Attention Lead Authors

Lead authors,

Please, when your article gets published in a major journal, don't plan any out of town trips the day of, the day after, or even a few days after. I need to interview you on camera! My print colleagues can always call you on your cell phone to get a comment, but it doesn't work that way for TV. And no, I can't wait until you get back. The story loses its timeliness.

I realize you don't always know when your work will be published. If it catches you off guard, please have your assistants or secondary authors ready to handle media interviews.

And I will have to say that you were unavailable for comment if you aren't available for comment. Otherwise it looks like I didn't try to get an interview with you, which would make me look like I hadn't adequately performed my journalistic duties, or like I tried to bypass you all together.

I understand it's hard to understand the media and their needs. If you want you and your work to look good, work with us, not against us.