American Journal of Epidemiology Advance Access originally published online on November 3, 2005
American Journal of Epidemiology 2005 162(12):1235-1236; doi:10.1093/aje/kwi344
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Editorial Commentary |
What Happens to Your Manuscript: Characteristics of Papers Published in Volumes 161 and 162
The Editors
Three-hundred and thirty-nine contributions and four errata were published in volumes 161 and 162 of the American Journal of Epidemiology, which covered January 1 through December 31 of 2005. The countries from which these 339 contributions were submitted are shown in table 1. As in prior volumes (1
–4), nearly two thirds of the published contributions were submitted by authors residing in the United States.
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Table 2 provides the distribution of the 339 contributions according to type and subject area of research. Original contributions, at nearly two thirds of the published material, remain the predominant type. Chronic noninfectious diseases, at more than one third of the published material, remain the leading subject area.
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Table 3 shows the median numbers of weeks from receipt to initial decision date, from initial decision date to final decision date, and from final decision date to publication date, by type of contribution (except for the nine book reviews). Compared with volume 160 (4; also table 3), there was a modest 3-week decrease (from 40 weeks to 37 weeks) in the time from receipt to publication for all types of contributions.
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Table 4 summarizes the decisions made for submissions to the Journal between January 1 and June 30 of 2005. Of 688 submissions, 71 (10 percent) still had a decision pending as of October 1, 2005. As expected on the basis of Journal policy, which gives considerable latitude to authors of correspondence, letters to the Editor had the highest acceptance rate, at 79 percent. Nineteen percent of nonpending Original Contributions were accepted, which falls between the 15 percent acceptance rate reported in 2004 (4
) and the 24 percent acceptance rate reported in 1994 (3).
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Starting on June 29, 2005, the Journal began publishing edited papers electronically via Advance Access. This process enables finalized papers to be published online well ahead of their appearance in the printed journal. Currently, Advance Access papers are posted online approximately 14 weeks after they are accepted for publication.
In summary, volumes 161 and 162 of the American Journal of Epidemiology received scholarly contributions from several continents; the bulk of contributions emanated from the United States, as has been the case in prior volumes (1–4). The majority of ink printed in the Journal is spent on Original Contributions—a full 71 percent of contributions when these papers are combined with Practice of Epidemiology papers. The leading subject matter of the Journal remains chronic noninfectious diseases, with other subject areas being fairly equally represented (except for the lower proportion of psychiatric epidemiology contributions).
The Editors continue to make every attempt to expedite manuscript review. We would like to take this opportunity to thank the dedicated people who participate in the production of the American Journal of Epidemiology as Associate Editors, reviewers, authors, and staff.
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- The Editors. What happens to your manuscript: characteristics of papers published in volume 138. Am J Epidemiol 1993;138:1108–10.
[Free Full Text] - The Editors. What happens to your manuscript: characteristics of papers published in volume 139. Am J Epidemiol 1993;139:1223–5.
- The Editors. What happens to your manuscript: characteristics of papers published in volume 140. Am J Epidemiol 1994;140:1146–8.
[Free Full Text] - The Editors. What happens to your manuscript: characteristics of papers published in volume 160. Am J Epidemiol 2004;160:1234–6.
[Free Full Text]
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