Journal editors want to attract science that is pushing new boundaries and opening up new potential fields of research. Most researchers want to be at the forefront of science to make the next ‘big discovery’, but many aren’t quite sure exactly where to look. Often, by the time they see ‘movement’ in a particular sub-field, usually in the form of a flurry of publications, it is too late to be a part of the action. Thus, it is necessary to anticipate this type of ‘movement’.
Anticipating the next big thing can be very difficult, but clues can usually be picked up by reading the literature and attending international meetings. It is important to stay up to date with the latest literature in your field to stay abreast of developments. Look for results that are described speculatively in the discussion section. Findings that are difficult to explain often represent fertile ground for scientific enquiry, although it is worth remembering that the lab that initially published those findings will have a good head start. Reading letters to the editor can point to controversies in your field, and any work resolving these would be considered appealing to journal editors.
Reading broadly, and not just exclusively reading research in your immediate field, can help you to identify potential “cross-overs” from other fields of research — perhaps a new method has been developed or a new protein–protein interaction discovered that has relevance to your area of research, but is published in a study completely unrelated to your work. Reading top-tier journals like Nature, Science and Cell is one way to remain current with developments in fields other than your own. Key word database searches are a way to identify otherwise unrelated studies with possible cross-over relevance. Key word database searches can also help you to identify the volume and impact of research in a given area. If there has been a large increase in the number of publications on a particular topic in the last year, or a shift towards publications in high impact factor journals, then that is usually a good indicator that a field has become a ‘hot topic’. If there are very few recent publications listed, or almost all of the publications listed are in low impact factor journals, then the topic is not likely to be of wide appeal. Another good indicator of a topic’s ‘hotness’ is the number of citations that articles in a given field receive, something that does not always go hand-in-hand with the journal’s impact factor; however, by the time a trend is recognized using this method, it is likely to be too late to join the rush. Certainly, seeing the same paper cited several times in different papers within a year of its publication is a good indication that the area is attracting considerable interest.
One of the best ways to keep up to date with new developments and to identify ‘fashionable’ areas of research and potential ‘new problems’ is attendance at international meetings. Often this is where preliminary findings are presented, in abstract and poster form, giving you an awareness of new directions in a field before the findings are published. Discussions with other researchers at these meetings can help you to refine your research questions to the most pertinent.
Finally, it is worthwhile remembering that greater interest in a topic means greater competition, and that the labs that have already published work revealing controversies, presenting unexplained findings and opening up new directions, will have a significant head start in the area, perhaps of several months. Think about your particular advantages. Do you have access to specialized equipment that other researchers might not have? Do you have access to samples or other resources that other researchers do not? Do you have existing collaborations that you can leverage to make rapid findings in the new field? If so, you should get to work on refining your research questions, designing your latest study and performing the research; the race is on.