Journal of Histotechnology is actively promoting education on how to write manuscripts

Abstract

Education about all aspects of histotechnology includes teaching histotechnicians on how to prepare a manuscript for the Journal of Histotechnology. Promoting the journal and encouraging histotechnicians and others on how to write a paper for the Journal of Histotechnology (JOH) has become a recent ongoing project. However, simply writing a paper can be daunting for many particularly if they have never prepared a manuscript before. Several members of the JOH Editorial Board have undertaken the task to teach people about how publication in our journal can be done. This begins with Dr. Sheila Criswell, an experienced author (and histotechnologist) of several JOH publications, who graciously volunteered to present ‘How to Write a Scientific Paper for Publication’ at the 2021 National Society for Histotechnology Symposium/Convention. This is a recorded video presentation which should be available at NSH.org if people cannot attend the S/C. JOH has Instructions for Authors, but these can often be confusing to newcomers and/or even previous authors involved with writing a manuscript. Hence, a presentation in a lecture format should provide a better explanation of how to write a manuscript and is very welcome. Please note that Dr. Criswell and her histotechnology student have a well written publication in this issue titled ‘Hidradentitis suppurativa lesions are associated with decreased collagen, decreased elastin and increased neovascularization,’ and is a fine example of what she will be teaching in her S/C presentation. Further undertakings on various aspects of what is needed in a manuscript will be forthcoming. Dr. Luis Chiriboga is preparing a blog series on performing a literature search. All authors need cited publications to back up or even refute their work. Using a literature search is not confined to authors for their papers, but also to histotechnicians seeking practical information useful in their everyday laboratory work. Topics in JOH are not limited to bench work but so much more as suggested in areas found in the JOH Aims and Scope found on the journal webpage: https://www.tandfonline.com/toc/ yhis20/current. More presentations and/or blogs are being planned including what is expected in performing a peer review of a manuscript and another on creating tables, and figures with photo images and graphs. Another topic could be how to convert a S/C poster presentation to a manuscript – after all the work is done and merely needs to be expanded into a manuscript. Questions are always welcome if someone is not clear about manuscript writing. The articles in this issue deal with a variety of topics in areas of the Aim and Scope of this journal. We are all interested in environmental impacts of toxic chemicals even from other parts of the world. The paper by Mishra and coworkers discusses histological alterations in a fish species from India that are affected by such pollution. Amiri and colleagues present a histological study on the use of topical insulin and an antibiotic on wound healing. Another basic research paper on using a natural product, grape seed proanthocyanidins improving depression-like behavior by alleviating oxidative stress on offspring rats that could be used a therapeutic agent for adolescent depression. The Zhang group wrote a comprehensive, welldesigned paper on development an osteoarthritis animal model using many methods including animal surgery, tissue and cell cultures, H&E, Masson’s trichrome, safranin O/fast green, enzyme histochemical and immunofluorescence staining, Micro CT scanning, and two molecular methods. The photo figures in this paper are excellent outstanding. In terms of an example of ‘how to write’ a paper, this one is an excellent example since it contains a wealth of methods some of which are seen in everyday laboratory work using decalcified bone specimens. Please remember, publications in JOH are educational and to those interested in the particular topic. There is always an invitation for NSH members and non-members to write a paper for JOH and share their work from clinical or research laboratories to educate others. Technical Notes are particularly popular since these are often the practical innovations or modifications of a histotechnique.