How Can I Get My Paper Reviewed More Quickly? Proof, Proof, Proof!

As many of you are aware, there are many, many more journal options now than there were even 10 years ago. It seems almost every month, I receive notification of the creation of a new journal and the opportunity to publish in it. I would argue that even though the number of journals has grown, the population of qualified reviewers has not. This, in my humble opinion, has resulted in an increased burden on reviewers. As a reviewer myself, I am motivated and honored to be able to provide this type of service to the profession. Through my roles as a co-editor-in-chief, receiving editor, and reviewer, I have perhaps received more insight into the lifecycle of paper publication than the average bear. I know that at JAFPT, the editorial team has worked very hard to reduce the time it takes for a paper to get published. Yet, invariably, there are still papers that seem to take an inordinate amount of time to make it through the publication process. There are a couple of reasons this happens. The first reason is that our authors are publishing in an area where the number of experts are extremely limited. News flash: if you are publishing in seafood science, you can safely assume the number of experts world-wide are limited. I would argue that the degree of separation between seafood scientists is probably “2.” If I do not know you in the field directly, I most likely know someone who knows you. If you are publishing in an unusual area of seafood science, your paper is going to fall in the category where the experts are extremely limited. It can take a long time to find an expert reviewer in this situation. The second reason I see papers languishing in the review cycle is that the paper has many grammar mistakes. What do I mean by grammar mistakes? I do not mean that you used the British spelling of “colour” instead of “color.” I am also not talking about nuanced grammar mistakes. For example, using the word less instead of fewer. Incorrect: There were 3 less fish in treatment A than B vs. Correct: There were 3 fewer fish in treatment A than B. I am really talking about significant and egregious grammar mistakes. The kind that makes a reviewer spend half a day correcting all the poorly constructed sentences and inappropriate verb tenses. If you are not strong in the language you are publishing in, find a colleague who is to help proof your paper before you submit it. Alternatively, pay a person who is either a native speaker or strong in the language to proof it. Pay an editing service to proof it. If the reviewer is having struggle to understanding what is written, that means they are committing a huge amount of time to bring the paper up to publication standards. In my experience, reviewers are outright declining to review papers that at first glance are riddled with grammatical errors. At one time, reviewers may have slogged through the grammar to validate the science. This, however, is no longer the case. My advice to potential authors is to pay attention to the grammar. If writing is not in your “skill set,” find someone who has that skill set to proof the paper before it is submitted. It will go a very long way towards getting the paper reviewed in a timely manner.