First, to ascertain from an intending mentee that there is
a potential for a peer review publication to emerge from the
data available. A mentor may do this by printed correspondence,
by e-mail, by telephone conversations, or by some combination
of the above. Sometimes it may be necessary to advise the
author that the nature of the study is such that it does not
appear to suitable for a peer-reviewed journal; in such cases
a brief explanation of the reasons should be given. The mentor
decides on the nature and extent of assistance to be given
and should make this clear to the mentee at the outset. However,
once an assignment is accepted, then a mentor is obliged to
make every effort to complete it. It is expected that mentors
will to respond promptly, politely, helpfully and in detail
to requests for advice from the mentees. They will:
- Comment upon materials submitted to them by a mentee such
as outlines of major sections of the paper (e.g. topics
to be covered in the introduction, list of data tables and
figures to include in the results), rough drafts of major
sections for a manuscript (e.g. Introduction, Methods, Results,
etc), or complete drafts of manuscripts including all illustrations
and the list of references.
- Advise on suitability of a particular target journal for
a given manuscript, and perhaps suggest alternative journals.
Such journals would not necessarily be those specializing
in addiction research; broader biomedical or social science
journals may be appropriate for some studies.
- Advise the author of a need to do different or additional
statistical analyses or to obtain advice from a statistician
of such analyses. It is not the essential task of the mentor
to do data analyses or even to define the analyses that
are needed, although such guidance can be provided if the
mentor is competent and willing. However, in exceptional
cases, mentors may wish to undertake analyses; if this is
to happen, it should be agreed at an early stage between
mentor and mentee.
- Advise on any ethical issues that arise during the course
of preparing the manuscript, including but not limited to
declaring conflicts of interest according to journal requirements.
- Safeguard the confidentiality of all unpublished material
submitted to them. Such material must not be passed on to
any other colleagues without the approval of the mentee,
and will not be used by the mentor for his or her own purposes
and benefit.
- When applicable, advise the mentee about responding to
the editor's decision and to referees' reports.
It is the role of the mentor to advise about what is needed
to bring a manuscript up to publication standard, but not
necessarily to write or rewrite any part of it. A mentor may
withdraw his involvement if it becomes apparent that the mentee
ignores the advice given so that the manuscript is not improving
over successive iterations. Mentors should expect to provide
comments on up to three fairly complete versions of a manuscript
and will have no obligation to comment upon further revisions,
but there is no upper limit set as to the number of iterations
upon which a mentor may comment if they wish to do so. Mentors
will provide advice and support to the ISAJE mentees in much
the same way that they would for junior colleagues within
their own institution; however, they will not be responsible
for any negative consequences suffered by mentees who do not
succeed in getting their work published. Mentors should not
expect to become co-authors on their mentees' papers unless
they fully meet recognized criteria for authorship.
The opportunity to help young scholars to grow should itself
be rewarding. More tangible rewards may include one or more
of the following:
- Mentees should always acknowledge the role of their mentor
in manuscripts submitted for publication.
- When a mentor has made a major contribution to a paper,
he/she should be a co-author. The recommended
guidelines for authorship would apply; for example,
a mentor who suggests a different statistical analysis of
data and guides investigators on how to do it might be deserving
of authorship. Rewriting a major section of the manuscript
is another example. Mentors would not automatically become
co-authors and it is essential that mentors and mentees
agree at the outset whether co-authorship will happen and
the conditions in which it would be applicable.
A list on the ISAJE/PARINT website will name everyone who
has acted as a mentor in the previous three years.
At present there is no financial reward for mentors. In the
future it may become possible for a limited number of mentors
to receive a contribution towards the costs of attending a
conference at which the mentee presents a paper or poster.
Back Mentoring Menu
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