Editorial: 2013 in Review

Excerpt

For the last several years, the number of papers submitted to the Journal has continued to increase steadily. During 2012, about 770 papers were submitted; during 2013, the final number of submissions is projected to be approximately 840. Both the staff in the Journal office and the Associate Editors and I work diligently to ensure the quality of materials submitted. This often means that papers are returned to authors for revision to conform to Journal guidelines before they undergo peer review. As in the past, we aim for a maximum 2-month time frame in which to inform authors of a decision. Occasionally, the initial reviews require a longer lead time, and, sometimes, the Associate Editors and I reject papers that will clearly not survive the peer-review process; with the increase in submission and the potential for “reviewer fatigue”, we likely will do this more frequently in the coming year. The double blind review process has worked reasonably well, and it has been a pleasure to see that both the quantity and quality of submissions have increased. …