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Journal peer review: a bar or bridge? An analysis of a paper’s revision history and turnaround time, and the effect on citation

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Listed:
  • J. Rigby

    (The University of Manchester)

  • D. Cox

    (The University of Manchester)

  • K. Julian

    (The University of Manchester)

Abstract

Journal peer review lies at the heart of academic quality control. This article explores the journal peer review process and seeks to examine how the reviewing process might itself contribute to papers, leading them to be more highly cited and to achieve greater recognition. Our work builds on previous observations and views expressed in the literature about (a) the role of actors involved in the research and publication process that suggest that peer review is inherent in the research process and (b) on the contribution reviewers themselves might make to the content and increased citation of papers. Using data from the journal peer review process of a single journal in the Social Sciences field (Business, Management and Accounting), we examine the effects of peer review on papers submitted to that journal including the effect upon citation, a novel step in the study of the outcome of peer review. Our detailed analysis suggests, contrary to initial assumptions, that it is not the time taken to revise papers but the actual number of revisions that leads to greater recognition for papers in terms of citation impact. Our study provides evidence, albeit limited to the case of a single journal, that the peer review process may constitute a form of knowledge production and is not the simple correction of errors contained in submitted papers.

Suggested Citation

  • J. Rigby & D. Cox & K. Julian, 2018. "Journal peer review: a bar or bridge? An analysis of a paper’s revision history and turnaround time, and the effect on citation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(3), pages 1087-1105, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:114:y:2018:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-017-2630-5
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-017-2630-5
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    Cited by:

    1. Bianchi, Federico & García-Costa, Daniel & Grimaldo, Francisco & Squazzoni, Flaminio, 2022. "Measuring the effect of reviewers on manuscript change: A study on a sample of submissions to Royal Society journals (2006–2017)," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(3).
    2. Sun, Zhuanlan, 2024. "Textual features of peer review predict top-cited papers: An interpretable machine learning perspective," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 18(2).
    3. Jingda Ding & Dehui Du, 2023. "A study of the correlation between publication delays and measurement indicators of journal articles in the social network environment—based on online data in PLOS," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(3), pages 1711-1743, March.
    4. Bianchi, Federico & Grimaldo, Francisco & Squazzoni, Flaminio, 2019. "The F3-index. Valuing reviewers for scholarly journals," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 13(1), pages 78-86.
    5. Shan Jiang, 2021. "Understanding authors' psychological reactions to peer reviews: a text mining approach," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(7), pages 6085-6103, July.
    6. Balázs Győrffy & Andrea Magda Nagy & Péter Herman & Ádám Török, 2018. "Factors influencing the scientific performance of Momentum grant holders: an evaluation of the first 117 research groups," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 117(1), pages 409-426, October.
    7. Daniel A. Charen & Nolan A. Maher & Nicole Zubizarreta & Jashvant Poeran & Calin S. Moucha & Shai Shemesh, 2020. "Evaluation of publication delays in the orthopedic surgery manuscript review process from 2010 to 2015," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 124(2), pages 1127-1135, August.
    8. J. A. Garcia & Rosa Rodriguez-Sánchez & J. Fdez-Valdivia, 2019. "The optimal amount of information to provide in an academic manuscript," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(3), pages 1685-1705, December.
    9. Akbaritabar, Aliakbar & Stephen, Dimity & Squazzoni, Flaminio, 2022. "A study of referencing changes in preprint-publication pairs across multiple fields," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 16(2).

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