As an editorial assistant or even associate editor, how do you entice me to review something for your Q2 journal? Easy, actually:
- On a Saturday morning, send me a generic invitation to review. Make sure that the manuscript is tangential to my own research interests/area of expertise. Extra points if I have never published in your journal and have no intention to send you any of my future work.
- Immediately follow up with another generic mail, which informs me that “an account has been created in EditorialManager”. That inspires a sense of commitment in me, because your machines went to all the trouble of appending another row to a table. Plus, I may already have several accounts for every journal I have ever been in touch with that are clogging up my password manager, but I’ll always want a shiny new one. They are the ultimate NFTs for academics. Gimme!
- Within 48 hours, send a passive-aggressive reminder that I have not responded to your invitation yet. Make sure that this mail arrives on what is a public holiday in my local jurisdiction. Three automated contacts in the space of a single long weekend = success!
Disclaimer: Yes, I know that editing “is a thankless task™️”, too. My generation had it easier in some ways, and I shouldn’t complain too much about a system that by and large has served me well. I still try to do my bit and all that.
But there is also no denying that the current system is not sustainable for much longer, and that sending out frantic spam is not going to fix it.
