Happy Holidays from Origin Reports
We hope you reach the end of your personal hamster maze this holiday season!
Understanding Box Plots
Since many journal statistics relate information about people driven processes, such as time to initial decision or total time in peer review, the values can vary widely from one manuscript to the next. You could choose to report the average or the median value but that does not tell the whole story. Box plots are an excellent way to graphically represent not only the median value but also the spread of the data.
Outliers, Consistency and Context: the Importance of Reporting Variability in Editorial Office Performance Data
This article was originally published in Volume 15, Issue 1 of EON (Editorial Office News) in February 2022
Comparing the Hard to Compare: Uses of the 100% Bar Chart
Standard bar charts are used by journal offices to relate key performance indicators, such as number of submissions, each decision type, number of assignments per editor, or number of reviews completed per year. Typically used less often, is the standard bar chart’s cousin - the 100% bar chart. When used correctly, the 100% bar chart can be a powerful tool for comparing quantities of unequal size.
A Date is a Date is a Date… Maybe Not
When you create charts to present your journal data, it is important to note which of the many possible dates you used. For example, when creating a chart to show initial decisions, are you using the submission date or the date of the initial decision as your reference date? Does it really matter?
Using Journal Timing Charts to Improve Manuscript Flow: Part 3
In the last post in this series on timing charts, we will look at the time from submission to final decision and the time a manuscript spends specifically in the hands of the editorial office.
Using Journal Timing Charts to Improve Manuscript Flow: Part 2
In our previous blog, we discussed several EIC timing charts that can give insight into the process. Today, we are going to be looking at editor and reviewer timing charts to gain a better understanding of their performance and time taken in peer review.
Using Journal Timing Charts to Improve Manuscript Flow: Part 1
It’s time to consider what types of information we will present to our boards at upcoming editorial board meetings. Initial decision and time to final decision give insight into the performance of a journal over a certain time period.
Diving Deeper into Your Submission Data
As we approach the end of the year, editorial office staff are beginning to think about their journals’ 2021 submission volume and how it compared to previous years. Submission volume for a journal can be a critical indicator of a journal’s health, but the actual submission number is just the surface information. We can dive deeper into the data and find trends that can be used to steer a journal in new directions.
Reporting on Editor Performance
For a journal office, it is very important to understand how each of your editors is performing. Are all of your editors evaluating manuscripts in the same way? Are some of the editors slower than the bulk of the editors? Are some of your editors over or underutilized? In Origin Reports, we have developed a chart that presents all this information in both graphical and tabular form.
The How and the Why of Collecting Identity Data: Part 4 Collecting and Evaluating Identity Data
In this post, of a multipart series on identity data, we will discuss considerations for when you begin collecting and interpreting the data.
The How and the Why of Collecting Identity Data: Part 3 Designing the Survey
Continuing our discussion about considerations when collecting and reporting identity data, we will discuss how to design the survey in this post.
The How and the Why of Collecting Identity Data: Part 2
Considerations When Collecting and Reporting Identity Data
The How and the Why of Collecting Identity Data: Part 1
It’s Peer Review Week 2021! This is an important event, celebrated each year in September, to focus on a specific aspect of peer review through educational opportunities, information dissemination, and open discussion. This year’s theme is “Identity in Peer Review” (https://peerreviewweek.wordpress.com/peer-review-week-2021/ ).
How to Design an Effective Editorial Report: Part 4
In this, our last post in the series on designing effective editorial reports, we will look at some editor and reviewer charts that you may want to include in your editorial reports.
How to Design an Effective Editorial Report: Part 3
In our previous posts about creating an effective editorial report, we focused on things that should be considered when beginning the process of designing your report, such as determining your audience, deciding what key indicators you need to report, and items you should consider regarding visualization of your data. Today, we are going to discuss some of the specific charts you might want to include.
How to Design an Effective Editorial Report: Part 2
In this blog, we discuss adding visual elements to make your charts more informative, and other visual considerations for making your editorial reports more engaging.
How to Design an Effective Editorial Report: Part 1
There are a number of things that you should consider when designing your editorial report. Primarily these should include: Who is your audience? How will you present your report (e.g., written report, slideshow presentation, in-person editorial board meeting)? What are your key indicators and what is the best way to represent your data?
Decision Tree for Initial Decisions
Decision trees provide an instant visual summary of the outcomes of your peer review process, offering details that may otherwise get buried when data is presented in a tabular form. For this month’s Chart of the Month post, we will be discussing a decision tree chart for initial decisions. Learn how to get the most out of this extremely useful chart!
The Importance of Chart Parameter Lists
Why should you show the parameters on your charts? Because it is a way to document how the chart was created so that it can be correctly interpreted and reproduced. Including the parameters directly on your chart is the best way to ensure that your chart will be clearly understood, now and in the future!
