Week 4/14: Please blog on some question you may have with your essay for the course.

One of the concepts that I address in my paper is the role of the academic journal as a gatekeeper. The academic journal is not a single person, but a conglomeration of roles.

There are as many types of gatekeepers as there are writers and editors, but there are two broad categories that can help tailor a document. However, it is important to note that, like any broad reductive classification, these categories are not all-inclusive.

Generally speaking, gatekeepers can either be collaborative or adversarial. These categories imply little about the intent of the gatekeepers and more about the nature of the gatekeeper’s job.

In this case, a collaborative gatekeeper is one that will work with you to present the document. A common type of collaborative gatekeeper is a supervisor that reviews your work: the supervisor’s goals align with your own because you both represent the same interests and the same client. Conversely, an adversarial gatekeeper’s interests are not always aligned with yours or your client’s. Adversarial gatekeepers are often tasked with rejecting documents or narrowing a large pool of documents for an overwhelmed audience. A classic example of this type of gatekeeper is a grant program manager. The program manager’s goal is to only select the grant applications most closely aligned with the grant program’s stated goals, and thus grant program managers must reject applications that do not meet their goals and standards.

This is not to say that adversarial gatekeepers are combative. Many adversarial gatekeepers are very open about their standards and requirements, and it can be useful to contact them and ask about these standards. They can often steer you in the right direction and save you time and effort if your document does not match their needs. Furthermore, many adversarial gatekeepers can make suggestions for more appropriate submission targets if your document doesn’t match their specific needs.

Although they are not the target audience, it is important to consider any gatekeepers when creating or editing a document. Collaborative gatekeepers work with you to enhance your work until it meets their standards, whereas adversarial gatekeepers are responsible for assessing your work and rejecting it if it does not meet their standards. Some documents may only have one type of gatekeeper, but many have both, and one of the most productive ways to enhance your document’s chances for acceptance or publication is to identify any gatekeepers, the nature of their role, and their goals and standards. In many cases in medical writing, this can be as simple as calling or emailing a managing editor or review officer and directly asking them about their goals and standards.

While gatekeepers may inherently have collaborative or adversarial roles – they should all keep in mind the broad goal on the academic community – to share knowledge. In the case of the biomedical community, knowledge from a diverse international author pool will add strength to any publication and in turn the scientific discipline at large.