Abstract
Mandatory revision in accordance with reviewers’ comments has apparently become the norm for articles published in certain quarters. Of the regular articles published in the 9-year period 1972–1980 by a sample of highly reputable journals (British Journal of Psychology, Econometrica, and the Journal of the American Statistical Association), 68% to 99% had to be revised subsequent to submission. These high rates of coerced revision place enormous power in the hands of reviewers to enforce conformity to their views while largely escaping responsibility, or accountability, for their actions. This situation is conducive to a variety of abuses that detract from the efficiency of the peer-review system and therefore constitute editorial overkill. These abuses are extensively discussed and illustrated.
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Bradley, J.V. Editorial overkill. Bull. Psychon. Soc. 19, 271–274 (1982). https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330255
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03330255