Just Hit Submit—Perspectives and Advice From L&O Letters Early Career Publication Honor Awardees

The Limnology & Oceanography (L&O) Letters Early Career Publication Honor (ECPH) was created by the Raelyn Cole Editorial (RCE) Fellows, supported by the Association for the Sciences of Limnology and Oceanography (ASLO) and its publishing partner John Wiley & Sons, to amplify underrepresented voices in aquatic sciences (Dextro 2023). Its goal is to support the publication of an Open Access article by selected early career researchers (ECRs). To that effect, the program provides honorees with pre-submission editorial support (i.e., a friendly review), a waiver to the Article Processing Charge for manuscripts accepted for publication, and postpublication social media promotion (https://www.aslo.org/aslo-publications/loletters-early-career-publication-honor). We are twelve of the ECRs offered the 2022 ECPH and here we share our perspectives and advice on this program (Fig. 1), hoping it will encourage and help other ECRs in applying for this honor. Coming from a multitude of geographical backgrounds, career stages, and scientific fields (Fig. 2), we hope our highly beneficial experience is shared by future applicants. We strongly recommend the ECPH!

The process of applying for the ECPH was straightforward, and led us to better understand the significance of our work. For the 2022 call, we were asked to provide: (1) a Scientific Significance Statement, (2) an explanation of how our study expanded the existing knowledge of aquatic ecosystems, and (3) a description of our work's current progress status (how ready our manuscripts were). We also (4) specified our article type (letter, current evidence, or essay), (5) confirmed we could fulfill the data/metadata publication requirement, and (6) demonstrated the need for financial support for publication. There were also optional questions about our background (e.g., affiliation with an institution in the Global South). The application process was relatively easy and worth the potential reward. No letters of recommendation or extensive essays were required, removing significant time-consuming steps. You should be able to apply even if you come across the call only a day or two before its due date, so go for it!

As ECRs, our confidence can easily be undermined by the doubts of others and ourselves. A common sentiment voiced among us was a lack of belief in our work's merit, often stemming from self-criticism or doubt expressed by academic advisory figures. Developing a Scientific Significance Statement is the perfect task to recognize your growing expertise and judge the importance of your work. Overall, applying for the ECPH was an excellent exercise in trusting our research's validity and our capabilities as scientists.

Believe in yourself and your work. Calling all ECRs: apply! If you know anyone who could benefit from this opportunity, please tell them about it. While some of us learned about the ECPH through social media or ASLO membership emails, many of us were forwarded the call by our collaborators, advisors, and mentors (thank you!).