Abstract
Background
One of the satisfactions of publishing a paper in an academic journal is seeing the process reach closure after potentially weeks or months of peer review and editorial processing. Typically, in the latter step, a proof is developed and the paper stays in press until the paper is assigned to a journal issue, in the case of a print journal. In some cases, it is possible to find papers that are in press for years.
Aims
Although it is unclear why this is the case, when a paper stays in an “in limbo” status for so long, it almost defeats the purpose of rapid proof and online publication.
Method
The date of the last “in press” article was manually extracted and compared in 23 medicine-related journals indexed in Elsevier’s Science Direct.
Results
Among the 23 journals, “in press” articles ranged from less than one month to almost 16 years.
Conclusion
Editors and publishers should endeavor to publish all “in press” papers within a reasonable amount of time. If not, they should rethink their publication process so as not to leave the intellect of some academics in a perpetual state of publishing “limbo”.
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Change history
14 February 2022
Teixeira da Silva should be the famil name. This has been correctly modified.
Notes
The terms used in these descriptions related to processing speed, like “rapid,” are subjective and are based on the author’s perception based on personal experience over decades of publishing.
References
Teixeira da Silva JA (2018) The preprint debate: what are the issues? Med J Armed Forces India 74(2):162–164. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mjafi.2017.08.002
Teixeira da Silva JA, Dobránszki J (2017) Excessively long editorial decisions and excessively long publication times by journals: causes, risks, consequences, and proposed solutions. Publ Res Q 33(1):101–108. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12109-016-9489-9
Teixeira da Silva JA, Dobránszki J (2015) The authorship of deceased scientists and their posthumous responsibilities. Science Editor (CSE) 38(3/4):98–100
Dobránszki J, Teixeira da Silva JA (2016) Editorial responsibilities: both sides of the coin. Journal of Educational and Social Research 6(3):9–10. https://doi.org/10.5901/jesr.2016.v6n3p9
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Teixeira da Silva, J.A. Papers perpetually in press: intellect left to rot. Ir J Med Sci 191, 2457–2458 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02898-4
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11845-021-02898-4