Abstract
Dean Ho, Ph.D. JALA Editor-in-Chief
There's more to being a JALA author than selfless altruism. Many of us who work in academic environments are more than motivated by the well worn motto “publish or perish.” Many others, however, are not. Many lab automation professionals who work in commercial or government laboratories don't have such an obvious on-the-job incentive to share their work with the community. Fortunately, this does not stop them. In 2008, JALA published the work of 191 different authors, and for this, JALA is grateful.
So, too, should the employers of these authors be grateful. Not only do their achievements break new ground that furthers the goals of their laboratories, publishing achievements in JALA highlights the contributions that you and your organization are making toward forging new breakthroughs in laboratory automation. This reflected glory can be summarized in five bulleted points and should be pointed out with enthusiasm during annual performance reviews.
Publishing your achievements in JALA:
Increases and enhances your employer's competitive profile, and establishes your employer as a successful and innovative industry leader.
Suggests good corporate citizenship, and a commitment to the advancement of the scientific community as a whole.
Demonstrates employee pride in your employer and your employer's work.
Illustrates your employer's commitment to continuing education and professional development.
Attracts energetic new talent and renews interest among new and existing customers.
Keep in mind that in addition to the print copies that ALA members and other subscribers receive in the mail, JALA manuscript abstracts are accessed by thousands of online users via a growing collection of research databases, including Analytical Abstracts, Chemical Abstracts (CAS+), CINAHL, Compendex, EMBASE/Excerpta Medica, Google Scholar, Inspec, Proquest CSA Technology Research Database, SciFinder, Scirus, and Scopus. Plus, JALA Online and Elsevier ScienceDirect publish abstracts along with full text versions of all JALA manuscripts.
I encourage you to do yourself and your employer a favor. First, take personal satisfaction in becoming an active and contributing member of the lab automation community by authoring a scientific manuscript for JALA. Then, make sure your employer knows how much value your company is enjoying as a result of your above-and-beyond authoring efforts.
Sincerely,
