GENERAL OBSERVATIONS: ON PUBLICATION 643 



ON PUBLICATION 



The object of publication is to let other persons know what 

 we have discovered. We cannot reach everyone, nor is that the 

 aim, but we should be able to reach those cultivating the same 

 field. The choice of a place for publication is, therefore, not 

 unimportant. Generally we should choose some journal de- 

 voted to our specialty or, at least, concerned with kindred topics, 

 some publication in which one would naturally look for papers 

 on plant pathology. Journals are better than Transactions 

 because they are issued more regularly and frequently, and are 

 read more widely. Among journals select that recognized as 

 a leading journal. If you print in a Transactions or in a Report 

 be careful to select one that is published on time, not a year or 

 two after going to press. Remember: printing is not publica- 

 tion, but distribution by sale or otherwise is. By no means bury 

 your contribution in a newspaper or other ephemeral sheet, 

 nor publish it in a journal, or Transactions, that seldom prints 

 pathological papers, lest it should be overlooked and perish 

 still-born! Do not print it in the middle of some other man's 

 paper, nor in the middle of one of your own papers devoted to 

 some other subject. I am referring to actual cases! Print your 

 paper, don't send it out mimeographed. Yet such copies are 

 better than none. Finally, always secure and distribute several 

 hundred separates, so that no one will have an excuse for neglect- 

 ing it. In this distribution include all the leading journals and 

 workers both at home and abroad. This is the more essential, 

 in many cases, because certain journals have only a limited 

 circulation outside of their own country, whereas science is in- 

 ternational. Pathological problems also are international. I 

 approve of patriotism, but that sort which has no international 

 outlook is a narrow and vicious kind, fit only for barbarians. 



ON CLEARNESS IN PRESENTATION 



Having selected a place for publication, the serious question 

 arises how best to present the subject matter. This is compara- 

 tively easy only when the subject is a simple one and the contri- 



