Read exclusive interviews with our authors of 50¶È»Ò journals, and find out the background of their research, how they select journals to submit papers, as well as their ideas on open access.
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications
Dr. Yukari Tanaka (Graduate School of Psychology, Kansai University, Postdoctoral Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science)
Article:
Authors: Yukari Tanaka, Yasuhiro Kanakogi & Masako Myowa
(February, 2021)
*hereinafter, referred to as HSS Communications
1. What is your field of research, and why did you choose this field?
My field of research is developmental science, a field of study that evolved from developmental psychology. Developmental psychology studies the developmental process of the mind, including cognition, emotion, and social skills of humans and animals changes over the course of their lives. Developmental science spans research fields including medicine, neuroscience, and information technology, and aims to elucidate the developmental mechanisms of the minds of humans and animals, including when and how these processes occur. When I was a university student, I worked as a part-time tutor at a private school. This experience exposed me to the diversity of children¡¯s personalities and abilities, which led me to wonder what it meant to "better development" and sparked my interest in the study of developmental science. Upon hearing the word "development," I had imagined "being able to do a certain thing by a certain age." However, the development of the human mind is much more diverse and complex than expectation. By conducting scientific research, I hope to help shed light on the principles of development of the human mind.
2. Please give us a brief overview of this paper.
We examined how social touch in mother¨Cinfant interaction affects infants¡¯ subsequent social engagement and object exploration. In this study, we observed play scenes between mothers and infants and analyzed the frequency and type of physical contact. Physical contact was classified into three categories: affectionate touch (e.g., stroking or hugging), stimulating touch (e.g., tickling), and instrumental touch (e.g., readjusting clothes). We investigated infants¡¯ object exploration and approach/avoidance behavior toward strangers, both prior to and following mother-infant play. Our findings showed that infants who had experienced a higher frequency of affectionate touch were more likely to explore objects and less likely to avoid strangers. Although affectionate touch is said to have a calming effect on infants who are fussing or crying, this study first showed that it also has a function in regulating infants¡¯ exploratory behavior and interaction with others.
3. How did you select which journal to publish your paper in?
Our research group does not decide on a journal before embarking on our research¡ªwe look for a journal that meets our research objectives. We select which journal to publish in based on factors such as our research methods, findings, impact, and originality. This time, we selected HSS Communications, as one of my co-authors had previously published an article in the journal, and because our research topic matched the research interests of the publication.
4. How was your experience publishing your paper in the HSS Communications?
I needed to revise this paper while I was pregnant, which was extremely tough because there were times when I was not feeling well. The editors of 50¶È»Ò were always prompt and polite in responding to my questions and inquiries, even regarding fine details. It was thanks to their support that I managed to complete my paper successfully.
5. What effect do you think that publishing articles in an open access format will have on the dissemination of academic research?
The current concern over the spread of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) has led to a considerable decline in opportunities for interaction with researchers in Japan and abroad. Publishing papers in an open access format increases opportunities to receive comments and inquiries from researchers both inside and outside one¡¯s field, as well as to develop interdisciplinary research by linking the interests of researchers in unexpected ways. Furthermore, I believe that the open access format helps to disseminate scientific research broadly to the general public as it also allows non-researchers to access papers.
6. What was the response from those around you when you published this paper?
Our research has received interest from those currently working in the childcare and education fields, as well as acquaintances who are currently raising children. Through this study, I believe that we were able to demonstrate, from a scientific perspective, what significance the social touch between parents and children has on a child¡¯s development.
(The content is as of June 15, 2021)
NPG Asia Materials
Dr. Shinji Kohara (Chief Researcher, Research Center for Advanced Measurement and Characterization, National Institute for Materials Science)
Article:
Authors: Yohei Onodera, Shinji Kohara, Philip S. Salmon, Akihiko Hirata, Norimasa Nishiyama, Suguru Kitani, Anita Zeidler, Motoki Shiga, Atsunobu Masuno, Hiroyuki Inoue, Shuta Tahara, Annalisa Polidori, Henry E. Fischer, Tatsuya Mori, Seiji Kojima, Hitoshi Kawaji, Alexander I. Kolesnikov, Matthew B. Stone, Matthew G. Tucker, Marshall T. McDonnell, Alex C. Hannon, Yasuaki Hiraoka, Ippei Obayashi, Takenobu Nakamura, Jaakko Akola, Yasuhiro Fujii, Koji Ohara, Takashi Taniguchi & Osami Sakata
(December, 2020)
1. What is your field of research, and why did you choose this field?
My field of research is the structural properties of glass. The structure of glass cannot be uniquely determined as it lacks the structural order of crystals. Because of this, it is extremely difficult to understand its physical properties via its structure. I specialize in quantum beam experiments, such as synchrotron X-rays, neutron, and electron beams, as well as in structural modeling. It was an interest in the structure of liquids during my doctoral studies in graduate school that led me to pursue this field. I had performed neutron diffraction of liquids at a national laboratory in the US and ended up choosing this field because I found the research difficult but also very interesting.
2. Please give us a brief overview of this paper.
In this paper, we studied silica (SiO2) glass, the most common but also the most important glass material. Under a pressurized environment, we increased and maintained the temperature of glass, before recovering the samples. High-temperature and high-pressure treatment permanently increases the density of glass, while its refractive index increases correspondingly with the increase in density. Using X-ray and neutron diffraction experiments, we showed that high-temperature compressed glass that was recovered from a high-temperature, high-pressure environment of 1200¡ãC/7.7 GPa was the most structurally ordered in the world. We also discovered that although low-temperature compressed glass recovered from room temperature/20 GPa had the same composition and density as that recovered from a 1200¡ãC/7.7 GPa environment, its density decreases with time (does not densify permanently), and furthermore that it has differing structure and dynamics.
3. How did you select which journal to publish your paper in?
Whenever I write a paper, it is always my hope that it will be read by as many people as possible, including those outside my field. To this end, I try to select journals with as high an impact factor as possible. I also always search for journals that have editors who are interested in my research. However, on occasion I also submit review articles to academic journals read by many people. In any case, I would like to maximize citations to the paper, and looking at my past record, papers published in journals with a high impact factor tend to receive higher number of citations.
4. How was your experience publishing your paper in NPG Asia Materials?
I found that NPG Asia Materials covers a wider range of fields than I had expected, and I felt that they carefully review papers submitted, even those in minor fields such as ours. My impression was that the editors in particular conduct an extremely careful review. They even kindly made some corrections to my English, and my overall impression was that the process was very thorough and professional. I believe the journal provides a lot of value due to the NPG brand name, and my co-authors and I are always pleased when our papers are published in this journal. Going forward, I would like to continue submitting my research findings when I obtain results with the potential to generate an impact.
5. What effect do you think that publishing articles in an open access format will have on the dissemination of academic research?
I hope for my papers to be read by as many people as possible, so recently I have been making articles open access regardless of which journal I submit to. Also, from a reader¡¯s perspective, if you cannot easily access the paper you want to read, on rare occasions you may simply give up at that point. I believe being able to access papers for free will ultimately promote the dissemination of academic research. Also, given that we may subsequently write review articles, I believe it is important to publish papers as open access. I will therefore continue to publish articles as open access wherever possible.
6. What was the response from those around you when you published this paper?
Our paper received a huge response. As we announced in our press release, we showed that the structure of glass can be freely manipulated by temperature and pressure, and I believe that our synthesis of the world¡¯s most structurally ordered glass has had a significant impact on the field. I have already been asked to write a review article in Japanese. Also, today we understand so much more about the structure of glass than we did around 20 years ago when I began studying this field. During our research, we attempted to combine a range of technologies including experiments and calculations, and I believe we demonstrated that these methods can be beneficial.
(The content is as of June 8, 2021)
Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology
Dr. Ken Masuda (Department of Thoracic Oncology, National Cancer Center Hospital)
Article:
Authors: Ken Masuda, Hidehito Horinouchi, Midori Tanaka, Ryoko Higashiyama, Yuki Shinno, Jun Sato, Yuji Matsumoto, Yusuke Okuma, Tatsuya Yoshida, Yasushi Goto, Noboru Yamamoto & Yuichiro Ohe
(July, 2020)
1. What is your field of research, and why did you choose this field?
My field of research is general drug therapy for lung cancer. After graduating from university, I originally worked in respiratory medicine, where in addition to lung cancer I also treated interstitial pneumonia, pulmonary hypertension, asthma, and COPD. During this period I often treated lung cancer patients, and it was a desire to deliver better medical care for patients that drove me to conduct research into lung cancer treatment. I am currently focusing my research primarily on non-small cell lung cancer and small cell lung cancer, and I am determined to use the results of my research to benefit patients.
2. Please give us a brief overview of this paper.
This study retrospectively investigated the efficacy of anti-PD-1 antibodies for each expression of PD-L1 in non-small cell lung cancer patients with an epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation. The efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors against EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer is generally believed to be poor. However, these drugs are on occasion used in EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer patients as a second-line treatment following first-line EGFR-TKI resistance. A certain level of efficacy has been observed among such cases, and we commenced this study seeking an answer to the question of whether PD-L1 expression affects the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors. A review of medical records from our hospital (National Cancer Center Hospital) showed that the response rate to anti-PD-1 antibodies and progression-free survival were extremely poor in patients with low PD-L1 expression (< 50% TPS). On the other hand, a certain level of efficacy was observed in patients with high PD-L1 expression (¡Ý 50% TPS). We concluded that for EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer, anti-PD-1 antibody treatment has low effectiveness in patients with low PD-L1 expression but that it can be used as a viable treatment option in patients with high PD-L1 expression.
3. How did you select which journal to publish your paper in?
When considering which journal to publish in I primarily select respiratory- or oncology-related journals, and my overall choice is based on factors such as recommendations from supervisors or colleagues, whether the journal is peer reviewed, and how long it has been in publication. The Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology is a well-established journal that was founded in 1979, has a sound peer review process, and has published numerous high-quality research papers over the years. I therefore judged it to be an appropriate journal in which to publish my findings. Also, as many of my colleagues have submitted papers to the journal in the past, I believed that the journal would be able to help make an appropriate decision on my submission.
4. How was your experience publishing your paper in the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology?
I was very pleased to receive a prompt and accurate review after submitting my paper. The publication process was very smooth, and it did not take long to move from review to submission. It was an extremely positive experience overall. When my research was published, it was presented beautifully on the website, and the PDF version was also well laid out and easy to read, which made me glad that I had chosen to publish in the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology. I would like to contribute again if there is another opportunity to do so in the future.
5. What effect do you think that publishing articles in an open access format will have on the dissemination of academic research?
I believe that publishing academic papers in an open access format helps researchers to communicate their research to a wide range of colleagues and allows researchers to further their own research while staying up to date in their respective fields. I believe that swift and unrestricted access to scientific papers via the Internet will serve to promote rapid scientific advancement. However, peer review is essential in order to ensure the quality of papers, and I therefore believe that these sorts of systems are only viable when backed by a sound peer review process like that employed by the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology.
6. What was the response from those around you when you published this paper?
After the paper was published, I received messages of congratulations from colleagues and junior researchers who read it. Although my paper has few citations at present, I believe that it represents an important finding regarding lung cancer treatment in EGFR mutation-positive patients, and I hope that more researchers will read it. I will continue striving to publish findings that benefit a wide range of researchers by submitting papers to reputable journals such as the Journal of Cancer Research and Clinical Oncology.
(The content is as of June 1, 2021)
Image credit: Andriy Onufriyenko/ Moment/Getty
