Another example of research hidden for months due to academic publishing norms
This is the latest paper, published in PLOS Genetics, from one of my former PhD advisors in graduate school.
This one isn’t even all that bad, from submission to publication took seven months. However, I didn’t have the heart to ask him if it had been submitted elsewhere and been rejected. I didn’t want to shit all over what is a great feeling to have another publication out the door.
Sadly, most papers do go through multiple rejections from other journals before finding a home. And that’s if they are not “scooped” while doing the long journal dance. This means that advances in research are tied up for 1-2 years in many cases.
Why I am upset and concerned
Delaying research helps no one. The paper above is an important one, that doesn’t immediately translate to saving lives, but is core basic research that one day could be applied as such. And this happens every day.
I cannot wait for PeerJ PrePrints to come out this Spring, which will put a stop to this nonsense.
