Every academic's nightmare: the long wait for the referee reports

There is nothing more frustrating to an academic than the long wait that one typically experiences after submitting a paper to a journal and before a response comes back from the editors.  A new paper on this topic, discussed in Econospeak, disects the economics behind the waiting times.  As Barkley Rosser notes in is comment on the paper,

what has happened is that a bad social norm has evolved in economics where referees simply assume that they can sit on papers from economics journals for a long time and just put them aside, fearing that if they get their reports back quickly, they will simply be punished by having more papers sent to them to referee.

Over at REStat, which I co-edit, we have been using an "early reject" system to counteract this bad equilibrium. Every paper is screened by one of the four editors, and we reject a relatively high share of submissions without sending the paper to referees if the paper is, in the editor's judgement, very unlikely to make it.

When I first started using the system, I worried that I would be getting a lot of hate mail from irate authors. This has not been the case. I remember only one complaint--from an author who had two papers early-rejected--and who in fact subsequently apologized.  Instead, I have received many thank you's. 

What I think this shows is the great distress that the long waits cause. Most authors prefer an editor's quick "no" to the refereeing process, if the latter has small probability of success.  

Comments

[bersi]

I think the length of refereeing process has reached shameful proportions. I have 3 articles under review and still waiting for the first round comments. It has been 8 months since submission for the first article and 6 months for the other two.

I understand the moral hazard issues involved in the process but I still think that a good editorial team could go a long way towards solving these practices. A 3-month deadline for the referee to turn in a report is more than enough. If not, than may be blacklisting could work.

[Jeff Berens]

The “early reject” system might also increase the quantity of submissions and decrease the average quality of submissions.

The “early reject” makes submitting papers less “costly” by reducing the likelihood that your paper will sit on a referee’s desk for a long time only to be eventually rejected. Since you “[early] reject a relatively high share of submissions [deemed] very unlikely to make it,” authors who think their papers might be in this category are now more likely to submit to your journal – you’ve lowered the cost of rejection. In the old system, they might have just tried to publish somewhere with a lower reputation first.

-Loyal reader/first time commenter

[Dani Rodrik]

Jeff:

We do have a submission fee, which we take regardless of outcome.

[dug]

Dropping slow reviewers from the referee list might not be an incentive, but banning consistently late reviewers from even publishing in that journal for a period might work. Since a lot of journals are under any given publisher, some cooperation could create a new norm. Imagine being banned from every single Elsevier journal for two years.

Interminable revise-and-resubmit rounds don't help, either. Reviewers need to understand that they are not coauthors.

@bersi:
I can sympathise. I have just had a revise-and-resubmit from a journal that took over ten months to reply. One of the reviewers complained that we hadn't cited a couple of 2007 papers. Bit of an ask since we submitted in 2006. I think some reviewers just never respond.

[paine]

nice airing
of the laundry dani

[paine]

here's a test for the brave
free marketers out there
into the beauty and optimality
of
self organizing systems
what a moment

a chance to start
the economics world anew

just throw your papers onto the webo
and let the word get around ...eh ?

test the networks flatlander powers of transmission

hierarchy is for
head priests
and generalissimos

true believers
in the open market
principle
need no temples

soon enough
fishers of men
will catch the good stuff
from the good sources
and ophra it

find the top one hundred
freedonian
published guys
to test their beliefs

[robertdfeinman]

I commented on this elsewhere, so I won't repeat all my points.

In physics there are journals like Physical Review Letters which have very tight restrictions on submissions. The trade off is rapid publication.

The most important of these is a hard limit on length (three pages) and a judgment on novelty and timeliness. The editors do some preliminary screening and referees also have a turn around requirement.

I think the fear of getting too many papers to review is easily solved, all that is required is to state as policy that no one will get more than X papers in a year.

It might be useful to discuss how things work out at Physical Review (including letters) the editors have been at this for a long time and love to talk about their craft.

[Barkley Rosser]

(from an internet cafe in Ancona, Italy)

Just for the record. When I took over editing JEBO six years ago, we were receiving one submission per day, roughly, and the norm I inherited from my predecessor was to reject about 20% upfront. Now we get about 2 1/2 submissions per day, and I have raised the upfront rejection rate to about 50%. The few people who complain tend to be either very junior, probably first time submitters anywhere, or pompous big cheese assholes.

BTW, the idea of a ban on submitting to a publisher at all for a period of time is a good suggestion. That might actually work.

Ciao.

Barkley Rosser
Editor
Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization

[CalDem]

the early rejection idea is the best. using long waiting periods as a way to increase submission cost runs into the problem that often one doesn't know the perceived quality of the paper. Even papers that are received well at quality seminars and conferences can have reviewers see them very differently. and vice versa. One of the aims of the review process should be to sort papers, you can't expect authors to that well themselves.

[paine]

the deaf adders hiss
but hear not
the call of the wild

in this case
a free free market
in econ con papers
no digital gates
no enclosures
just fling it out there
let each name be its brand

on line prize committees
could replace

catch of the day
massive specialization of sites etc

merchants of the memes
themselves more like disc jockeys then
judges in robes

the antiquated buggy whip editorial peer review
needs its pants pulled down in public

what a sham

err for their own
professional advancement mechanism
is it really the case
t'is
better to stick
with a super charged
update of an esssentially
17th century invention

the scientific journal ????

[paine]

guys don't any of you want to cut out
the publishers ??

a peer review team could as easily become a prize awarding team

f the pub caps

take it all into
your own hands

[dug]

After further reflection: The idea of a long waiting time as a deterrent has yet another flaw. The existence of working paper series with good reputations means that papers can still get cited even while they are sitting in review or waiting to be revised.

Some WP series (e.g. those from central banks) go through a rigorous peer or management review process before even coming out as a working/discussion paper. But I don't think this happens in the NBER or CEPR series. So there are well-known authors whose papers never seem to come out in journals, but they get cited anyway as the NBER paper. This seems an unreasonable privilege of NBER membership. Nobody citing a paper reviews it as carefully as they would as a reviewer for a journal. So flawed papers will nonetheless get cited, if the author is well-known and/or working on a hot topic.

[paine]

dug

the hideous word

"rigorous"

is for mental
boy scouts

please for the sake
of nothing more
then your own
mind's bright weather

examin your motives
for
your implied worship at that words temple

when tempted i suggest
u substitute
gauntlet instead

[Damien Eldridge]

Given the long delays from submission to eventual publication, it is not surprising that people cite recent working papers.

[Meh]

This is perhaps less of a concern in economics, except maybe in areas concerned directly with public policy, but the long review times in Organization Studies is clearly having an "abstracting effect" on the topics published.

It's gradually less and less worthwhile attempting to research something and publish it on a timescale that could affect the real world. The review process is turning into lead times of a year or so. At that point, if you're going to publish, it better be something heavily theoretical and systematised so that it's valuable even though the world has moved on.

The difficulty there is that all sorts of research has been pushed to "working paper presentations" and the system of literature search is slowly breaking down. It's less and less worth publishing case studies, so if you go looking for past evidence on an issue, all you'll find are summary theory articles.

Finally, of course, after a few years of this, the "hot issues" in Organization research are about 3-5 years behind realities on the ground. That's not a good thing, either.

[dug]

when I said "rigorous"
I was of course being kind

The word that fits best
Would be like
calling your name

but
I didn't want to admit
how much I know

;-)

[anonymous]

I submitted my paper to a journal in 2007. The first revision took 9 months, the decision was revise and resubmit. There were four referees in the process. The second revision took 3 months, and, thanks to the tracking proceedure online, I was able to see that 2 referees replied within a week, and others took all of the remaining time to reply. The answer was a rejection. I understand that perhaps in the first round they decided to give my paper a chance and that somehow I did not manage to grasp it; but I clearly would have prefered an early rejection to such a waste of time. This is especially sad as I am a recent graduate, and publications count enormously when applying for work to certain institutions.

[rolex watches]

People usually say :"Seeing is believing." http://www.tt88times.com
Each attempt has a corresponding gain, in part or obvious, or vague. At least we have the kind of satisfaction After I bought this watch ,in a sense,it means a great deal to me. http://www.fashionhairfu.com

[Nike Air Jordan]

The good news, thank you!

[lachou]

I like these articles , democratic countries formulate policies are both team and the interests of the people of power, but the undemocratic countries rarely for the interests of the people, http://www.jerseysky.com it is the sorrow of many democracy, I like the western and northern state policy.
http://www.cheapsaleing.com
http://www.nikeairmaxshoe.ocm

[jordan shoes]

Thanks for sharing your article. I really enjoyed it. I put a link to my site to here so other people can read it. Came across your blog when I was searching bing I have found the bit of info that
I found to be quite useful.

[air jordans for sale]

I think this is a great post. One thing that I find the most helpful is number five. Sometimes when I write, I just let the flow of the words and information come out so much that I loose the purpose. It’s only after editing when I realize what I’ve done. There’s defiantly a lot of great tips here I’m going to try to be more aware of.

[jordan shoes]

It's good to see this information in your post, i was looking the same but there was not any proper resource, than now i have the link which i was looking for my research.

[الفيسبوك]

this report was very important and really long wait for it thanks

[Dubai promotions]

Dubai is also number one place for tourism related activities. Dubai is synonymous to economic boom and business people always rejoice the massive flow of wealth and profits generated by this unique business city.

[düzce haber]

Given the long delays from submission to eventual publication, it is not surprising that people cite recent working papers...

[oem usb]

[url=http://www.usb-disk.com]wholesale flash drives [/url]weche zkthug et ben95 sa tourne jusqua bordeaux walah les frere vous nikez tou yes we can elle est barbare gonesse gang aiii enfait gonesse c la ville ou la cité ??
[url=http://www.onlineusb.net]wholesale usb [/url]
[url=http://www.topusbdrive.com]wholesale usb [/url]

[Account Deleted]

Many places and centers offer business and trade promotions to both buyers and suppliers.

Offers in Dubai

[Steve Russel]

I just love reading your article. In fact I have never come across such a wonderful piece of work. Of late I have been reading article related to this, but this has been until now the best ever article I may have come across.

http://www.samrx.com/buy-kamagra-oral-jelly.aspx

[Account Deleted]

Affordable Writing is joyous to offer expert term paper assist to those who seem bogged down with critical written check stress.

College Essay Writing

[Account Deleted]

raf

Thanks a lot for article.

[Ning Asics]

TCM, emphasize macroeconomic regulation and coordinated development. Western medicine of TCM don't understand, perhaps is shown in the west of China "model" don't understand.
http://www.mbt-usa.com/
MBT

[Account Deleted]

Thanks for sharing the ways on how to do it. I have a small business and I use social media. I'm the only one who maintains it, I do the blogging, the articles, etc.
hotel in karachi

[Account Deleted]

Nice information provided here which is very useful to everyone...
laptops pakistan

[Mbtmbtshoes]

Coach bags Few doubt the important significance of American killed bin laden, but all after bin laden era is now pay more attention to the uncertainty.

[Account Deleted]

Raf
raf

Thanks ...

[Account Deleted]

Raf Sistemleri
raf

Good Work !!! Old man ...

[Account Deleted]

Many places and centers offer business and trade promotions to both buyers and supplier.What about the differences in skill intensities across industries? The job losses in the relatively unskilled-labor intensive battery industry should have little effect on the relatively skilled-labor intensive machinery
sexshop
sexyshop
sexshop online

[Account Deleted]

Nice discussion is going on there I like it so much keep on asking and learning new things…

organic seo service

[Account Deleted]

Awesome, Very interesting issue that after a very successful. Nicely written article good work ! Thanks for the great piece of sharing. Enjoy to read your write . Thanks a lot
Creating History Together With ArenaBetting Piala Eropa 2012 http://seotoolinfo.com/2012/06/creating-history-creating-history-together-with-arenabetting-piala-eropa-2012/
Agenliga Sebagai Agen Bola Online Untuk Euro 2012 http://seotoolinfo.com/2012/06/agenliga-agenliga-com-sebagai-agen-bola-online-untuk-euro-2012/

[Account Deleted]

From writing to proof-reading and editing we will take care of all your academic needs. You can always contact us. Our professional service is available 24/7x365.

Professional Paper Writing

[Rastia Rigie]

Bank Mandiri Bank Terbaik di Indonesia
Bank Mandiri Bank Terbaik di Indonesia
Promo Bonus 100% Sbobet, Ibcbet dan Casino Online Dalam Rangka HUT BAVETLINE Yang Kedua
Masterbet88 Grand Opening Promo Bonus 50% Sportsbook dan Casino Online

[Tom Watson]

Your post gives useful and sensible information for someone who is thinking of venturing into home based business enterprise.thanks for your great work Click here