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I would like to ask community how do you deal with unsatisfactory typesetting. I have extremely bad experience with 2 journals: i) Scientific Reports of the Nature family and ii) Physica Status Solidi B.

After the acceptance, my manuscripts went to production, and I got proofs to read. They were horrible: the text was mutilated, the references skewed, latin, greek, small, bold, italic---these words have no meaning for the production team. I sent them proofs, insisted on seeing the text again, and sent them proofs again. After all, the papers were published. Only small portion of the corrections was taken into account. I am ashamed in front of my colleagues for such an unreadable text.

What worries me most is that many equations are wrong and it is not even possible to decipher their meaning. What can I do in this situation?

Notice, the accepted answer to the related question suggests to write to them back and complain until the problem is fixed. I am skeptical about this because there is no pressing reason for the editorial/production team to fix typos within any given time-frame. At some point they will just ignore you.

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    You might be interested: academia.stackexchange.com/questions/81625/…
    – Allure
    Apr 8, 2019 at 7:36
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    I wonder how journals would respond to disclaimers: The typesetting of this article by <<publisher>> may have introduced mistakes. For an author typeset version of this article, please refer to [X].
    – user2768
    Apr 8, 2019 at 8:32
  • @user2768 I tend to believe It is a good idea, as a way to exert some pressure.
    – yarchik
    Apr 8, 2019 at 8:38

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Complain to the journal: it sounds like the production team aren't doing a good job but they've also become deaf to your complaints. In that scenario, complaining to the journal could lead to the editorial board taking up your cause, in which case the publisher is under greater pressure to take action.

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    Let me quote the answer from the linked question "You could try contacting the editor in chief of the journal to see if they could get the problem fixed. This worked for me when I had similar problems with a paper last year." This is a possible way, however, it can last forever. There is no pressing reason for a journal to fixed it within any given time-frame. One may well get polite and assuring responses without anything being done.
    – yarchik
    Apr 8, 2019 at 8:42
  • @yarchik one might also well get polite and assuring responses and everything gets fixed in less than a day. How would you know?
    – Allure
    Apr 8, 2019 at 9:16
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    Right, this is possible. However, I extrapolate from the responses in hand. In SciRep they may suggest to publish an Erratum. This is a joke, they essentially blame me for their wrongdoing.
    – yarchik
    Apr 8, 2019 at 9:22
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    @yarchik your question is "What can I do in this situation?". If you're not willing to do anything because nothing might be done anyway, why even ask the question?
    – Allure
    Apr 8, 2019 at 9:25

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