I feel your pain, but I don't think it's limited to PLoS or open access. My committee and I submitted the three papers from my MS thesis in October 2014. Two were sent to Elsevier journals, and one was sent to an Entomological Society of America journal. The first response we got was well over five months later. One of the Elsevier journals did not notify us of a decision until almost 8 months after our initial submission. In the spring, my coworkers and I submitted a paper to PLoS, and we heard back in about 4 months. While we have had other frustrations with their peer-review process, PLoS's turn-around time was on par with, or even slightly faster than the other journals owned by major for-profit publishers. While I'm sure we all know this cerebrally, I think it's important to really bear in mind that reviewers and academic editors aren't compensated for their efforts in the publication process, and have all the other responsibilities of their professions to keep up with. All that said, you're right...it's frustrating how long it takes to publish, especially when you have to pay some of the steep open-access fees. Best of luck publishing your paper. Take Care, -Sean
On Tue, Apr 26, 2016 at 7:52 AM, Edwin Cruz-Rivera <[email protected] > wrote: > Dear All, > > I am very curious about the life cycle of manuscripts in > online journals these days. I have been doing some numbers on PLOS One, > which advertises as the journal “accelerating the publication of > peer-reviewed” science. However, a quick look at the papers that have been > published in the past few months reveals most of these were accepted 5-9 > months after submission. What strikes me as odd is that PLOS One gives you > two weeks to review a manuscript, and they start pestering you with > reminders even before the review is late…and may you not be late for 48 > hours! So how does a journal that expects such a fast turnaround from peer > reviewers deal with authors at such glacial pace? To begin with, it is not > as if publication comes cheap in this journal. Should 1250 USD not include > a bit of expediency? The numbers here seem odd. We have had a paper stuck > in limbo since November 2015 without a final answer yet, supposedly because > they cannot find an editor (out of > 6000) who can manage the revised > version of the paper. > > So the key question is, I suppose: Is this seemingly epic sluggishness the > norm in open access/online publication these days? > > At this point, I am not really convinced PLOS One should be advertising as > “the fast one”…or is it? > > Any thoughts? > > > > Edwin > > ================= > Dr. Edwin Cruz-Rivera > > Visiting Associate Professor > > Department of Biological Sciences > University of the Virgin Islands > > #2 John Brewers Bay > St. Thomas 00802 > > USVI > Tel: 1-340-693-1235 > Fax: 1-340-693-1385 > > > > "It is not the same to hear the devil as to see him coming your way" > > (Puerto Rican proverb) > > >
