Page 37 - Straive eBook: Redefining Your Peer Review Experience

Straive | Redefining Your Peer Review Experience 37

The acceptance criteria for journals that use this model within a publisher's portfolio
vary significantly, ranging from tough to soft. Acceptance criteria may include novelty,
methodology, and readability for a broader audience. Cascaded peer review can help reduce
costs associated with manuscript re-evaluations and also promote alternative journals.
Authors, on the other hand, may decline to submit their manuscripts to these suggested
journals, assuming that journals with low acceptance thresholds may be encouraged to use
soft editing and peer review practices rather than rigorous peer review.

Advantages of a Transfer Over Straight Rejection

Following the initial peer review or re-review of the amended version, the editor will decide if
the manuscript can be accepted, should be denied, or be invited for further refinement. Any of
these options can be made in conjunction with a proposal to transfer the manuscript to
another journal in the publisher's portfolio. Unless the author specifies otherwise, the transfer
can also occur automatically upon rejection for the journal to which the article was originally
submitted. Apart from transfers initiated by the editor, authors may also request transfers.

Cascading peer review and manuscript transfer benefits the author when an article is rejected
by a particular editor/journal. While around 70% of submitted manuscripts are rejected,
many are rejected due to lack of suitability to the journal rather than the quality of research.
Following further evaluation, editors/reviewers may identify rejected manuscripts of sufficient
quality as candidates for recommendation to another relevant publication. A high-impact
journal must be selective in its publication, and it cannot publish the nth feasibility, pilot,
or usability research. Authors must be aware of this limitation. Often, the manuscript can
subsequently be reframed (as a study protocol or techniques piece) and accepted for
publication in other relevant journals in the publisher's portfolio. By utilizing the manuscript
transfer option, authors save time by avoiding the need to resubmit to another publication and
by not having to wait for fresh reviews. Most often, the editor and reviewers remain the same,
which has the advantage of eliminating the need to wait for new reviewers or editors to be
identified. Additionally, the author benefits from the fact that the submission date remains
constant, which is critical for asserting priority claims for ideas. If the authors were to
withdraw the manuscript and resubmit it elsewhere, the submission date will undoubtedly
change.