godfather of surgery

In fact, Maninstein didn't like the British Isles. He always felt that the weather here was rainy and humid, and the people here were hypocritical and mean.

Compared with this small island, the weather in Germany seems brighter and fresher, and the German people are more sincere and generous.

If it weren't for those articles, Maninstein wouldn't be willing to come to such a terrible place.

In the past few days, Maninstein has refreshed his e-mail many times every day. "Nature" and "Cell" have not pushed the paper for a long time. Maybe the editor has blocked it, or maybe it has been pushed to other people.

It was inconvenient to communicate on the phone or via e-mail, so Maninstein decided to do it in person.

Because of the particularity of the review system of Nature, Maninstein decided to come to London first and then to North America.

People have always believed that "nature", one of the three major journals, has a strict review system. This is just a one-sided conjecture. In fact, the review system pursued by "nature" is very "man-governed". Compared with other journals, it even makes people feel Very unstructured and casual.

In "Nature", whether an article is published or not is entirely determined by the subjective judgment of the editor-in-chief or editor.

Other top journals have strict editorial boards and a strict editorial board discussion system. In Nature, such an organization and system do not exist.

Other top journals have professional peer review, and the opinions of expert reviews are often decisive.

But "Nature" is different. Its peer expert review is outsourced, and the expert opinions are only used for reference and have no decisive effect.

Papers that experts strongly recommend for publication are immediately blocked by them, while papers that experts think cannot be published are published immediately. This kind of thing is common in Nature.

However, "nature" relied on this weird and highly personalized review system to become one of the three top journals, and it is also the oldest.

In the history of Nature, there was once a very excellent editor-in-chief, Maddox, who pushed many excellent articles based on his personal subjective judgment.

In the 60s, astronomer Hoyle contributed several articles to Nature. These articles specifically discussed the functions of prehistoric Stonehenge and the nature of the universe. At that time, many scholars believed that these views were very unreliable and completely bizarre conjectures. However, Editor-in-chief Maddox found it very interesting and published it directly.

In 1977, it was this astronomer who submitted a paper to "Nature". This paper put forward a strange idea - "Life on Earth originated from interstellar bacteria." Maddox, a maverick, commented on this article. Again, the manuscript was published directly without review. The reason was very personal - "The review experts cannot effectively determine whether this hypothesis is reasonable!"

The implication is that only he, Maddox, is qualified to judge whether this hypothesis is reasonable.

There is also the archaeologist Leakey. In 1971, he submitted an article to "Human Origins in Africa". Later, the expert felt that the evidence was insufficient and asked to withdraw the article and wait until sufficient evidence was collected before publishing it. Editor-in-chief Maddock Si urged Leakey not to withdraw the manuscript and publish it directly.

The so-called non-review does not mean that the editor or editor does not read the manuscript, but that the manuscript is not reviewed by experts other than the editor, and does not need to go through strict editorial board discussions. Whether the manuscript is published is entirely decided by the editor, so as to highlight the "nature" 》Complete independence.

Going back further, in 1953, Watson and Crick's famous paper - "The Structure of Deoxyribonucleic Acid" proposed the world-famous DNA double helix model. At that time, it was just a hypothesis. What is unexpected is that , for this article, the editor-in-chief at the time, Bramble, slapped his head and published it directly without reviewing the manuscript. It only took 23 days from submission to publication. Bramble believed that this hypothesis would not be recognized by any peer experts. So publishing directly is the best option.

Due to this special review system, Yang Ping's paper can be slapped on the head by the editor of "Nature" and published immediately, or it can be directly rejected by the editor.

So Maninstein had better get to London and meet with his editors before they slap him on the head.

The headquarters of "Nature" is located by the Thames River in London. Maninstein did not have time to stroll along the river. He walked into the glass door of the "Nature" headquarters and walked directly to the office of Dr. Jeff, the editor-in-chief.

At this time, Dr. Jeff was drinking coffee and listening to music. The door was open because Jeff knew that Maninstein was coming today.

Jeff saw Maninstein coming from a distance. He immediately went out to greet him, caught Maninstein's old leather briefcase, and welcomed Maninstein into his office.

"Dear Professor Maninstein, I was about to go downstairs to greet you, but you arrived half an hour early."

Indeed, Jeff had planned to go downstairs to greet him, but he did not expect that Maninstein would arrive early, which was not in line with the German personality.

Germans have always been very punctual, but in order to solve the problem faster, Maninstein did not care about punctuality and arrived as early as possible.

"Have you seen the four papers recently submitted by this Chinese name?"

Maninstein sat down and without any extra words, handed Jeff a card directly with the Chinese pinyin of the Chinese name and the English name of Sanbo Hospital in Nandu, China.

Without any greetings, a card was directly thrown over. Jeff was a little uncomfortable with Maninstein's sudden move. His first reaction was that he had made some mistake and provoked Maninstein.

If this is the case, things will be more troublesome. No one in the academic circle wants to mess with Maninstein, because no one wants to be regarded as a "bastard" by the world.

"I'm sorry, I haven't seen it. I have to ask other editors if they have seen it."

Jeff read the card carefully and was so frightened that he immediately picked up the phone and asked his assistant to ask about it. He told the assistant to ask every editor, including those who were on vacation.

No matter what the master’s purpose is, his attitude must be good.

After finishing the work, Jeff brought Maninstein a cup of hand-ground coffee: "Drink a cup of hot coffee first, go to remove the moisture, sit down and wait for the results."

Maninstein tasted the coffee without saying a word, quietly waiting for the result of the inquiry.

Jeff observed Maninstein's facial expression, hoping to gain some inspiration.

Could it be that I came to London just to inquire about these articles? This kind of thing can be inquired on the phone or by email. There is no need to come to London in person to inquire in person.

Things must not be that simple, let’s talk while watching.

Maninstein didn't speak, and Jeff didn't speak either. The atmosphere was very awkward.

The British man was still very efficient. The two of them drank silent coffee awkwardly. About half an hour later, the office phone rang.

Jeff grabbed the phone, listened to the assistant's report, and then gently put down the phone:

"Professor Maninstein, you are right. There is a Chinese name like this. Four articles were submitted. The submitting unit is called Sanbo Hospital of Nandu Province, China."

"That's him!" Maninstein nodded.Just like the detective who has been tracking for a long time finally found the suspect's residence, he was overjoyed.

"What can I do?"

Jeff asked cautiously.

Maninstein put down his cup and said calmly: "Tell me about the current situation of these articles?"

Before Jeff understood Maninstein's true purpose, he had no choice but to explain the entire process truthfully and objectively:

"Unfortunately, our editor just said that he can't understand these articles at all. These articles are filled with a lot of new terms and concepts that have never appeared in previous academic journals or books. This makes it impossible for the editor to understand whether this paper has real content or is a sensational nonsense, and the article is not necessarily very interesting. It seems obscure and difficult to understand because of the new terms. Therefore, my editor’s opinion is - this is This is an obscure new genre science fiction work. It is recommended to submit it to science fiction magazines."

"You mean - all four articles have been blocked by you?" Maninstein asked.

Jeff nodded: "Yes, it can be summed up in one sentence - 4 articles have been directly blocked. Of course, the rejection letter to the author has not been sent yet because the editor responsible for these papers has been unwell these days. I ate the wrong things, suffered from diarrhea all the time, even had to hold on to the wall when walking, and was delayed in replying to the rejection letter.”

"As you know, our review system is unique. There is no editorial board or peer review. Whether a paper is published or not is entirely decided by our editors with their brains. This is a tradition that we are proud of."

Jeff continued to explain, looking rather troubled.

Maninstein breathed a sigh of relief: "Dr. Jeff, you have to thank this colleague who supported the wall. If he hadn't eaten the wrong thing, you would have missed the opportunity to become the most outstanding editor-in-chief in the history of "Nature". Bring them all and show them to me.”

Jeff felt confused, but he could only follow the instructions, turn on the computer, call up the article, and turn the computer screen to Maninstein.

Perhaps in a flash of lightning in his brain, Jeff realized something.

"No, I'm sorry, sir, I haven't read these articles yet. I'm the editor-in-chief, so I'll read them first. Do you have any objections?" Jeff turned the computer screen back again.

Maninstein picked up the coffee: "In historical moments, it is very important who comes first and who comes last. You understand history."

"Thank you, Professor Maninstein, for taking the trouble to come to London in the wet fog. Something big must be happening."

Jeff smiled slyly, and the confusion in his heart was finally lifted. Jeff had a pretty good guess as to the purpose of Maninstein's trip, but he was still not sure.

The editor-in-chief read slowly and carefully, word for word, while Maninstein was not in a hurry and waited quietly.

"The most important concept in the paper - microscopic anatomy, depicting the anatomy of the human body, organs or tissues from the perspective of living cells and the connections between cells. This seems very interesting, but the experiments surrounding this theme are a bit inexplicable. In the subtle Based on anatomy, living digital cells are used to build a new generation of digital people. Moreover, they claim to have successfully used the above method to build a digital muscle. They also said that in the future, they will develop a biological 3D printer based on fine anatomy and use biological 3D printing technology. Organs that print out the subtle anatomy--" Jeff commented in a cadence of pure London English.

"Do you understand? Or give me some specific advice." Maninstein said slowly.

Jeff waved his hand: "No, it's not time for me to draw a conclusion yet. Professor Maninstein, what's your opinion?"

"I want to ask you what you think of these papers? Or your conclusions?" Maninstein asked again.

Jeff moved his eyes away from the computer and stared at Maninstein. To be honest, Jeff didn't understand the papers very well, but he had a vague feeling that these papers would open up an era, and he needed a circumstantial evidence.

Whether to become Maddox and Bramble, or to become a joke in the academic world, Jeff had to remain cautious in a matter of seconds.

"I mean - friend, what I'm thinking right now is what you're thinking. You know, we thought of it together, yes, that's what I mean." Jeff smiled slyly.

Well, Brits, you win.

Maninstein didn't have time to go around in circles with this cunning guy, and said directly: "The fine anatomy discussed in these four papers will open a new era in the field. I can be a recommender and hope to publish it in your journal at once. The fastest way, and it’s best to give it a cover, so it’s important enough.”

"Are you sure?" Jeff asked.

Maninstein nodded: "Very sure! We have an idea."

Dr. Jeff immediately straightened up and said loudly in a serious tone: "I have just read these four papers and find them very interesting. The core topics in them will open a new era. In view of the fact that peer experts may not be able to understand the contents of the papers. , so I, the current editor-in-chief of "Nature", Dr. Jeff, decided to publish it directly in one go, just in the latest issue, and give it a cover position."

Maninstein gave a thumbs up: "What an outstanding guy!"

After Dr. Jeff announced his decision, he lowered his voice and came over: "Sir, as friends, personal relationships are one thing, but academic seriousness is another. There are some things I must clarify with you. These four papers are related to It has nothing to do with you, it has nothing to do with you, this is my own business."

"First of all, I read the paper first, and I made all decisions independently. This is a fact that cannot be tampered with. Secondly, you came to drink coffee today and did not give me any academic advice. Finally, I just didn't I asked you for your opinion on the paper, but you didn’t answer. As for the recommender, that’s none of my business. I make my own decision. I am the recommender, and I am solely responsible for everything.”

"Academics and history are very, very serious matters. I hope you can understand this. You must not let selfishness blind your eyes and say something that undermines academic rigor and historical truth."

After finishing speaking, the British man smiled slyly.

"Okay, I didn't say anything. History will remember that this is your own business and has nothing to do with me. I know this." Maninstein raised his coffee.

"A noble person always stands by his words." The British man also picked up the cup.

"I promise!"

Maninstein said nonchalantly that he had no interest in anything Jeff cared about, and as long as Yang Ping's paper could be published, everyone would be happy.

"Thank you, and cheers to friendship!"

"Cheers to friendship!"

Two cups clink together.

This moment belongs in history, or so Jeff thinks.