Those of you who have looked carefully at the MEE submission system will know that, like a lot of other journals, we use the ScholarOne software to organise our review process. ScholarOne (who are owned by Thomson-Reuters: suppliers of Impact Factors to the gentry since 1975) have decided to run a Journal Triathlon this autumn. So, they are asking for nominations for journals in three categories:
- Swimming (Agility) — how quickly and easily a journal is able to validate that they’re accepting the right papers for their journal.
(Nominations 9th-23rd Sep. Voting 24th Sep-7th Oct) - Biking (Speed) — how a journal has implemented ways that increase their efficiency.
(Nominations 8th-21st Oct. Voting 22nd Oct-4th Nov) - Running (Endurance) — how a journal seamlessly adapts their processes to stay competitive in this ever-changing industry.
(Nominations 5th-18th Nov. Voting 19th Nov-2nd Dec)
You can read about the competition on the competition’s webpage, and also on their blog. You can also nominate a journal on the webpage, or vote for us as the greatest journal in the world.
Of course, the categories are somewhat artificial. When I first thought about it I thought the categories might be like this for an executive editor:
- Swimming (Agility) — changing the Associate Editor’s recommendation of “Minor Revision” to “Reject” without changing the AE’s text, and without the author realising what you did. Bonus points if the AE doesn’t realise either.
- Biking (Speed) — getting reviewers to agree to review in less than 2 hours, and having them send their reviews in before the deadline. Bonus points if you handle the appeal within 24 hours.
- Running (Endurance) — Reaching the 4th round of “Major Revisions” without wanting to throttle either the reviewers or author(*). Bonus points if it’s the same reviewers, and an extra bonus if the author doesn’t want to throttle you.
I’m sure Sam, our assistant editor, has a similar list, but probably feels she can’t release it until either She or both Rob and I leave the journal. And you, dear reader (and also you cheap reader), probably have your own list, as author, reviewer, editor (of whatever stripe), or whatever other role you have in journal publishing. Feel free to leave your list in the comments – pseudonymously if necessary.
Once you’ve done that, check to see if we’ve been nominated. If we have, then vote for us! And tell your friends to vote for us too. Remember, if we don’t win the competition, you may never know what the prize for winning is.
(*) Note to Janne: this means I’ve got one round left before you need to buy the flight tickets to Frankfurt
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