6

A prestigious professor emailed me and requested that I submit work for publication with the renowned series that he edits.

He needs this work because it is a gap for something he is engaged with.

I am hesitant to submit since I have to produce a full set of results within a short period of time - which does not assure quality. They will, however, close his gap quite nicely, whatever state they are in.

He takes weeks to reply to emails, making the process somewhat frustrating.

I want to believe that I will have a shot at getting published with the series but at the same time am wondering how he will end up citing me, should my work remain unpublished.

How do I deal with this and not insult the guy?

Improve this question
7
  • 2
    Do you mean that he is an editor for a journal and invited you to submit a manuscript? Or is he asking for a contribution to something that he is working on himself?
    – sErISaNo
    Commented Jul 30, 2023 at 20:22
  • 9
    Almost all invitations of this kind are spam, and the journals they invite you to publish in are not reputable. If the journal charges the author a fee, you can be 100% sure this invitation is spam. If you don't personally know the person who wrote the invitation, you can be 99.99% sure it's spam.
    – David Ketcheson
    Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 8:58
  • 8
    I am confused. This person seems to be asking for a favour, but then "takes weeks to respond"? I also don't understand the sentence "They will, however, close his gap quite nicely, whatever state they are in." - what gap? What will "they" (the journal?) do? All in all, I wonder what's in it for you - you can publish your results elsewhere, why do you concern yourself with an unresponsive series editor if it's bothering you?
    – xLeitix
    Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 11:12
  • 5
    How do you know that it's a reputable professor? Is the email clearly from a reputable professor? Or, hypothetical, could it be that someone claims he is? Clarification: it's a scam.
    – Mayou36
    Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 13:24
  • 6
    You need to clarify almost all of your sentences -- too much of this is unclear.
    – Martin F
    Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 21:57

5 Answers 5

Reset to default
23

A prestigious professor emailed me and requested that I submit work for publication with the renowned series that he edits.

Yeah, well. This is extremely likely a form of journal spam. I get this type of emails at least weekly. You should do nothing until this "prestigious professor" gives you a phone call, which is unlikely to occur.

Improve this answer
2
  • 4
    I certainly get a lot of journal spam, but not from prestigious professors. You do? Also, if it's a predatory journal, I would think they would be quick to respond rather than taking weeks.
    – Kimball
    Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 12:43
  • 3
    @Kimball Usually it works like this: The journal invites someone, who is an established scientist, as editor for a special issue. Journal staff uses then their name to solicit submissions. If OP's communication actually reaches the guest editor, they might well be slow to respond (as usual). Also, "prestigious" is relative and I never said the journal is predatory. However, in my experience, even (and especially) prestigious scientists tend to discuss serious proposals in person, by phone or video call.
    – user9482
    Commented Jul 31, 2023 at 12:59
20

This summary sounds strange to me.

Given the limited information you provide, I would advise you to write back saying (politely) something like "sorry, there isn't enough time before your deadline for me to do this job (properly)".

If you agree to the request and do a shoddy but adequate job your name will be on the shoddy work.

Improve this answer
1
  • I like your answer because you side-step the predatory concern raised by other answers. If the OP is correct, this could be a legit offer but might still hurt the OP.
    – Richard Erickson
    Commented Aug 1, 2023 at 19:09
5

Since the prof seems to have confidence in you, I'd suggest you say "yes" and give it your best shot. You don't indicate that it would interfere with more important things. If you don't get something adequate for your values or his you can withdraw later (not submit).

If you want to say "no" then saying that you don't feel qualified to do sufficiently good work. That wouldn't be insulting.

But a flat "no", while not actually insulting would leave him disappointed, both in his project and in you. Decide if you can live with that and if your relationship is otherwise strong enough to withstand it. There is a chance of course that he won't let it go easily, but will apply some pressure.

And, of course, having a publication in a "renowned" series is a plus.

Improve this answer
2

Just rethink: is it hesitation or procrastination? I think it's worth the effort to publish in a renowned series. It will be rewarding in the long term. It's quite easy to underestimate our skills. You can see value in your work.

But a polite 'no' due to restricted timeframes, existing work commitments, or clashing timelines would not harm.

Improve this answer
1

It sounds like a lot of details around this invitation are still up in the air, which would certainly push me away from accepting if the invitation were to me -- especially if the prof takes weeks to reply to emails.

If you'd like to say no, a simple "I'm flattered, but I don't have the time to do this right now" should be a benign sort of refusal.

If you really are interested, but you still feel funny about it, I suggest contacting other contributors to his series to ask about what their experiences were like.

Improve this answer

You must log in to answer this question.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged .