ICYMI
A quick rundown of the topics we've covered in ORIGINal Thoughts so far.
How to Help Authors to Improve the Quality of Figures
In this post Kharissia Pettus explains why figures are such a critical component of a journal article and provides tips on how journals can help guide authors to create high-quality figures.
Reviewer Training as a Form of Engagement
In this first in a short series of posts on reviewer training, author Jason Roberts encourages journals to consider offering educational opportunities to improve performance, an act that could be presented both as giving back to the community and an
Self-Employment: Benefits and Responsibilities to Consider as a Contractor
Starting out on your own as a self-employed contractor in the scholarly publishing space can be exciting but daunting. In our continued series on "How to be a Contractor," Jennifer Mahar explores important considerations for self-employment, including insurance, taxes, and
Policies for the Editorial Office Part 1: Authorship
Having clearly written and transparent authorship policies on your website is critically important to the successful operations of your journal. In this post, author Diane Punger discusses several key aspects of authorship including how it is defined, the role of
Article-based Publishing Workflow
A journal’s workflow dictates how articles make their way through production and into an issue, and how those issues are compiled and released. In this post, author Lindsey Brounstein defines article-based publishing and shares important considerations for this workflow if
Your Home Office: Managing Technology and Software as a Contractor
Peer review management, journal publishing, and many other activities within scholarly publishing frequently are managed by teams that include contractors—this has become even more common because of the pandemic, with journals finding cost-savings with outsourced editorial personnel. Today's post is
The Importance of Policies for the Editorial Office
Policies are the foundation that we build our workflows on in the editorial office. In this first post of a series dedicated to editorial office policies, Jennifer Mahar explains why they are so important and how clarity, transparency, and documentation
The Latest Buzz in Our Biz: How Will the Nelson Memo’s Recommendations on Data Deposition Impact Editorial Offices?
How will the Nelson Memo's recommendations on open data impact editorial offices? Kristie Overstreet explores how journal staff can support open-data mandates
Introducing ORIGINal ThoughtsꟷA New Resource from Origin Editorial
ORIGINal Thoughts is a new blog from Origin Editorial. We'll provide news and information that impacts the peer-review community most
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
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
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
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
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
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
