Efficiency in managing peer-review of scientific manuscripts - editors’ perspective

Nedić, Olgica; Drvenica, Ivana; Ausloos, Marcel; Dekanski, Aleksandar

doi:10.2298/jsc180531066n

Cited by 2 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Our outlined findings suggest intrinsic behavioral hypotheses for future research. Complementary aspects must be used as ingredients in order to understand whether some seasonal bias occurs [27,28]. One has markedly to take into account the scientific work environment, beside the journal favored topics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Entropy, Diversity and Inequality Measures of Submitted and Accepted Papers Distributions in Peer-Reviewed Journals

Ausloos

Nedić

Dekanski

2019

Entropy

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This paper presents a novel method for finding features in the analysis of variable distributions stemming from time series. We apply the methodology to the case of submitted and accepted papers in peer-reviewed journals. We provide a comparative study of editorial decisions for papers submitted to two peer-reviewed journals: the Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society (JSCS) and this MDPI Entropy journal. We cover three recent years for which the fate of submitted papers, about 600 papers to JSCS and 2500 to Entropy, is completely determined.Instead of comparing the number distributions of these papers as a function of time with respect to a uniform distribution, we analyze the relevant probabilities, from which we derive the information entropy. It is argued that such probabilities are indeed more relevant for authors than the actual number of submissions.We tie this entropy analysis to the so called diversity of the variable distributions. Furthermore, we emphasize the correspondence between the entropy and the diversity with inequality measures, like the Herfindahl-Hirschman index and the Theil index, itself being in the class of entropy measures; the Gini coefficient which also measures the diversity in ranking is calculated for further discussion.In this sample, the seasonal aspects of the peer review process are outlined. It is found that the use of such indices, non linear transformations of the data distributions, allow to distinguish features and evolutions of peer review process as a function of time as well as comparing non-uniformity of distributions. Furthermore, t− and z− statistical tests are applied in order to measure the significance (p− level) of the findings, i.e. whether papers are more likely to be accepted if they are submitted during a few specific months or "season"; the predictability strength depends on the journal.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Seasonal Entropy, Diversity and Inequality Measures of Submitted and Accepted Papers Distributions in Peer-Reviewed Journals

Ausloos

Nedić

Dekanski

2019

Entropy

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“…Tying such questions are the open access policy and the submission fees imposed by publishers. on one hand, but also doubts or constraints about the efficiency in managing peer-review of scientific manuscriptseditors perspective [1] and of authors [2]. Thus, one may wonder if there is some "seasonal" or "day of the week" effect.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Correlations between submission and acceptance of papers in peer review journals

2019

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This paper provides a comparative study about seasonal influence on editorial decisions for papers submitted to peer review journals. We distinguish a specialized one, the Journal of the Serbian Chemical Society (JSCS) and an interdisciplinary one, Entropy. Dates of electronic submission for about 600 papers to JSCS and 2500 to Entropy have been recorded over 3 recent years. Time series of either accepted or rejected papers are subsequently analyzed. We take either editors or authors view points into account, thereby considering magnitudes and probabilities.It is found that there are distinguishable peaks and dips in the time series, demonstrating preferred months for the submission of papers. It is also found that papers are more likely accepted if they are submitted during a few specific months, -these depending on the journal. The probability of having a rejected paper also appears to be seasonally biased.In view of clarifying reports with contradictory findings, we discuss previously proposed conjectures for such effects, like holiday effects and the desk rejection by editors. We conclude that the type of journal, specialized or multidisciplinary, seems to be the drastic criterion for distinguishing the outcomes rates.

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Efficiency in managing peer-review of scientific manuscripts - editors’ perspective

Cited by 2 publications

References 24 publications

Seasonal Entropy, Diversity and Inequality Measures of Submitted and Accepted Papers Distributions in Peer-Reviewed Journals

Seasonal Entropy, Diversity and Inequality Measures of Submitted and Accepted Papers Distributions in Peer-Reviewed Journals

Correlations between submission and acceptance of papers in peer review journals

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