Editorial pubs.acs.org/cm
Appealing Chemistry: How Our Appeals Process Works decision (no changes) or to overturn it and send out the manuscript for external peer review. While still early to calculate statistics, approximately 5% of papers have been considered for further examination. We believe that evaluating decisions together enables us to arrive at a fair decision. As mentioned above, we are authors as well, and we endeavor to treat all manuscripts with the care we hope our own would receive. The process also allows us to be mutually calibrated, which is important since we are now a large group of editors handling close to 5000 submissions per year. As always, your input is important to us, and we look forward to hearing from you.
As practicing scientists, we know that a thick skin is a prerequisite to the pursuit of research, for a slew of reasons. The vacillations of day-to-day scientific work, the pressure of knowing that our laboratory and people within depend upon our success in grant writing (in both industry and academia), shifting political winds, and other intertwined factors underline the requirement that scientists be able to tolerate, as Shakespeare put it, “the slings and arrows of outrageous fortune”.1 Simply stated, scientific work is challenging on many levels. Because publishing is an essential part of the entire research endeavor, it may be one of the most stressful, albeit rewarding, aspects. Having one’s paper declined is far from a pleasant experience, and as we know personally, the experience stimulates a range of emotions and reactions. One avenue that some authors may wish to pursue is an appeal. In this short editorial, I will describe the appeals process that is now in place at Chemistry of Materials. The handling of appeals has been the subject of recent informative editorials by our sister American Chemical Society journals, ACS Nano2 and The Journal of Physical Chemistry Letters,3 and we believe that it is important to share our process as well. Our process is still new, and while we believe it is important to have a clearly defined course of action, we are open to improvements and suggestions. Every paper submitted to Chemistry of Materials is initially reviewed by two editors, the first being the editor-in-chief and
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AUTHOR INFORMATION
Notes
Views expressed in this editorial are those of the author and not necessarily the views of the ACS.
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REFERENCES
(1) Shakespeare, W. Hamlet Act 3, Scene 1, Page 3. (2) Weiss, P. S. ACS Nano 2014, 8, 1951. (3) Kamat, P. V.; Scholes, G.; Prezhdo, O.; Zaera, F.; Zweir, T.; Schatz, G. C. J. Phys. Chem. Lett. 2014, 5, 896.
Every paper submitted to Chemistry of Materials is initially reviewed by two editors the second the chosen associate editor with the appropriate expertise. The associate editor makes the ultimate decision to send the manuscript out for review or to decline the manuscript after this internal editorial review. Manuscripts that have gone out for external peer review and then have been declined represent the first category of appeals. If an author wishes to appeal the decision, they would write either the associate editor who handled their manuscript and/or the editor-in-chief, with the reasons for the appeal. We then correspond with the author to outline the process that will be undertaken and allow them to decide if they agree. If yes, we compile the manuscript and all associated correspondence into an organized PDF document and use a file-sharing application that enables all Chemistry of Materials editors to view it. The editor-in-chief selects a subset of editors with proficiency and interest in the research area, and comments regarding the manuscript are collected within a specified period of time. If even one editor wishes to advocate for the paper, the decision is overturned, and the authors are given the opportunity to modify their paper before additional review. In the second category of appeals, to which belong those manuscripts that did not go out for external review, the editor-in-chief reviews the decision of the associate editor; the manuscript is then shared with the managing editor of the journal and possibly one new associate editor. At this point, a decision is made together to either stand by the original © 2014 American Chemical Society
Jillian M. Buriak, Editor-in-Chief
Published: July 22, 2014 4045
dx.doi.org/10.1021/cm5024103 | Chem. Mater. 2014, 26, 4045−4045
