the truth about journal submission?

H

======= Date Modified 30 Mar 2011 13:39:36 =======
Hi everyone...

I just would like to ask anyone who has the experience of submitting papers to journals:

Is it true that if the journal editor/ reviewer takes a long time (longer than the normal duration) to reply whether the paper sent is accepted or not, it means that there is a high possibility that the paper will be rejected? Or is this only a myth? Usually how long does it take for them to reply?

Thanks

Avatar for sneaks

In my experience, when its rejected, its quick e.g. a day or so. I've sent articles off - just for feedback - which have been rejected VERY quickly (I had no expectation they would get in though!)

I've currently got a paper in with a 4* journal that's been with reviewers for 7 weeks - I'm taking that as a good sign because it means they didn't just read it once and think "oh god this is awful"

W

Generally, what I've found is that if a paper is likely to be accepted by a journal (with/without corrections), it can take a lot longer than advertised for you to hear about it. I have a paper at the moment, and it's taking ages because I have to wait for them to find 2 peer reviewers and then for these reviewers to actually provide feedback.

B

I've had papers accepted. I think the wait-forever-equals-rejection is a myth.

Though I hope not. I've had a paper with reviewers/editors for 7 months (!). This is a journal that advertises its usual review time is 3 months. I emailed the editors to check its status this week. They are going to decide by the end of the week ... :$

Avatar for sneaks

I had one paper accepted - it was my MSc dissertation - I waited 4 months, and then emailed, and then they obviously hadn't been arsed to send it to anyone, because they then said it would be a few more months :-s eventually I got an R&R :-) and its now out there for the world (i.e. 2 people) to read!

no citations on google scholar yet though :-(

Avatar for sneaks

omg - I just checked my online thingy with the article currently in. Bear in mind I check this online submission thing about 3 times a day - for the last 7 weeks. I even checked it this morning and now it says

"Reviews Received - Awaiting Decision"

EEEK! :$

R

eeeks, you just prompted me to check mine in the online system and it says required reviews completed. Fingers crossed Sneaks!

W

Well, I just checked mine on the off-chance that it might have been reviewed by now...nope. Meh.

B

Wow I envy you lot with whizzy online systems you can check to see the status.

I'm a historian, and although this is a very high impact journal I've aimed for, it's still a case of emailing the people and asking about status. No whizzy computer systems.

And even that only works if they reply to your email. I first asked a month ago. No reply. Then I emailed again yesterday.

Avatar for sneaks

I suddenly don't actually want it back. I really hope its not a rejection :-( I suppose the reviewers comments will come just in time for me to adapt the relevant chapter in my thesis though (up)

B

I'm with you Sneaks. I'm expecting a decision in the next couple of days (by end of this week the editor said). It's rather put me off checking my email to be honest!

K

Hey huhu- I agree with the others, I don't think the time it takes means anything other than whether you have got a couple of snappy reviewers or a couple of last-minute ones. In my experience I have waited between 6 weeks and about 3-4 months for reviewer comments, which isn't too bad compared to what others seem to have waited. There are some journals that are just slower than others full stop, but you can always email the editor (or editorial assistant) if you want to check on the progress of your submission and you can't do it online. I recently re-submitted a paper and usually after a resubmission the decision is fairly quick- anyway after about 7 or 8 weeks I emailed the editor and he emailed back to say he had a big grant deadline coming up and that was why the response was slow, but after emailing I got a response the next day saying that it had been accepted. So I wouldn't attach too much importance to how long you're having to wait! Best, KB

Avatar for sneaks

I'm actually getting quite annoyed with the journal now - I know I checked it pretty much at the end of yesterday, and its only just gone 9am, but surely they should have stayed up all night to get me my decision ??? :-s :$

I hope I get it today - its bound to be another 2 weeks or something though

:-s

S

:$

C

Dear all

I have questions about journal submission. I don't have any experience on journal publication and I hope to get some help from here.

I would like to submit my MSc dissertation to a publication (Music Perception & Psychoacoustic), however both of the publishing houses that I'm interested to submit are in Canada and America. Both requires soft and hard copy.

I'm currently in UK and it's quite expensive for me to send hard copies to these countries, I already spend most of my money on Phd.
My current PhD supervisor doesn't seem to be helpful to give me guidance how to do this, the main reason is because my MSc project is different from my current PhD topic, and also he doesn't want me to spend time on other things except his or my current research. He's quite a controlled freak as I shouldn't do anything else other than my current research.

Anyway, I did well for my MSc research so I really hope to get it publish, but I'm so sure how to start.
I can't afford these two journal publishers, and I have yet to find one that is in England.

Can someone give me some guides how should I do this please.

Any advice is appreciated.

Thanks

17882