Advantages of using the academic-priority-services vs. publication in academic journals This page explains why using the academic-priority-services is significantly more efficient at securing priority and credit for ideas, discoveries & scientific-firsts than using journal publication alone. The academic / scientific-priority-services are meant to supplement, rather than replace, journal publication. SUMMARY I. Problem to be solved - the need for more efficient and fair systems for securing credit for ideas & discoveries (particularly for disadvantaged and less-influential members of society) II. Publication in academic journals is inefficient at securing priority & credit III. Advantages of using the academic-priority-services compared with publishing in journals 1. Academic-Priority-Services designed to solve the short-comings associated with publishing in journals. 2. Priority-certificates convey a stronger message (to the public and scientific community) about the claimants than journal articles convey about their authors. 3. The priority-certificate system provides a better, easier, and more fair way of securing priority and recognition than journals. 4. The advantage of a uniform examination procedures and a centralized place where all the NEW ideas, discoveries, and professional achievements are published. I.   Problem to be solved - the need for more efficient & fair systems for securing priority and credit for ideas & discoveries.    Innovators and scientists are fiercely protective of their priority achievements. However, the current ways to secure priority and credit for ideas, discoveries and professional achievements, via publication in journals, is inefficient. This is particularly the case for disadvantaged and less-influential innovators, scientists & creators such as: • Innovators from less developed regions & countries of the world (small university in Romania, India, Indonesia) • Independent innovators (not associated with prestigious research institutions & universities) • Less-influential professionals  (interns, temporary employees, junior employees, nurses, aids) • Less-influential scientists and innovators - individuals not having the proper educational background, technicians, graduate students, postdoctorals, junior scientists, etc. • Individuals who generally do not have a say in what is happening in the world    Because of this, often such highly meritorious people do not receive the credit they deserve. Further, controversies and disputes between competing claimants may arise and linger for years. II.   Publication in academic journals is inefficient at securing priority & credit A. Journal articles do not make clear & unequivocal statements of priority: •  Journals do NOT ALLOW “statements of priority or novelty” (see e.g. Proceedings of National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)  article submission guidelines) • The above fact implicitly recognizes that most journals do not make rigorous determinations of “priority & novelty” re the ideas, discoveries, and procedures disclosed in their articles. • No rigorous prior-art searches - journals do not make rigorous “prior-art searches” (such as the searches performed by the US Patent Office) • No clear identification of the novel features (“no claims”) - articles do not identify with specificity which of the presented ideas & procedures are novel and which are not (articles do not include “claims” such as the ones concluding invention patents) • Contribution of each of the co-authors is NOT specified - journals do not determine which one of the many co-authors of an article (e.g. may be more than 20) deserves credit for specific ideas & procedures • Journals do NOT determine “conception or performance date” beyond the article “receiving date” (most often ideas disclosed in an article have been conceived months or years before the “receiving date” shown on the face of the article).  • Thus, it can NOT be concluded (with a reasonable degree of certainty) that a person named on an article is the first to conceive an idea or to make a discovery disclosed by the article. Dr. Smith published 150 articles    ?? new discoveries (may be 0 … may be 5 … may be 20) Dr. Smith published 150 articles    ?? new ideas proposed (may be 0 … may be 5 … may be 20) B. Securing priority via publication in journals is SLOW & CUMBERSOME • It takes long time and often significant resources to write an article that can be accepted for publication - journals often require that the ideas and explanations disclosed in their articles are supported by experimental data and rigorous arguments. For examples, science journals do not generally publish articles disclosing only an “idea for an experiment” or “a possible explanation for a phenomenon” but require experimental data and rigorous arguments supporting the ideas asserted. • It may take years from the moment an individual comes up with an “idea for an experiment” or an “idea for a possible explanation for a phenomenon” to the moment the innovator gathers enough experimental data to rigorously support his / her assertions -  may require lots of information (idea, experiments & studies, experimental data, data analysis, interpretation, more data, agreement among the collaborators etc.). • A rigorous / working solution to a problem starts with an “idea of how to solve the problem” and may include a number of “ideas of how to solve sub-problems,” “strategies for solving the sub-problems”, “experiments”, “interpretation of experimental results”.  C. Uncertainties and unanswered questions re publishing journal articles. • Uncertain that an article discloses a new idea or procedure. No rigorous & professional priori-art searches have been performed since reviewers are not trained to do that. Further, from the face of the article one can not conclude that a new idea or procedure is disclosed (many articles disclose only commentaries or experimental results). • Uncertain which of the many ideas or procedures disclosed are indeed novel (no “claims” pointing out with specificity the new ideas & procedures, no prior art searches for specific features) • Uncertain which one of the many co-authors (e.g. 30 co-authors) deserves credit for a specific novel idea or procedure  (articles do not specify which of the many co-authors deserve credit for the specific ideas or procedures therein) • Uncertain when the new ideas or procedures were actually conceived or performed. Articles do not specify a conception date or performance date for the various new procedures or ideas disclosed (the “receiving date” may be years after conception or performance) • Uncertain whether an article submitted to a journal is accepted for publication. There is NO RIGHT TO BE PUBLISHED by a journal even if your idea is new & very valuable. Journals have absolute discretion re publication and are constrained by limited publication space for each issue. • Uncertain that your article will even be considered by the scientific community. If journals is poorly rated (e.g. published in a language different from English) it is unlikely that your journal will be considered by scientific community. • Highly non-uniform standards of review (standards of review vary a lot from journal to journal) D. Bias and unfairness • Disadvantaged and less-influential innovators & scientists have significantly harder time publishing in good journals than influential professionals. An article submitted by an independent innovator (e.g. individual not associated with a prestigious institution or not having the proper educational background) is almost certain to be rejected. Journals can refuse an article even if the ideas in the article are new and very good for reasons such as: “we have a publication limit and other articles are more interesting”; “the public is not interested in this topic”; or “the topic is outside the scope of the journal”. • Scientists & innovators employed by prestigious institutions have significantly “quicker & easier access” to publishing in prestigious journals than less-influential innovators. • Quicker access to publishing in journals  more likely to secure priority and credit (e.g. it takes much longer to publish if you are not associated with a prestigious institution) • Influential professional have easier access to publishing in good journals   publishing in a better journal   more likely to be given credit by the medical community for your achievements. Notes: There is a very large number of journals in more than 100 countries and languages (highly non-uniform examination and publication standards). Wide difference between the impact of the journals (from prestigious to obscure). Publication in an obscure journal likely to result in your article being ignored (as if you did not publish). III. Advantages of using the “Academic Priorities Services” in addition to publishing in traditional journals:    Academic-Priority-Services are specifically designed to solve the above mentioned issues and short-comings associated with publishing in journals. The system of services provide a better, easier and more fair way of securing priority, credit and recognition than journals. Easy to secure priority: • Innovators can secure priority within minutes from coming up with the ideas, making the discoveries, or performing new medical procedures by uploading evidence, such as voice & video recordings, on the personal-priority-account.  • You can secure & assert priority within hours from conception by publishing formal-priority-claims (no matter who you are, where are you from and without needing help and approval from anyone). This provides peace of mind to the innovator (innovator is not afraid that a competitor will be quicker to publish the ideas & discoveries). Other advantages of the Academic Priority Services: 1. The priority-certificates include on their face, and by their name, a FORMAL STATEMENTS OF PRIORITY & NOVELTY as show by the sample priority certificate.  2. The scientific-firsts achieved are clearly & specifically identified via formal-priority-claims (similar to the ones of invention patents). The specific novel features are separated from the multitude of other information such as experimental results, background description etc. 3. The priority-certificate specifies the contribution of each participant to the scientific-first. 4. Professional prior art searches have been conducted over a broad array of databases from all over the world.  5. The specific priority-claims are rigorously examined by expert examiners with the specific purpose of finding whether the claimants are indeed the first to perform the claimed medical procedure. The examination includes considering of: the results of the prior art searches, the comments submitted by the public over at least one year, and the competing priority claims of other innovators. 6. Priority-certificates convey a stronger message to the public & scientific community about the claimants than journal articles convey about their authors. The rigorous examination ensures (with a high degree of certainty!!) that the claimants deserve credit for the scientific firsts recited by the claims. 7. Independent & neutral arbitrator legally bound to fairly and diligently determine priority. 8. Uniform treatment of all applications irrespective of the background and association of the applicants (applications may be examined under “anonymous name”). Equal opportunity for all applicants - levels the field and removes the disadvantage that less-influential innovators & scientists have in receiving credit for their ideas & discoveries.      9. Centralized listing of all priority achievements in a certain field (e.g. Biology, Astronomy, Economics, Cardiology) where medical professionals can see all the new ideas & discoveries are listed according to scientific field and creation date. See Register of Priority Achievements). The new ideas & discoveries being specified clearly and succinctly via priority-claims  (unlike journal articles where the new ideas are often buried among a wealth of data and ancillary information). 10. Innovators & scientists are LEGALLY ENTITLED to receive a priority-certificate similar to the way US citizens are ENTITLED BY LAW to receive a patent if their application satisfies all the prerequisites. There are no publication limits and a priority-certificate can not be denied just because the examiner thinks that the public is not interesting in that topic. In contrast, journal editors refuse many articles for reasons such as: “we have a publication limit and other articles are more interesting”; “the public is not interested in this topic”; or “the topic is outside the scope of the journal”.  11. Securing an easily verifiable and lasting legacy - by pointing out to his 5 priority-certificates recorded on the Register a scientist can convincingly support his assertion that he deserves credit and recognition for the 5 scientific-firsts recited by the 5 certificates (see Legacy Page). No further explanations and no additional evidence are necessary.  12. RATING OF NEW IDEAS & DISCOVERIES - journals do not perform “rating” of their articles (your article is one of the best in the field but is treated as “one of the many”). The claims of the priority-certificates enable the clear identification and rating of the specific novel new ideas and discoveries. 13. RANKING OF NEW IDEAS & SCIENTIFIC FIRSTS - The priority-certificates register enables finding and ranking of the most important ideas, discoveries, and professional achievements (see Ranking Webpage). Dr. Smith has received 5 priority-certificates   Dr. Smith has achieved 5 medical-firsts Dr. Smith has published 150 articles    ?? medical-firsts (may be 0 … may be 5 … may be 20) Pages 440-445 in the Oxford published article (Priority certificates: proposal for non-intrusive forms of IP, by Comanescu & Hyndman) explain in detail the advantages of using priority-certificates over journal publication. Please see sections: 1. “Tools to enable scientists and innovators to secure recognition for discoveries and ideas” (pg. 440-442) 2. “How priority certificates help scientists and innovators secure credit for their ideas and discoveries” (pg. 442-443) 3. “The superiority of priority certificates over journal articles in securing priority” (pg. 443-445) An extensive analysis of the advantages of using academic-priority-services in comparison to using journal publication only is currently prepared in the following draft article: Advantages of using the “academic-priority-services” over publishing in traditional journals (only a raw draft - hope to complete the article shortly)