Insider Lessons

Prof-Like Substance shares what he's learned since becoming an associate journal editor two months ago. "Like it or not, we are the vehicle that drives the speed of publication," Prof-Like says, as he lays out his experience so far. He says that when it comes to papers that are "seemingly similar in content and quality," it's typically easier for journal editors to find reviewers for those manuscripts that list prominent authors than those that do not. "I assume that people are more willing to spend their time reviewing for those they see as producing good work," Prof-Like says. He adds that having a paper rejected prior to review is often "better than dragging the process out. ... Rather than going through the whole review process, only to have the manuscript spit out the other end, you can now reformat and send somewhere else," he says. "Not ideal, but the better of two bad options." Finally, Prof-Like adds that timeliness is important. "If you sit on reviews, you lose the right to complain about time in review," he says.