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Jia Shen is a Chinese researcher in Los Angeles, who is currently helping F1000Research to reach out to the Chinese research community. Among other things, she has translated various materials for us, and you can see some of her translation work if you access the F1000Research homepage from China. In the interview below, Jia shares a bit more about her work in the lab and with F1000.

Where do you work, and what are you working on?

I am a postdoctoral researcher at the UCLA School of Dentistry under the PI Dr. Kang Ting, a professor and the Chair of Orthodontics. Most of my current work revolves around the translational application and mechanisms of an osteogenic growth factor NELL-1, with the intention of preventing osteoporosis.

How did you find out about F1000?

I first heard about F1000 through an email from the UCLA postdoctoral association promoting one month free access to F1000Prime. In the email I saw that F1000 had the ability to send subscribers publications recommended from world-famous researchers in the field of their choosing. This feature, along with being a publication service, drove me to find out more about the company.

How did you become involved with F1000?

After attending an F1000Prime webinar, my curiosity was sparked. I delved deeper and asked more questions about the program and its different features. My inquisitiveness paid dividends as I was invited to become an F1000 Specialist. Working with Cesar Berrios-Otero, the Outreach Director for F1000Research in the Americas, I even organized an F1000 talk on the UCLA campus which led to UCLA subscribing to F1000Prime.

My current project is working to introduce F1000 to more Chinese researchers such that they can take advance of the F1000 services as well and foster an even greater academic community.

What are some of the challenges of doing outreach in China, especially for F1000Research?

One of the main challenges when it comes to spreading the word about F1000Research is that we’re dealing with a whole other frontier of social media. China has its own versions of Google, Facebook, Twitter, etc. that we have to learn how to properly use. We have to set up a different system to communicate with our fellow researchers there than what we have in the Western world.

There’s also the fact that Chinese researchers are climbing the world ladder, and so they can be very competitive. F1000Research is based on reducing competition and having open data. It’s also a relatively new platform, which means it’ll take time to develop a high impact factor. This makes it tricky for Chinese researchers to accept.

Meanwhile, there are so many students in China who will have to publish research papers in order to graduate. For them, speed is an important factor. F1000Research can fulfill this requirement in a few days or less, while a traditional journal can take months or even a year. Not only that, but F1000Research can offer open, dynamic, user-friendly feedback, which is great for first time authors who might be intimidated by the traditional peer review system.