Every researcher has exasperating stories of the glacial pace of research publication.\u00a0 But as a former research journal editor of 17 years, I know that researchers’ ideas on what constitutes \u201cglacial\u201d varies enormously. I’ve received \u201churry up\u201d letters from authors a week or so after submission, and have often played a game with other editors about the record number of review requests that have needed to be sent out before the required number of usable reviews were returned. Mine was 16.<\/p>\n
While every researcher wants their paper peer-reviewed expeditiously by the best people, the noblesse oblige\u00a0 to reciprocate reviewing to others is often sadly lacking. Unresponsive and delayed reviewing, and less commonly, tardy revisions from authors are two factors over which editors have little control.\u00a0 If peer reviewed publications are to continue as a core academic currency, universities and research institutes should require their research staff to show evidence of at least as much reviewing as papers published. This data should be audited and published.<\/p>\n
But in my experience, by far the biggest delay factor in publication times is the limitations imposed by the old model of paper-based publication, where publishers give editors a set number of issues and pages to fill each year, and publishing backlogs begin to form despite the best efforts of editors to match their rejection rate with the space available.<\/p>\n
All these problems have combined to see many journals now offer on-line publication shortly after acceptance. It is not uncommon today to see subscriber or pay-per-view journals with vast numbers of \u201con-line first\u201d publications available. One journal I know which publishes about 75 original articles a year in its paper edition, is currently showing a paper-edition backlog of nearly 130 on-line first papers, the most recent of which will not be published \u201cproperly\u201d in print for nearly two years.<\/p>\n
This is fast becoming a farcical situation. In my field, it has been a long time since I first read research in a paper journal or walked into a library to browse new paper copies of serials. To read a paper first in a printed journal would mean that I was up to two years out of date reading material that was first published on-line.\u00a0 Why do publishers and (surely) a diminishing number of readers persist with the fiction that \u201creal\u201d publication means final publication in the paper version of a journal? Paper journals are fast becoming a kind of belated souvenir of on-line publishing that often happens many months or even years earlier.<\/p>\n
If research matters, then we’d all assume that the importance of its findings ought to be somehow aligned with mechanisms to get those findings into the public domain as fast as possible after peer review.<\/p>\n
In 2010, I submitted a co-authored paper on the research dissemination behaviours of a peer-voted list of 36 of Australia’s top public health researchers in six fields. I chose the American Journal of Public Health, considered one of the leading journals in that field. I’d published seven papers with them before which have had 794 combined citations. I’ve thought of it as a journal where I send some of my best work. Below is a time-line of the saga of trying to get that paper published, first in the American Journal of Public Health, and then in the Journal of Health Communication, impact factor ranked by Journal Citation Reports as 5\/72 in the Communication category.<\/p>\n
1. American Journal of Public Health
\nDec 5, 2010: Paper submitted on-line
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a018 days
\nDec 23, 2011: Electronic acknowledgement of receipt
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0148 days (4.9 months)
\nMay 15, 2011: I enquire about progress, as submission system still saying \u201cunder review\u201d
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a06 days
\nMay 21, 2011: Assigned editor apologises, saying he was not made aware of the paper’s submission until April 8, 2011 (\u201ccommunication unfortunately seemed to be obstructed\u201d)
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a016 days
\nJune 6, 2011: Editor rejects paper after review, but invites major revision
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a035 days
\n11 July, 2011: Major revision submitted, but problems seeing it in the on-line system
\n12 July, 2011: Former handling editor emailed, but explains he’s resigned, and provides name of likely new handling editor
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a010 days
\n22 July, 2011: major revision now successfully submitted on-line to AmJPH
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0103 days
\n27 July, 2011: An author in the paper receives invitation to review it!
\n11 Nov, 2011: revised paper rejected after two perfunctory reviews which stressed lack of interest for US readership because Australia is \u201cdifferent\u201d<\/p>\n
Time from first submission to final rejection: 341 days<\/p>\n
2. Journal of Health Communication<\/p>\n
15 Nov, 2011: paper submitted online to J Health Communication
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a03 months
\n15 Feb, 2012: reviews received and revision offered
\n21 May, 2012: paper accepted
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0346 days
\n2 May, 2013: Journal emailed & progress queried.\u00a0 I noted that the journal has an \u201ciFirst\u201d facility for pre-paper edition publication
\n3 May, 2013: Editor apologises about backlog and says \u201cyour paper is in the next batch to go to the publisher. You will see proofs in the next month.\u201d
\n\u2022\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0138 days
\n18 Sept, 2013: Proofs arrive
\n20 Sept, 2013: Corrected proofs returned
\nTime from first submission to proofs arrival: 673 days
\niFirst publication: anyone’s guess!!
\nPaper publication: probably long after the retirement of at least two authors.<\/p>\n
This has been by far my worst experience in a 35 year publishing career, but\u00a0 like most colleagues I’ve had many papers published many, many months after acceptance.\u00a0 This time it was a saga of on-line submission failure, staff changes, dropped balls and incomprehensible, outrageous delays. The\u00a0 differences between the original submission and the accepted version were mostly \u2013 as often happens — insubstantial matters of presentational preference (move this here, that there; reference this paper; and the profoundly na\u00efve \u201cdelete extra spaces between words\u201d.)\u00a0 The material in the paper is now nearly three years old. As authors, we are presumably meant to be happy and grateful that that our work will grace a journal.\u00a0 But the old model of paper publishing needs be euthanased fast and replaced with on-line open access publishing\u00a0 featuring open-reviewing (moderated for trolls) and smart reader-rating metrics that don’t allow author gaming.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n