally decreasing. Text books however, may present a completely different range of problems, and are now usually managed by quite separate sections of publishing houses to journals. Texts, by their very nature, are much longer and more complex than individual papers. They require far more time for copyediting and checking for errors, and this is particularly so for edited works where there may be dozens and even hundreds of individual contributors. The following examples are taken from the author’s own experiences with publishing texts and are used to illustrate the type of situations that may arise once a text has been written and submitted to a publishing house, and the sometimes unusual responses/requests that are made. It is also hoped that the advice derived from these situations will be of use to aspiring text book writers. The names of the texts have not been used to anonymize the publishers. Loss of material: Always keep originals or very good copies of figures, tables and text. This is less of an issue if electronic versions are accepted by the publisher, however sometimes hard copies are still requested. A publisher contacted me regarding 26 images in a book chapter that had somehow been lost in production. It was suggested by the publisher that the best way to deal with this to avoid holding up the production schedule was to delete them from the text! Agree on the size and length of the text: Although it would be a reasonable expectation that once the proofs have been corrected and returned to the publisher, that the text should go to the printers, this may not be the case. A text that had reached this stage was the subject of an email from the publisher who noted that although the text was 660 pages long, that 1,000 pages would be preferred. The suggestion that a few more chapters could be added at this late stage was resisted. Electronic submission: This is clearly a desirable and necessary part of modern publishing, however, electronic submission for multi-authored texts is often fraught with problems. Submission software may be cumbersome and figure images may only be able to be viewed one at a time, and each may take many minutes to download. Contributors may have great difficulty in navigating these sites and it is interesting that major publishers often seem to be well aware of the lack of usability of competitor’s sites, but not their own. I have had one experience where a publisher R. W. Byard (&) Discipline of Anatomy and Pathology, Level 3 Medical School North Building, The University of Adelaide Medical School, Frome Road, Adelaide, SA 5005, Australia e-mail: roger.byard@sa.gov.au