Some SVP members have expressed concern about presenting their unpublished research at SVP meetings because they worry that press reports may affect their chances of publication in certain journals, in particular the weekly science magazines Science and Nature. In order to clarify this matter, we would like to pass along the following suggestions for dealing with the media.
Reporters attend our meetings to bring their audiences up to date with important developments. This is true of reporters from the prominent science weeklies and of those from newspapers and magazines. Because we invite and admit them, they are free to report on what is presented. Editors of scientific journals to which authors may later decide to submit their research do not regard such popular reporting as problematic for the primary publication of research reports.
Authors are free (and are often well advised) to speak to reporters, in order to clarify what they say in their presentations. However, if in such conversations authors go beyond their presentations — that is, if they provide reporters with data, illustrations, manuscripts, or preprints, or if they call or participate in press conferences (including SVP’s) about their work — they have essentially disseminated those research results. It is then legitimate for a journal editor to conclude, in regard to a manuscript that may be submitted later, that this work has already been reported — even if it was reported in the same journal’s news pages. To cite the publication policy of Science directly:
The main findings of a paper should not have been reported in the mass media. Authors are, however, permitted to present their data at open meetings but should not overtly seek media attention. Specifically, authors should decline participation in news briefings or coverage in press releases and should refrain from giving interviews or copies of the figures or data from their presentation or from the manuscript to any reporter unless the reporter agrees to abide by Science’s press embargo. If a reporter attends an author’s session at a meeting and writes a story based only on the presentation, such coverage will not affect Science’s consideration of the author’s paper (from the Science Web site: www.sciencemag.org).
In our experience most science reporters are assiduously conscientious about their work, and are happy to check quotes and statements. However, researchers are not obliged to discuss their work with any reporter, nor to answer questions if they do not feel comfortable, prepared, or willing to have such statements disseminated publicly. A researcher may also go “off the record” with a reporter to discuss research results that may serve as background or perspective but are not meant to be disseminated publicly.
Good science reporting benefits all of us. Misunderstandings may occasionally happen, but if researchers have any concerns about reporting their work or talking about it with someone from the press, they should first refer to the points above to be sure that the terms of discussion are clear.