AHA Panel on Publishing in Journals Part 2

So yesterday I participated in the panel on journal publishing, which I hope the audience (which was pretty good sized) found useful. I had two themes, the first I had planned and the second was more spontaneous given comments before my turn to speak.

First, think strategically. This is the answer to at least half of all questions about submitting article manuscripts. Most importantly, you need to decide what journal works for your specific topic and what your institution wants for tenure. The process takes months and months--in fact, editors mentioned backlog, which can delay even more. Therefore you need to be as strategic as possible to do what works for you (though, unfortunately, it's very hard to know about backlog).

Second, I decided to harangue about reviewers. I hope I didn't come off sounding too annoying, but it suddenly occurred to me that we don't just want graduate students and assistant professors to learn how to publish. We want to teach them how to collaborate in the publishing process by reviewing. Don't send a four sentence review; don't say you will review and then don't; do your review in a timely manner; do give a review of a quality you would want to receive (positive or negative).

BTW, you likely don't need three months to review an article. But if you think you do, and I understand some people receive tons, then say no (or ask for an extension to see if the editor minds) but be sure to suggest someone else. That speeds up the process.