Questions tagged [editors]
Questions about the roles and responsibilities of editors, who decide what papers are accepted into peer-reviewed journals.
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How can editors and reviewers detect data manipulation?
I am preparing a paper in the field of Computer Science.
In order to report test results, we usually run a number of tests and report the average of those tests.
For each test, we generate random ...
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35
votes
8
answers
28k
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Why do editors sometimes accept a paper even if a reviewer recommends rejection?
For the last many days, I have a question in mind related with the editorial decision of accepting or rejecting the manuscript after peer-review:
Few days back I got a review report from a very ...
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votes
2
answers
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Is it okay to inquire about the status of a paper when the online submission system shows no update three months after submission?
Around 3 months ago, I submitted a paper to a Math journal for peer-review through an online submission system. The same day I received in my e-mail an acknowledgement saying that the paper had been ...
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6
answers
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When / how should I ask about a manuscript's status in review?
I have a manuscript that has been in review for 60 days. The journal asks for reviews within four weeks. At what point is it acceptable (and not detrimental) to contact the editor for an update? How ...
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4
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How to deal with an unreasonable reviewer asking to cite irrelevant articles?
Two years ago, when I was doing my master’s degree, I was working on a computational project. My supervisor was well-known in the field and a highly reputed person. We were doing a great job, trying ...
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32
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5
answers
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What happens if the editor cannot find reviewers?
I submitted to a journal a couple of months ago. The editorial flow is somehow quick and very transparent. I receive notifications for all events happening to the manuscript.
Unfortunately, the ...
user7112
31
votes
2
answers
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What corrections can you make on galley proofs?
When I receive galley proofs of a paper, I look at possible errors introduced by the copy-editing team. But while I proofread the article, there are sometimes small mistakes I'd like to fix, which ...
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2
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Can you share some screenshots of editor's control panels?
Most journals use similar manuscript handling systems such as ScholarOne. I have seen both author and reviewer accounts (which are similar). I wonder how an editor account looks like. I mean how you ...
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5
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Should an Editor in Chief publish in their own journal?
An Editor in Chief of a journal ought to be proud of their journal and consider it a good place to publish their own work, so not publishing in the journal that they edit suggests a lack of confidence ...
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37
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2
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What to do when a journal publishes a paper plagiarizing one's work but doesn't care about it?
Recently I caught a paper which had plagiarized my paper. Several sentences had been copied from my article without citing my article. Some of the copied sentences had been shuffled, so the words were ...
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27
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2
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Can a referee request a paper referenced in the reviewed paper?
If you review a paper which relies on results some other paper and you do not have access to that paper, is it acceptable to contact the editor and ask whether the author can provide a copy of the ...
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2
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How to become a journal editor?
Being an editor of a journal can be time-consuming, but has obvious benefits (especially if one enjoys reading and reviewing manuscripts). So I expect many academics have a desire to become an editor.
...
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1
answer
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Sound reasons for excluding a reviewer
I am about to submit a paper, and I'm asked whether I want anybody to be excluded from consideration as a reviewer. I also need to state a reason. I briefly considered listing someone who - I have ...
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3
answers
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Submitting multiple distinct papers to the same journal
I've recently submitted three papers to the same top journal over a period of two weeks. Can this fact alone impact on the chances of any of the papers being accepted? There is no overlap of content ...
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2
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Should I withdraw my paper because review is taking too long?
I submitted an article to a prestigious journal JCR Q1 about 20 months ago. It took more than 6 months for them to send the article for review. But it was worth it. The reviewers did a good job and ...
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11
votes
1
answer
16k
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"With editor" status for 2 months: is it normal? [duplicate]
I'm a bit worried because one of my papers have been more than 2 months "with editor" status. It's a science journal (field: drug residue, food), from a famous editorial and impact factor 3.3. I'm ...
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When editor does not respond to the request for withdrawal
I submitted a manuscript to a journal, but due to some issue with that I asked the Editor-in-Chief and Associate Editor to withdraw the manuscript from further consideration.
Despite several emails, ...
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1
answer
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Slow Response from Journal: Should I withdraw a paper?
I submitted a paper to an Elsevier journal in August and the status has been "with editor" ever since. I was concerned that it had not been sent for review for 4 months and I sent inquiries twice ...
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2
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How long after first contact, where editor says "manuscript is still under review", is it okay to enquire again about status of manuscript?
About a year ago I submitted a paper to a very good math journal.
After 10 months I asked the editor for its status,
and he said it is still with the referee, and that he will remind him about it.
...
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68
votes
9
answers
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Journal published a paper, ignoring my objections as a referee
A few months back I received a request from a reputed journal to review an article. The article was in a fast-track mode because of its assumed importance. I did review it, and found that it makes ...
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4
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Do editors ever "overbook" referees?
Is the following common? An editor for a journal sends a paper out to, say, three or four referees. After getting the first two referee reports, the editor makes a decision and tells the third and ...
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15
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1
answer
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How do I address my research publication being 'scooped'?
Back in spring 2016, I submitted a manuscript for publication. I revised the manuscript in winter 2016 and have been waiting for reviews since then. Two of the three reviewers responded in a timely ...
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3
answers
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How do editors choose referees?
Do editors have 3 of 4 simple rules they typically fall back on when selecting referees?
Such as picking candidate among recent citations in the submitted paper, or recent citations that appeared in ...
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Paper accepted subject to minor changes – should I comply if I do not consider them minor?
My paper met acceptance (through email notification from editor) with one reviewer requiring a minor change which is not minor according to my perception and would revise all my figures and results. ...
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2
answers
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How can I get a job reviewing math or comp sci articles and books in advance of publication?
I spend a great deal of time identifying and figuring out how to fix mistakes in published papers and specialized books. Time and time again an author's careless error has sent me down a rabbit hole. ...
3
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1
answer
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How often do editors reach reviewers whose expertise don't match the paper?
It's inevitable that sometimes, editors will invite reviewers whose expertise don't match the paper very well (example).
How often does it actually happen, and what percentage is considered acceptable?...
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1
answer
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How to create an editorial board for a new journal
I want to start a new scientific journal. After doing all he initial work about setting up a journal now I want to know how will I be able to create an editorial board?
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9
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I got a very bad review from one reviewer, but the paper was not rejected
Some time ago, I submitted my paper to a reputable journal (but far from being one of the best in my field) and have recently received two reviews. One review was positive overall and the reviewer ...
user85088
43
votes
6
answers
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Is it common for Chinese nationals to turn down review requests?
I am an associate editor for some international scientific journals. Unsurprisingly, I receive a number of submissions from Chinese scholars (working in China), which go through the standard peer ...
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8
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Reviewer signs name on review. Should the editor censor?
Say a reviewer writes something like
This paper is [yada yada blah blah].
Sincerely,
Professor John Smith, Big Name University
Should the editor just forward the review to the authors because ...
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34
votes
3
answers
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Journal does not tell me why they rejected my paper, even on request
I submitted my paper to one of Springer’s journals seven months ago. One month ago I received a letter from the editor-in-chief:
Following a review of the manuscript by the editorial
board, we ...
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votes
3
answers
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Why become a journal editor?
I know peer-reviewing research papers is a lot of work, but it is something that as a scientist in academia you must do. However, you are not required to become an editor of a journal. It seems to be ...
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26
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3
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What should you do if you don't hear anything back from editor after a whole year from first submission?
I have submitted a paper more than a year ago, but still I haven't heard anything back from the editor. As of today I have no idea whether my paper has been accepted/rejected or is in a review stage. ...
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3
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When should an editor use reviewers recommended by authors of a submitted manuscript?
I am a newly appointed editor to a top journal. I have received my first manuscript assignment. I see in the journal system that the authors have provided preferences for reviewers for their paper.
I ...
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3
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3k
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Can (and should) an editor referee a paper he's in charge of?
I have reason to believe that the editor assigned to a paper we have recently submitted might have also acted as referee.
I am of course not sure because reviewers for this journal are in principle ...
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1
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An invitation to join the editorial board of a newly launched journal
I am in the first months of my postdoctoral research, where I work in a highly reputed laboratory.
Recently, I got an invitation to join the editorial board of a newly engaged journal. They invited ...
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1
answer
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What is the correct procedure to report typos or errors in journal articles?
I have found an error in a journal article which I believe to be a typo. It is minor but it does affect the technical aspects of the paper so it should ideally be corrected.
What is the correct ...
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votes
2
answers
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Complaining about an ISI journal's unreasonable behavior
I submitted one of my paper to an ISI journal in September 2011. While I was waiting for it, I inquired about its status (I needed the paper to complete my PhD), and the journal wrote back saying that ...
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2
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Is it bad practice to submit the entire manuscript for an initial book proposal to a publisher?
In a previous book I wrote, I submitted the entire manuscript along with a couple page proposal to a few different publishers. Both editors never responded to me.
In my current book, I sent the ...
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2
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Paper status with Associate editor after Under review [duplicate]
I have a submitted manuscript to IEEE transactions. The paper was under review for 4 months. Then, it has been with associate editor" for 2 week now. How this status can be explained?
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8
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2
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Manuscript revision deadline: how strict are these [at Scientific Reports]
I am a Ph.D. student and presently dealing with my first paper that I had submitted to Scientific Reports.
I received back the reviewer comments together with a note from the editor asking me (as the ...
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3
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The editor cannot find a referee to my paper after one year
I submitted a manuscript to a journal one year ago. The journal is well known and has already published papers on the same subject including one of my previous papers. The paper I submitted went under ...
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2
answers
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Confusing article status for journals of American Mathematical Society: "reviewing" AND "being handled by an editor"
The web page of my article in the AMS editorial system for some three months says "Article status: Reviewing" and in the next line "Your paper is being handled by an editor". I ...
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votes
1
answer
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The manuscript does not reach the required quality standard of this journal [duplicate]
I just received the following comment from an Elsevier editor "The manuscript does not reach the required quality standard of this journal.". To my mind say just that or nothing is pretty ...
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135
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12
answers
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I am an editor for a lousy paper and I found a better algorithm than theirs. Must I share it with them?
I am handling a paper as an associate editor that proposed an algorithm that I find to be weak. In fact, I was able to show that a very simple, brute-force approach actually has a better running time ...
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6
answers
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Can I write a referee report too fast?
As a math postdoc, I received my first invitation to referee a journal article today, and I accepted the invitation. I've already read a preprint of the submitted article (which has been available on ...
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6
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Are you permitted to forward the reviews from a rejected manuscript when submitting to a new journal?
Suppose I have a paper rejected from a top tier journal. The anonymous reviews highlight a number of strengths of my paper, but ultimately judge that the paper does not merit publication in that lofty ...
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2
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As a reviewer, what steps can I take after paper is published despite major scientific and ethical concerns, with no explanation from editor?
I recently reviewed a manuscript for a journal I didn't know very well, but which was indexed on Pubmed and Scopus and seemed to be legitimate. In my review, I recommended rejection based on what I ...
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3
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Is it OK to select an editor if I solved his conjecture?
I am about to submit a paper to a respected math journal. In this paper I solved a conjecture that was raised by a member of the editorial board (and this is one of the main reasons I chose this ...
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2
answers
3k
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What might the editor do if my supervisor contacts a journal to claim authorship of a paper?
When I was doing my PhD project, I got an idea to solve a different but related problem. However, my supervisor said neither the motivation nor the initial result were interesting, and so he refused ...
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