Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Academic Publishing Hell

A few years ago I submitted a manuscript to an academic journal.  No news there.  I do this foolishness a lot -- conduct research, write up results, find a sexy title that includes a colon (it's a rule), and send it off into the academic publishing world to find a home.  Routine stuff.

This one turned out not to be so routine.

No names.  Let's protect the guilty.  But follow this process:

2009: Submit manuscript to journal
2011: Finally get comments from one reviewer (I like it, publish that baby). Revise based on this, resubmit.
2012: Finally get comments from another reviewer comment (great piece, publish it, do a few small things). Revise again. Resubmit.
2013: I think it's done, will eventually appear, until an email appears this week from the editor with comments from yet another reviewer.

Enough already.  I haven't even bothered to open the reviewer comments file.  Instead, today I sent an email to the editor pulling the article.

I have the benefit of being a full professor, of course.  I don't need the pub, though it's always nice to have, and I have give other things I'm working on now and I'm not about to spend time revising, yet again, a paper I submitted years ago.

Life is too friggin short.

-- Update --

I got an email back from the editor acknowledging my email withdrawing the manuscript but with no, I repeat no, apology for the years of process.  Instead, I get asked if I'd like to review for the journal.

Um, no.

And anyway, I'm already on the editorial board of four journals, plus I read regularly for four more.



No comments: