Time to Acceptance of 3 Days for Papers About COVID-19

Ádám Kun
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Ádám Kun: Evolutionary Systems Research Group, Institute of Evolution, Centre for Ecological Research, Klebelsberg Kuno utca 3, 8237 Tihany, Hungary

Publications, 2020, vol. 8, issue 2, 1-10

Abstract: Time to acceptance from submission and time to publication (publication lag) determines how quickly novel information is made available to other scientists and experts. In the medical field, the review process and revisions usually takes 3–4 months; the total time from submission to publication is 8–9 months. During the COVID-19 pandemic, information should be available much faster. The analysis of 833 documents published on SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 prior to 19 March 2020 shows that these times shrunk by a factor of ten. The median time to acceptance was three days for all publications, six days for research papers and reviews, four days for case studies and two days for other publication types. The median publication lag was nine days for all publications together, 11 days for research papers, nine days for case studies, 13 days for reviews and seven days for other publications. This demonstrates that the publication process—if necessary—can be sped up. For the sake of scientific accuracy, review times should not be pushed down, but the time from acceptance to actual publication could be shorter.

Keywords: coronavirus; COVID-19; SARS-CoV-2; speed of publication; peer review; publication lag; publication efficiency; publication delay (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A2 D83 L82 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (6)

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