“Lead Papers”?
23 February 2007 at 11:33 am Nicolai Foss 1 comment
| Nicolai Foss |
Increasingly often you see the following in the publications section of academic CVs: “paper title, journal, volume, pages (lead paper).” I take it that the “lead paper” is the first paper in an issue. Obviously, the impression that the writer of the CV wants to convey is that somehow this paper is the best in that specific issue (or at least written by the biggest guy). Do any of our readers know whether this is something journal editors (consciously) do? Is having your paper printed as the first paper in an issue a reliable signal of quality? Or is the structuring of papers in an issue a more random thing?
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Alf Rehn | 23 February 2007 at 11:46 am
Having edited a bunch of special issues, and having worked on journals at least some, I can both relate and not relate. Often, when you put an issue together, you want to lead off with something interesting. Not necessarily the “best” paper, but one that’ll capture readers. So there might be something to the “lead paper” thing. On the other hand, anyone writing this up in their CV is an absolute tool and should be smacked repeatedly.