Rejection is the norm in journal publication. Yet, publication is often a matter of when, not if. Plan well ahead by following a publication schedule.

1. How to create a publication schedule and why
Helping you get published

2. How to create a publication schedule and why
The time taken from submission of a manuscript to acceptance for
publication in a journal can vary considerably, ranging from a few
months to 3-4 years. Why so long? Because manuscripts typically
get rejected rather than accepted by the first journal they are
submitted to. Indeed, it is not uncommon for a paper to be
rejected up to 3 or 4 times before it is finally accepted by a
journal.

3. How to create a publication schedule and why
Publication is often a matter of when, not if
3 million: number of manuscripts submitted to journals each year1
1.5 million: number of manuscripts that are then rejected by the journals1
95%: rejection rate of journals like Cell, Lancet, and Nature
62%: percentage of published papers in epidemiology that had been rejected at least once2
79%: percentage of manuscripts initially rejected by the journal Radiology but subsequently
published within 3-4 years3
20%: percentage of papers published by top ecologists that were rejected at least once4
3-6 times: estimated number of times that manuscripts are submitted to journals before
getting accepted for publication5
2 years: period within which at least 50% of manuscripts across disciplines were published
after getting rejected by the first journal they were submitted to6

4. How to create a publication schedule and why
Any author wanting to get his/her paper published in a journal
must factor in the possibility of rejection and accordingly prepare
a publication schedule.
Given below are some of the major decisions/actions that
authors should take while creating a publication schedule.
1. Decide the format of your paper
2. Determine your journal strategy
3. Ensure that you meet all the submission requirements of the
target journal
4. Take advantage of pre-submission inquires

5. How to create a publication schedule and why
1. Decide the format of your paper
Should your paper be written up as a full-length original
research article or a brief technical report? If you are in a hurry
to have part of your findings published, even before you have
completed the full study, then a rapid communication is the best
option for publishing quickly. You should not try to write up your
research in an unsuitable format just because you want to
publish in a particular journal (e.g., don’t turn a case report into
an original article just because the journal of your choice does
not accept case reports).

6. How to create a publication schedule and why
2. Determine your journal strategy
You should create a list of at least 5 journals to submit your
manuscript to. As explained above, there is a high chance that
the paper will not get accepted by the first journal you submit
to. You might need to consider various strategies while
determining this list of journals. For example, is publishing in a
prestigious journal your most important consideration? Then
you might wish to try your luck with 3 prestigious journals
before lowering the target for the last 2 journals. Or would you
like to publish in a prestigious journal but cannot afford to risk
waiting a year or two to publish? Then you might want to
submit to a prestigious journal initially, but lower the target
gradually; as you go down the list, pick journals where you have
an increasingly higher likelihood of being accepted.

7. How to create a publication schedule and why
3. Ensure that you meet all the submission requirements of
the target journal
Submission requirements vary across journals. For example,
some journals may require only a single cover letter stating
that all authors agree to publication, while others may require
that all authors read and sign the journal’s authorship
agreement form. Thus, it can take anywhere from a week to a
month before you are ready to complete the submission of
your paper to a journal. You should also factor in time to
reformat the manuscript in accordance with the journal’s
instructions for authors. When compiling your list of journals,
try to ensure that the journals don’t have radically different
formats for manuscripts. For example, if your paper is 5000
words in length, it is best to avoid journals that have a word
count restriction of 3000 words.

8. How to create a publication schedule and why
4. Take advantage of pre-submission inquires
Many journals let you submit an abstract or short summary to
ask their opinion on whether the topic or research will be of
interest to the journal. If your selected journal allows this
option, take advantage of it. If the journal is not interested, it
will save you loads of time in avoiding the entire submission
process with that journal.

9. How to create a publication schedule and why
Determine next steps to be taken once you receive a decision from the journal
Scenario 1: The manuscript is rejected by the journal without peer review
In this scenario, the decision of the journal editor is likely to be communicated to you
very quickly, sometimes as quickly as a day and typically in less than a month. If this
happens, you have no option but to consider another journal. This is why it is
important to keep a list of backup journals ready. Select the next journal on your list
and immediately begin the submission process, without wasting time in between to
look for another journal.

10. How to create a publication schedule and why
Determine next steps to be taken once you receive a decision from the journal
Scenario 2: Manuscript is rejected after peer review
Type 1: Conditional rejection
A conditional rejection is not bad news. It means that the journal is willing to
reconsider the paper for publication if you follow the reviewers’ and editor’s
suggestions. You have two options available: reject/ignore the changes suggested, or
revise the manuscript on the basis of the reviewers’ comments. It is highly advisable
to go with the second option (unless you fundamentally disagree with the
reviewer), since the journal has already indicated its interest in the paper by asking
you to resubmit. It will also be quicker because the journal is already familiar with
your paper and may even decide to go ahead and publish it without another round
of review.

11. How to create a publication schedule and why
Determine next steps to be taken once you receive a decision from the journal
Type 2: Outright rejection
After receiving an outright rejection, authors should ideally consider the reasons for
rejection. Incorporating the reviewers’ and editor’s comments can increase the
chances of publication in another journal. Indeed, one study did a case study of a
journal and found that in the case of manuscripts rejected by the journals, those
that were revised by the authors following reviewers’ suggestions were
subsequently published in journals with higher impact factors than those that were
not revised (they also found that some of the manuscripts took over 28 months to
get published).7 If, however, reviewers identified a major flaw in the research, then
the author would be well advised to devote some more time to improving the
research before considering another journal, rather than waste time submitting the
manuscript to one journal after another.

12. How to create a publication schedule and why
Determine next steps to be taken once you receive a decision from the journal
Scenario 3: Manuscript is accepted for publication
Congratulations! Most of your work is done. Be sure to provide thoughtful and well-
reasoned responses to the reviewers’ comments, especially in the case of a conditional
acceptance. And make sure you complete all the revisions, proofing, and figure
production work that the journal requests on time, to avoid publication delays.

13. How to create a publication schedule and why
Planning
A recommended approach to creating a publication schedule is to work backwards from
the target date of publication.
Figure: A mock schedule for publication planning. Target: Publish by end of 2012; Start
date: September 1, 2011.

14. How to create a publication schedule and why
Journal 1(Very Journal 2(Very Journal Journal Journal 5(Safe
prestigious prestigious 3(Prestigious 4(Respected journal with high
journal with low journal with low journal with journal with chance of
chance of chance of moderate chance moderate chance publication)
publication) publication) of publication) of publication
and guarantee to
send decision in
2 months)
Time to prepare 4 weeks 2 weeks 0 weeks 0 weeks 0 weeks
manuscript
Time to prepare 2 weeks 1 week 1 week 1 week 1 week
submission
requirements
Time taken for 12 weeks 12 weeks 12 weeks 8 weeks 12 weeks
peer review
Total time 18 weeks 15 weeks 13 weeks 9 weeks 13 weeks
Total 18 weeks 31 weeks 44 weeks 53 weeks 66 weeks
cumulative time
Date Dec 29, 2011 Apr 12, 2012 Jul 12, 2011 Sept 13, 2011 Dec 13, 2011

15. How to create a publication schedule and why
Of course, the times given above can vary widely. Peer review
periods can be difficult to estimate. Further, a single author
may well be able to revise the paper and prepare all
submission requirements within a few days of receiving a
journal decision. However, if you have 10 co-authors, it may
take you a few months just to revise the paper.

16. How to create a publication schedule and why
Conclusion
Rejection rather than acceptance is the norm in academic
publishing. But most papers end up getting published if the
authors stay persistent. Authors should factor in time to submit
their paper to more than one journal prior to publication. Plan
well ahead! If you need a paper to be published in 2013, you
should begin the journal submission process no later than
January 2012.

17. How to create a publication schedule and why
Bibliography
1. House of Commons Science and Technology Committee (2011). Peer review in scientific publications Vol
1. House of Commons: London, UK.
2. Hall SA & Wilcox AJ (2007). The fate of epidemiologic manuscripts: A study of papers submitted to
Epidemiology. Epidemiology 18(2):262–65.
3. Khosla A, McDonald RJ, Bornmann L, and Kallmes DF (2011). Getting to yes: The fate of neuroradiology
manuscripts rejected by Radiology over a 2-year period. Radiology 260:3-5;
doi:10.1148/radiol.11110490.
4. Schultz DM (2010). Rejection rates for journals publishing in the atmospheric sciences. Bulletin of the
American Meteorological Society, 91(2), 231-243. doi: 10.1175/2009BAMS2908.1.
5. Azar OH (2004). Rejections and the importance of first response times. International Journal of Social
Economics, 31(3), 259-74. doi: 10.1108/03068290410518247.
6. Woolley KL & Barron JP (2009). Handling manuscript rejection: Insights from evidence and experience.
Chest, 135(2), 573-7. doi: 10.1378/chest.08-2007.
7. Armstrong AW, Idriss SZ, Kimball AB, Bernhard JD (2008). Fate of manuscripts declined by the Journal of
the American Academy of Dermatology. 58(4):632-5.

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