Reprints Still Enabling Authors To 'Spread The News' About Their Work

About Their Work Author: Ricki Lewis In the current age of electronic communication, the practice of sending postcards to colleagues to request reprints of their articles may seem quaint. Nonetheless, these postcards continue to crisscross the world at much the same volume as they have for years, scientists and journal publishers say. Article reprints serve several purposes. Many scientists see a reprint request as a pat on the back. "In my scientific youth, I kept an exact count of the number of reprints; I even kept the 'used' cards on file to see who had made requests. I no longer do that, but I always feel a certain satisfaction when I run out of originals and must start sending photocopies to latecomers," says developmental biologist Jim Hutchins, an associate professor of anatomy at the University of Mississippi Medical Center in Jackson. Reprints do not go only to peers. They often accompany grant and job applications, as evidence of a scientist's ability to publish in a peer-reviewed journal. Companies developing and commercializing basic research discoveries use reprints to flesh out packets of information that are sent to the media and to investors. And reprints from more general science publications, like Scientific American, may be used for educational purposes. Reprint costs vary greatly from one journal to another, with very few giving free reprints to authors. "The cost for reprints is dependent upon the number of pages, number of color figures, and number of reprints ordered," explains Donata Sizemore, a research microbiologist in the department of bacterial diseases at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research in Washington, D.C. Sizemore was lead author on a recent Science paper (D. Sizemore et al., Science, 270:299- 301, 1995) that discussed use of a plasmid from Shigella as a DNA vector. Handling reprint requests is a fact of scientific life. Researchers view the phenomenon in different ways, and may have different experiences dealing with specific journals. Whether reprint request traffic has increased, decreased, or stayed constant in recent years is difficult to assess. Some researchers report that they are receiving fewer requests, because people simply photocopy articles of interest in libraries. Yet others report increases in reprint requests as their careers progress and they publish in more prestigious journals. Maurice Bushroe, vice president of sales and marketing for Sheridan Press, which prints reprints for many journals, has a broader view, and notes a slight decrease in reprint requests in the industry overall, although not in his company. Sheridan supplies reprints for nearly 900 publications, including journals from Mary Ann Liebert Inc., ier Publishing Co. Inc., Duke University Press, and the Blackwell Scientific series. Several factors may be at play, including the high cost of reprints and the ease and speed of photocopying. "In the marketplace overall, there has been a slight decrease in reprint requests," Bushroe says. But Shanna Dempsey, reprint assistant at Academic Press in San Diego, reports "no decline at all" in the number of reprint requests at her company. She says: "There are three of us in the office, and we split up 170 journals. Each one of us gets 30 to 40 requests a day." Countering the drop in reprint requests in some quarters is the fact that science libraries are carrying fewer journals than in times past. "In my experience, reprint requests are many times dependent upon the availability of the journal. I received many requests for a basic research article that I published in Microbial Pathology several years ago. That journal is not readily available," states Sizemore. A report published in May 1994 by the Task Force on a National Strategy for Managing Scientific and Technological Information, convened by the Washington, D.C.-based Association of Research Libraries (ARL) and the Association of American Universities, cites "an extraordinary information cost spiral" as limiting science and technology library resources. Among ARL libraries, the cost of a single issue of a journal rose 108 percent since 1986, that of journal series increased 92 percent, and the number of serials purchased fell 5 percent. If a library does not receive a particular journal, one recourse for an investigator is to pop a postcard into the mail to the author of a paper published in that journal. Researchers must also take into account the number of reprints needed for grant applications when deciding how many reprints to order. "Granting agencies need between six and 20 reprints," notes Hutchins, who requires at least 50 reprints to cover multiple grant applications. But the investment is worth it. "Even if only a few of these are read, the one which is read has a maximum impact on my career," he adds. Professional reprints, and not photocopies, are essential to adequately reproduce such important forms of scientific data as autoradiograms, DNA sequencing gels, and photomicrographs. Predicting which papers will draw a rain of reprint requests is also complex. Scope is one factor. A review paper may bring 1,000 reprint requests, whereas a paper in a highly specialized journal may bring only about 10 requests, says Thomas Elbert, a professor of psychology at the University of Konstanz, in Germany, the lead author in a recent paper on cortical representation of the fingers of string players (T. Elbert et al., Science, 270:305-7, 1995). Appearance is important, too. "I expect more requests for papers which include photomicrographs, as they often do not photocopy very well," comments Mike Bennett, a professor in the department of anatomical sciences at the University of Queensland in St. Lucia, Australia, whose most recent paper (M. Bennett, G.C. Taylor, Nature, 378:56-9, 1995) examines locomotion in kangaroos and wallabies. His papers generally include illustrations and sometimes photographs. Controversy can affect the number of reprint requests, a factor reported by people who actually handle the flood of requests at a journal after a controversial paper appears. Consider two recent articles published in the New England Journal of Medicine. One reported on a drug combination that could induce abortion (R.U. Hausknecht, N. Engl. J. Med., 333:537-541, 1995), and one was a review article on biological approaches to treating osteoporosis (S.C. Manolagas, R.L. Jilka, N. Engl. J. Med., 332:305-12, 1995). "The paper citing two drugs that can cause spontaneous abortion proved too hot a topic," according to Robert Quinn, reprints representative at the journal, who reports having seen articles draw anywhere from 100 to 500,000 reprint requests. "Drug manufacturers didn't want to get involved in the whole debate, so they didn't order many reprints. They'd rather invest in obtaining reprints for a study supporting use of a particular drug to treat osteoporosis." For a researcher, it can be hard to predict how many reprints to order. Order too few, and time must be spent at the copier. Order too many, and one may feel foolish. "It is embarrassing to have a colleague visit your office and spy a stack of 400 unsent -- and unwanted -- reprints. I get very depressed looking at a large stack of unwanted reprints," comments Hutchins. Some papers are so ground-breaking that a huge reprint request response is a given. This happened when The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR) in Gaithersburg, Md., published genome sequences for two bacteria, Haemophilus influenzae (R.D. Fleischmann et al., Science, 269:496-512, 1995) and Mycoplasma genitalium (C.M. Fraser et al., Science, 270:397-403, 1995). The reason: These were the first two free-living organisms to have their genomes sequenced. The number of requests for the earlier TIGR paper is currently approaching 1,000, says Tony Kerlavage, director of bioinformatics at the company. Many researchers request reprints using preprinted cards, called "Request-A-Print," available from the Philadelphia- based Institute for Scientific Information. Millions are sold each year. HOW TO CATCH A TIGER: A scene from the World Wide Web page of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR), where researchers can order reprints electronically. But now that many journal articles list authors' E-mail addresses, reprint seekers can forgo the postcard route and simply request a reprint electronically. TIGR takes E-mail requesting one step further. One can order a reprint directly from a World Wide Web page (http://www.tigr.org). This innovation is greatly aiding TIGR's response. "People were calling in, asking for reprints, and saying they'd seen the Web site. Since people were looking at the Web site anyway and asking for reprints, we thought it would be easier to handle the requests electronically. This way we also have a complete log and tracking information on who requests reprints," Kerlavage explains. To order a reprint of either Science paper, a reader need merely click on the phrase "reprint request," which appears on the screen. "You type in your return E-mail address and full mailing address. Our librarian gets the message asking for a reprint for this paper from this person. The mailing address is printed on an envelope, she sticks the reprint in, and it goes through the real mail," Kerlavage says. This method frees researchers from secretarial duties, and speeds answering the requests. Eli Noam, director of the Columbia Institute for Tele- Information and a professor of finance and economics at Columbia University, predicts that "many journals will transition to a purely electronic mode -- faster, cheaper, easier to find. Reprints then become unnecessary: where desired, one can E-mail broadcast these to one's favorite mailing list. If anything, people will over-bombard each other." Reprints can be expensive. At the New England Journal of Medicine, different pricing scales apply for different types of articles, and also vary according to who is ordering reprints. Commercial rates are 40 percent higher than rates for authors. Authors' costs for reprints of research reports are $169 for the first 100 and $19 for every 100 thereafter. For the much-shorter editorials, the cost for authors is $60 for the first 100 and $9 for subsequent batches of 100. Scientific American gives authors 150 complimentary reprints, charging $1 for each additional one to the author and $4 each for anyone according to Jeremy Abbate, subscriber- relations specialist at the New York-based magazine. The lower cost of Scientific American reprints compared with those of a professional medical or scientific journal is related to the fact that they are often assigned in high school and college classes, according to the magazine staff. Presumably, a student is less able to pay for reprints than a physician or scientist. Most researchers answer reprint requests on a first-come, first-served basis. Francis Barany, an associate professor of microbiology at Cornell University Medical College in New York City, like many other busy researchers, just hands the requests to a helper, without noticing who sends them. Some scientists give priority to requests from countries where researchers have limited access to libraries and photocopiers. The high costs of postage and subscriptions to journals published in the U.S. are prohibitive for many foreign scientists. "I will always reply to reprint requests from Eastern Europe, South and Central America, or Asia, excluding Japan. Requests from North America, Western Europe, and Japan are granted a much lower priority, since most of the people making the requests have access to the articles, anyway," relates Gordon Dent, research scientist at the Center for Pneumology and Thoracic Surgery in Hamburg, Germany, who has published recently in Clinical Immunotherapy, the European Respiratory Journal, and Lung. Still others use reprint requests to network. "I like to take time to make a personal note if I am sending a reprint to a close friend, or simply write 'warm regards' if it goes to a colleague I have talked with at annual meetings," says Hutchins. "I also sign reprints which go to people I perceive as 'movers and shakers.' I'd like to think opening my reprint jogs someone's memory of me in a small way." Hutchins's comment emphasizes what sociologists call a "latent" role of reprints -- they may serve as a barometer of a scientist's reputation. "I see a reprint request to be a friendly feedback or signal on whether my work is useful," comments Jin Meng, a research scientist in vertebrate paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in New York City. "It also tells you how far the influence of your work goes in terms of geographic distribution and disciplines." SUBTEXT: Sociologist Robert Merton says that sending out reprints is a request for judgement. Sociologist Robert Merton, University Professor, emeritus, at Columbia University, maintains that reprint exchange has a subtext beyond information exchange: "Sociologists identify 'reference groups' in human behavior. These are individuals whose opinions and judgments matter. We share these opinions and judgments, and want to know if we are living up to these values." Sending a member of a "reference group" a reprint "goes beyond the matter of exchanging information. What in effect is being said is, 'I want your judgment,' and it also signals the assumption: 'I want you to think well of me, because your judgment matters,'" Merton adds. On a less philosophical note, attractive reprints are an easy means of advertising a scientific discovery with commercial potential. They often show up in "kits" of information that companies assemble for the press and for investors. "Relative to the cost of developing ads, it is very inexpensive to put reprints in a press kit," explains Bushroe. "Biotech and pharmaceutical companies do this. The journalist or investor knows that they are reading something that has been peer- reviewed, rather than from an ad agency." At Research Corporation Technologies (RCT), a Tucson, Ariz.- based organization that identifies promising technology and guides it toward commercialization, reprints help "sell" the commercial potential of basic research early in the development process. "When we approach our industry contacts, we want them to see that a particular technology is suited to their business plan," says Jan McCoy, communications associate at RCT. "We send information that confirms this value, including patent applications and journal reprints. If a scientist has published other papers that relate to the development of the invention, we often send reprints of these papers, as well. "We want industry licensing and development executives to see the value of the technology for themselves. They get the science straight from the horse's mouth!" she adds. Reprints are a powerful representation of a scientist's worth because they generally come from peer-reviewed, professional journals. Notes Bushroe: "The vast majority of scientists recognize the peer-review process as a very important, if not the most important, way to judge the value of a contribution. Reprints are a way of spreading the news." Ricki Lewis, a writer based in Scotia, N.Y., is the author of several biology textbooks. She is online at 76715.3517@compuserve.com.

Reprints Still Enabling Authors To 'Spread The News' About Their Work

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