Diary of an Article Publication Timeline

Plus, some thoughts on planning for the unexpected.

Photo by iStrfry , Marcus on Unsplash

Academic publishing is the slowest rollercoaster in the world. The accent at the top of the tracks is long and slow, but the drop is quick. In other words, you don’t hear from journals for months and months on end, and then suddenly it’s go time!

This past month, three of my articles in the pipeline needed my attention quickly. I had developmental edits, copyedits, proofs, and an acceptance with minor revisions to manage. All of these edits came at once, in spite of the fact that I originally submitted these three articles one year apart!

The Longest Ride

I would like to share my longest roller coaster ride...err...publication timeline to date with those of you who have not gone through this before. I will also provide some pointers at the end for dealing with a timeline that is out of your control.