Indeed, not every journal is the same! Let me recount the story of my first journal article. It is a theoretical paper that might be best classified as mathematical statistics.
2014-03-14: We submit the paper to a respected JUFO 2 journal. The next day, the editor decides that the manuscript does not fit well enough to the scope of the journal.
2014-04-02: After 18 days, we manage to submit to a different JUFO 2 journal. We have our hopes up because the journal has published an earlier paper on the same topic some years earlier.
2014-08-12: More than four months pass. We then get a rejection from the journal. The two reviewers think our results unimportant. From the comments, we infer that they did not understand certain basic results of the paper.
Rereading the manuscript after a long break, I discover that our main proof is wrong. The reviewers had not noticed the problem. After a month and a half, the proof is fixed and we are ready for another round.
2014-09-26: We submit to a JUFO 2 journal. The editor rejects the paper after eight days, saying that we should publish in a more prestigious journal where we might reach a wider audience.
2014-10-08: We submit to a very prestigious JUFO 3 journal (one suggested by the previous editor). The editor rejects the paper after 2 days, because (according to him) the field has been extensively studied.
2014-10-10: We submit to a JUFO 2 journal.
2014-03-30: After 5 months and 20 days, we get a decision: the editor requests a major revision (with no promise of acceptance after that). The two reviewers’ comments are extensive and show that they have actually read the paper.
2015-06-26: After almost three months, we submit the revised version. We have added a new section, made numerous tweaks to the paper and argued both in the paper and in our response why the paper is important.
2015-08-12: The paper is accepted! I’m proud of the final result and happy to have it finally accepted somewhere.
Some statistics:
Time from the first submission to the final acceptance decision:
1 year, 4 months, 29 days.
Time the manuscript spent being submitted to various journals:
361 days (70% of the total).
Another story
Indeed, not every journal is the same! Let me recount the story of my first journal article. It is a theoretical paper that might be best classified as mathematical statistics.
2014-03-14: We submit the paper to a respected JUFO 2 journal. The next day, the editor decides that the manuscript does not fit well enough to the scope of the journal.
2014-04-02: After 18 days, we manage to submit to a different JUFO 2 journal. We have our hopes up because the journal has published an earlier paper on the same topic some years earlier.
2014-08-12: More than four months pass. We then get a rejection from the journal. The two reviewers think our results unimportant. From the comments, we infer that they did not understand certain basic results of the paper.
Rereading the manuscript after a long break, I discover that our main proof is wrong. The reviewers had not noticed the problem. After a month and a half, the proof is fixed and we are ready for another round.
2014-09-26: We submit to a JUFO 2 journal. The editor rejects the paper after eight days, saying that we should publish in a more prestigious journal where we might reach a wider audience.
2014-10-08: We submit to a very prestigious JUFO 3 journal (one suggested by the previous editor). The editor rejects the paper after 2 days, because (according to him) the field has been extensively studied.
2014-10-10: We submit to a JUFO 2 journal.
2014-03-30: After 5 months and 20 days, we get a decision: the editor requests a major revision (with no promise of acceptance after that). The two reviewers’ comments are extensive and show that they have actually read the paper.
2015-06-26: After almost three months, we submit the revised version. We have added a new section, made numerous tweaks to the paper and argued both in the paper and in our response why the paper is important.
2015-08-12: The paper is accepted! I’m proud of the final result and happy to have it finally accepted somewhere.
Some statistics:
Time from the first submission to the final acceptance decision:
1 year, 4 months, 29 days.
Time the manuscript spent being submitted to various journals:
361 days (70% of the total).
Number of rejections:
4.