Is it becoming harder to secure reviewers for peer review? A test with data from five ecology journals.

Alison Cobra,Arianne Y. K. Albert,Timothy H. Vines,Jennifer L. Gow

doi:10.1186/s41073-016-0022-7

Alison Cobra, Arianne Y. K. Albert

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.1186/s41073-016-0022-7

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Abstract

BackgroundThere is concern in the academic publishing community that it is becoming more difficult to secure reviews for peer-reviewed manuscripts, but much of this concern stems from anecdotal and rhetorical evidence.MethodsWe examined the proportion of review requests that led to a completed review over a 6-year period (2009–2015) in a mid-tier biology journal (Molecular Ecology). We also re-analyzed previously published data from four other mid-tier ecology journals (Functional Ecology, Journal of Ecology, Journal of Animal Ecology, and Journal of Applied Ecology), looking at the same proportion over the period 2003 to 2010.ResultsThe data from Molecular Ecology showed no significant decrease through time in the proportion of requests that led to a review (proportion in 2009 = 0.47 (95 % CI = 0.43 to 0.52), proportion in 2015 = 0.44 (95 % CI = 0.40 to 0.48)). This proportion did decrease for three of the other ecology journals (changes in proportions from 2003 to 2010 = −0.10, −0.18, and −0.09), while the proportion for the fourth (Functional Ecology) stayed roughly constant (change in proportion = −0.04).ConclusionsOverall, our data suggest that reviewer agreement rates have probably declined slightly but not to the extent suggested by the anecdotal and rhetorical evidence.

Highlights

There is concern in the academic publishing community that it is becoming more difficult to secure reviews for peer-reviewed manuscripts, but much of this concern stems from anecdotal and rhetorical evidence
Molecular Ecology The logistic regression found no significant relationship between either year or decision and the proportion of completed reviews
The average number of review requests per paper sent to reviewers increased slightly between 2009 and 2015 (Table 1 and Fig. 1)

Summary

Introduction

There is concern in the academic publishing community that it is becoming more difficult to secure reviews for peer-reviewed manuscripts, but much of this concern stems from anecdotal and rhetorical evidence. There is a widespread perception among Editors of academic journals, as well as the broader research and scholarly publishing communities, that it is becoming harder and harder to find willing reviewers ([1, 7, 11, 12], Baveye and Trevors 2011 [2], [8, 9, 13]). Other factors contributing to fatigue include the falling success rates of funding applications [14] and the increase in other administrative tasks expected from academics [10]. A significant decline in the willingness of researchers to contribute reviews would be a serious problem for scholarly publishing. Even in the short term, a reduced reviewer agreement rate would add significantly to the time it takes to find sufficient reviewers, lengthening the delay between manuscript submission and the editorial decision

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