Switching your submission system can be challenging.
There are a lot of reasons for this, and sometimes it’s as simple as “but, I like the old system”. Change is sometimes scary, but many businesses, academic journals included, fail because they do not change when they need to.
It doesn’t matter if it’s your editing system, the way you handle peer review, or even your entire submission system, eventually change will be needed.
So, how do you know when it is time to switch to a new submission system? In this article, we’ll be going over some important things to know about these systems, and how to spot the need to change.
What is a submission system?
Basically, a submission system is a sort of centralized platform. From this platform, publishers are able to manage submissions to their journals. The functionality of these can vary. Generally, they will track the uploading of manuscripts, submission statuses, author communications, and more. These systems are not always required in the case of very small journals, but their utility quickly becomes clear when the number of submissions start to grow. Many journals will very quickly realize that switching to a submission system is in their best interests.
For example, if you are processing one manuscript, it might not be stressful to keep track of a handful of authors. Perhaps even a half-dozen peer-reviewers. Not to mention all the communication with the authors over the several stages of the publishing process. With ten manuscripts, you could potentially be needing to keep track of several hundred different people. Switching to a submission system help journals to scale their growth in effective ways.
Not all submission systems are the same. Some will work better for your journal than others. A good thing to keep in mind when considering switching to a submission system is your process. Some are full suites. Others offer more a la carte options.
So, when does switching submission systems make sense?
Like anything, there will be indicators. These indicators can help you to realize that switching your system might need to happen sooner rather than later.
Here, we’ll go over a handful of things to keep an eye out for. When you start to spot these, it’s very important to start thinking about what your future plans are going to look like.
- Bottlenecks in the process;
- Short- and long-term inefficiencies;
- Delays in publishing;
- Employee stress levels.
Once we go over these points, we’re going to briefly talk about how to address the fears of migration. Your fears and those of your team.
Bottlenecks in the process
Running a journal smoothly is a feat. But when all the pieces of the process are working as they should, switching to a completely new submission system might not make sense.
However, all systems can run into problems when bottlenecks occur. Basically, a “bottleneck” is any point during the publishing process that causes work to slow down. At worst, a bottleneck can actually cause the entire workflow to simply come to a grinding halt. There are many reasons why a bottleneck happens, and they’re not always related to your system. But they usually are. Resource allocation, communication, or a lack of employees can all cause bottlenecks.
These bottlenecks, however, are often alleviated (if not solved completely) by some types of submission systems, so switching over to a more efficient one can save you a lot of time and money. Editorial efficiency is critical to the success of any journal, as such, switching systems when you’re finding bottlenecks in your existing system can have a major impact on your bottom line.
Short- and long-term inefficiencies
As a journal grows, inefficiencies can creep into the publishing process.
These can be broken up into short- and long-term inefficiencies. It is important to note that this is not a small subject. There are dozens, if not hundreds, of things that can impact your journal’s growth and processes. Sometimes, one thing can have both short and long-term impacts. For example, consider that if you have inefficiencies in your peer review selection process, you might wind up asking the same specialist to peer review content too often. In the short term, this might result in your journal losing this expert. In the long run, this might affect your journal’s reputation as being a “pushy company”. There’s a fine line between “gentle reminders” and “being too pushy”.
Make sure that you’re using tools that help to improve your processes. Switching to a different submission system can help address these efficiencies.
Delays in publishing
At the end of the day, your journal primarily has a single goal: publish papers. The bulk of your income will likely come from this. So, the more papers you publish, the more money you make. It’s as simple as that.
But delays in publication mean delays in getting paid. Making sure that you avoid delays is crucial when it comes to making sure that your journal will survive in the long run.
When you start to see inefficiencies and bottlenecks in your publishing process, they need to be addressed quickly. Failure to do so can result in major delays. Delays can have numerous negative knockdown effects, not least of which being a hit to your reputation. If you say that you’ll publish quickly, you need to deliver on that promise. If your old system is causing issues, switching to a new system can remedy this.
Employee stress levels
This might feel like it’s not related to submission systems at all, but it very much is.
Your employees are tasked with the running of your company. When employees leave, you need to retrain staff. If different processes in your company are poorly managed, these resources might wind up costing money.
But the unspoken truth is that your staff are the ones that have to deal with these processes on a day-to-day basis. They’re the ones that will need to explain delays to authors. Your staff will be the ones making apologies when necessary. And if employees feel like their jobs are stressful, chaotic, or unrewarding, they will move to other companies. This affects your bottom line as well. A higher employee churn means that you’ll be spending more money training new staff without addressing the underlying issues. If you empower your team with proper tools, they can be happier at work. Switching to a submission system might seem like it’s about efficiencies and avoiding delays (and it is), but it’s also about making sure your team is able to do their jobs properly.
Listen to your staff when they provide feedback. Make sure that you keep communication open and honest so that your team can let you know if there are problems in the production process.
Fears about switching submission systems
Change can be scary, especially when you want your business to succeed.
But one of the biggest reasons why companies fail is because they do not change when they need to. Running an academic journal publishing company is not easy—but that doesn’t mean that it needs to be hard to be successful. Making sure that you are switching your submission processes and systems as you need to is the sign of good management.
The first thing that you should do is to evaluate the issue at hand. Can it be solved easily? Is it simply a communication problem? Or is this the sort of problem that will compound over time?
Knowing what your problems will look like in six months, for example, can help you to determine if you need to make a change now.
Switching your submission system can be a simple and easy process, and if you have questions, it’s always best to ask how a service can meet your needs.
Remember, a good submission system will make your life easier.