After conducting research and writing a scientific article, every researcher and scientist wants the results of their work to be published as soon as possible. Often, this does not happen as quickly as the author would like. What determines the timing of publication? What factors influence it?
The publication of a scientific article is a complex process consisting of many important stages, and accordingly, publication is also slow. Every author would like to publish the results of their research as soon as possible. But why does it take so much time? First, it is necessary to analyse what stages the publication process consists of.
Stages of publication
1. Writing a manuscript. The first step in the process of publishing a research paper is writing a manuscript. At this stage, the author conducts research and prepares material for publication. This process is individual and can last from several weeks to several months, so it is impossible to set specific deadlines at this stage.
2. Choosing a journal. Choosing a publication for publication also takes a lot of time, as there are a large number of scientific journals. Among all the journals, you need to find the one that corresponds to the subject matter and direction of the research, as well as satisfies the author's wishes:
- free or paid;
- indexing in an international database;
- requirements for scientometric indicators, etc.
3. Preparation of the material. After choosing a journal, the next step is to prepare the material for submission to the editorial board for further review. Each journal has its own requirements for design, formatting, text structure, bibliography, etc. It is important to comply with all the requirements and criteria specified on the journal's website.
4. Sending the manuscript to the editorial office. The fourth step in the process of publishing a scientific article is to submit the manuscript to the editorial board. The article material is sent to the editorial board for further review, review and verification.
5. Review of the material by the editorial board. At this stage, the manuscript is under consideration by the editorial board. The author cannot influence this process and can only wait for a response regarding acceptance or rejection of the manuscript.
6. Peer review and revision. The penultimate stage of article publication is review and revision. After the editorial board has reviewed the manuscript and decided that the article meets all the criteria for publication in the journal, the material is sent for review. At this stage, the author receives the article file along with recommendations from the reviewers. It is necessary to make all the corrections and take into account all the wishes and comments of the reviewers. After that, the process of finalising the material to the required form, content and layout for possible further publication in the journal begins. The review and revision stage usually takes 3-4 weeks. However, in well-known reputable databases such as Scopus and Web of Science, this process can take longer - from several months to a year, and sometimes even longer, depending on the topic of the paper and the direction of the research.
7. Approval. After making all the corrections and revisions to the manuscript, the editorial board makes the final decision on whether to publish the article. If the decision is positive, the article is prepared for publication.
8. Printing and publication. The last stage is the printing and publication of the article. After the article is accepted for publication, the editorial board prepares it for publication in the relevant issue of the journal. After that, the article becomes available to the general readership.
Having analysed all the stages of publishing a scientific article, we can conclude that it is impossible to name the exact timeframe for publication. Each author needs different time to conduct research and write the material. The timing of the review process is also difficult to predict. For example, material that is better prepared in accordance with the requirements of the journal, is well written, and the author has taken into account all the edits and recommendations of the reviewers will be reviewed faster, which will contribute to faster acceptance for publication.
What factors affect the publication time?
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Number of reviewers
The number of reviewers engaged by the journal has a direct and significant impact on the publication time. An insufficient number of specialists can lead to delays in the journal's work. Thus, each reviewer receives more manuscripts to review, which can significantly increase the time required for their thorough analysis and evaluation.
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Frequency of journal publication
The timing of the publication of a scientific article depends on how often issues of a journal are published. There are journals that come out once a year, twice a year, quarterly or every month. Journals that are published less frequently may have a longer publication process due to a more competitive selection procedure and the volume of work that is reviewed. However, care should be taken when choosing a journal with frequent issues, as there are predatory journals that may provide a quick but poor quality publication.
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Journal ranking
The higher the ranking and prestige of a journal, the longer it may take to publish papers in it. Journals that are indexed in reputable databases have a great reputation and care about it, so they adhere to high standards and requirements for published materials. A large number of submissions to such journals can also lead to delays in publication.
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Journal workload
Reputable and popular journals often receive a large number of submissions for review, which can lead to delays in the publication process due to the high workload of reviewers and editors. They may have longer publication deadlines than lesser-known journals
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Field of study
Publication deadlines may vary depending on the discipline and field of study in which the author works and the research is conducted. In the humanities, particularly in linguistics, it can often take longer to meet basic publication deadlines. This is due to the lengthy peer-review process due to the large volume of materials submitted to journals in these fields.
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Communication between the editorial board and the author
This stage differs from the previous ones in that it becomes more individualised. The speed of the author's and editorial board's response to each other's letters and inquiries can significantly affect the total time required to prepare and publish a research paper. The faster the author responds to the requirements of the editorial board and reviewers, the faster the review process and, consequently, the publication of the material will be completed. Long delays in responding can be caused not only by personal circumstances, but also by the fact that letters can be mistakenly sent to the spam folder. Therefore, it is important to periodically check this folder and respond to emails on time.
All of these factors have a significant impact on the timing of the publication of a scientific article. The author is required to prepare a high-quality research and manuscript so that the process of reviewing the article in the editorial office and peer review is not delayed even further, given the demand for publications. There are also factors that the author and the publication have no control over, so it is important to be patient and understanding of all processes. We can recommend that authors, if they do not receive a response from the editorial office about the stage of the work, write to the editorial office in 3-4 weeks.
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