Q: How do I write a short commentary/mini-review for my accepted manuscript?
My manuscript has been accepted, and I have received the following message: "It would be great if you could write [a] Short Commentary/Mini-Review based on [the] above article." What am I required to do by this message and how do I proceed with it in a concrete manner?
Firstly, congrats on your paper being accepted! So, it appears that the journal editor wants you to prepare the short commentary or mini-review to talk about or promote your paper once it is published. This should be a fairly easy task, given that you have prepared the article and have in-depth knowledge of the topic.
Now, a commentary is usually invited by the journal editor, and is typically a comment on a newly published article (often someone else’s). A mini-review provides a brief overview of recent advances in the specified subject area. However, some journals combine these into a single category, i.e., “mini-review commentary,” while others use the two terms interchangeably. From your question, it looks like a single category, wherein you should present a balanced view of recent work on the topic your article deals with.
Without seeing the paper or knowing the name of the journal, it might be difficult for us to provide an exact outline of how to proceed. All the same, you should first check if the target journal has any formatting requirements for a short commentary/mini-review (e.g., general structure and word count). If no such guidelines are available, a rough outline would include a simple and short title with the main message, a note on the key issues or core concepts (rather than simply summarizing the article), and a description focusing on your perspective or opinions (with original data not needing to be presented). Also, be sure to include only important citations. Finally, the structure and flow would depend on the content and context of your article.
You may learn more about commentary pieces here: A guide to perspective, commentary, and opinion articles
Also, as this is in the area of research communication or promotion, you may find these resources useful:
Hope that helps! All the best for the piece – and for communicating your research!
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