Although the process between submission of a manuscript to the journal by the author and its publication in the journal consists of similar steps in almost all journals, the duration can vary significantly among the journals. While some journals give the authors a positive or negative response within a few weeks or a few months at the latest, this period may take years in others. Many journals now publish the date the manuscript was first submitted and the date it was accepted for publication on the article’s first page. This type of practice helps give authors an idea before submitting their manuscripts of ​​how long, on average, they will wait for their article to be published.

The most important factor affecting an article’s publication time is by whom the journal is published. Prestigious journals with high reading rates have entered a highly professional publishing process. In these journals, there is a highly professional editor, assistant editors, editorial secretariat, and a large pool of consultants and referees. A thoroughly professional and large team carries out all the secretarial processes and the processes from the acceptance of the manuscript to the printing stage. Manuscripts are evaluated quickly, and the time to publication is generally not excessively long. However, of course, the number and intensity of revisions your manuscript will undergo seriously affect this period.

In addition to the professionalized journals, there are still journals published by faculties, associations, or institutes by their own means. In such journals, all steps, from the correspondence with the authors and reviewers to the design of the journal pages, are carried out by a very limited number of staff as an additional work on the primary duties of the individuals. In such journals, which we can consider semi-professional, severe delays may occur due to individuals at many critical points such as the assignment of referees, steps to be taken if the appointed referee delays the evaluation, and the correspondence.

Today, in many journals using an online evaluation system, authors can see at what stage of the evaluation process (editor review is expected, referee appointment is expected, under peer review, etc.) their manuscript is when they login to the system. A 2-3 month period can be considered reasonable before receiving the first response from the journal. However, if no response is received, or if the article appears to be under “peer review” for a very long time, authors can write to the editor and ask about the status of their manuscript (some journals request that this not be done in the Information for Authors). Often the editor will give you a standard response stating that your manuscript is under peer review and asking you for patience. However, contacting the editor can be helpful to speed up the process in some instances caused by human error. A sample message to write in such cases is available in Part 5: Communication with the Journal.

And, of course, and regrettably, there is the issue of predatory journals. Such journals generally publish all the manuscripts sent by the authors, sometimes without any peer review, and sometimes after a very superficial evaluation, in a short time and for a fee. Looking at the Internet pages of such journals, it will be noticed that the quick evaluation and publication times are particularly emphasized. Although it may seem that publishing in such journals, where academic functioning is abused, will benefit the authors in the short term, it is helpful to stay away from such journals to avoid future adverse effects.