On 2017 Feb 13, Khaled Moustafa commented:

Thank you, Josip, for your thoughtful comments. It is a general issue, indeed, among many others that need to be fixed in the publishing industry. Hopefully, some publishers will be all ears.

Regards,

KM

On 2017 Feb 08, Josip A. Borovac commented:

Great input, Khaled! Thank you so much for these observations. You are not alone my friend! Best wishes, JAB

On 2017 Feb 08, Khaled Moustafa commented:

Thank you all for your comments.

Further reasons that strongly support the idea not to ask for any specific format or style at the submission stage include:

1) It is rare that a manuscript is accepted immediately from the first run; in most cases there is a revision, nonetheless a minor one. So, editors can ask authors to apply the journal’s style and page setup in the revised version only, but not at the submission stage.

2) In most cases, the final publication format is different from the initial submission format, whatever the style required by the journal and applied by the authors. That is, even if we apply a particular journal's style at the submission stage, the accepted final version (i.e., the PDF file) often appears in a different format and style than the initial one required at the submission stage. So, asking for a given page setup, citation style or specific format at the submission phase but not taking it into account in the final version is an obvious waste of authors’ time. Much time indeed is lost in doing things that are not taken into consideration in the final published versions (except maybe in the HTML version or authors’ version posted online prior to the proof version but not in the final PDF format. So, once again, it does not make much sense to require a drastic formatting at the submission stage).<br> Regardless of innumerable references’ styles (by name or date, with superscript or brackets, journal names in italic or not, in bold or not, underlined or not, etc.), some journals return manuscripts to the author just because the references are non-indented or indented… or because the headers were enumerated/non-enumerated... Other journals ask to upload two files of the same manuscript (a Word file and a PDF file), some others ask to include the images/figures or tables in the text or in separated files…etc. All these are trivial issues related to the form that does not change the inherent value of a manuscript. As it is the content that should matter but not the format or style, page setup or styles could be done only in a revised version when the manuscript is accepted but not elsewhere.<br> At least, journals should make it optional for authors to apply or not to apply the journal’s style at the submission stage. On another hand, the submission steps, in turn, are also long and overwhelming in many journals. In my view, these also need to be shortened to the strict minimum (for .e.g., login and upload files). Then, if the manuscript is accepted, authors could provide the long list of the required information (statement of conflict of interest, list of keywords, all the answers and questions currently stuffing in the submission process, etc.).

Regards,

KM

On 2017 Feb 07, Saul Shiffman commented:

Super-agree. Even application of this attitude to paper length could be useful. I'm sure we've all gone to the trouble of whittling a paper down to the (ridiculously low) word-count requirements of a particular journal, only to have the paper rejected.

On 2017 Feb 07, Josip A. Borovac commented:

Agree with this - a well-identified problem and good article. Some journals are trying to implement "your paper - your way" style, but this should be taken to a whole another level, generally speaking. Many journals sponsor very obscure formatting styles and to resubmit to another journal is a nightmare and definitely time-consuming. Researchers should focus on science as much as possible, much less on submission technicalities and crude formatting issues. I never understood a point of having 3 billion citation styles, for example. What is the true purpose of that except making our lives miserable?

On 2017 Feb 07, Thittayil Suresh Apoorv commented:

This is nice suggestion by the author. Some journals already following this. Journal like Cytokine are part of Elsevier’s Article Transfer Service (ATS). Reformatting is required only after acceptance.

On 2017 Feb 07, Francesco Brigo commented:

I couldn´t agree more: time is brain!

On 2017 Feb 07, Francesco Brigo commented:

I couldn´t agree more: time is brain!

On 2017 Feb 07, Thittayil Suresh Apoorv commented:

This is nice suggestion by the author. Some journals already following this. Journal like Cytokine are part of Elsevier’s Article Transfer Service (ATS). Reformatting is required only after acceptance.

On 2017 Feb 07, Josip A. Borovac commented:

Agree with this - a well-identified problem and good article. Some journals are trying to implement "your paper - your way" style, but this should be taken to a whole another level, generally speaking. Many journals sponsor very obscure formatting styles and to resubmit to another journal is a nightmare and definitely time-consuming. Researchers should focus on science as much as possible, much less on submission technicalities and crude formatting issues. I never understood a point of having 3 billion citation styles, for example. What is the true purpose of that except making our lives miserable?

On 2017 Feb 07, Saul Shiffman commented:

Super-agree. Even application of this attitude to paper length could be useful. I'm sure we've all gone to the trouble of whittling a paper down to the (ridiculously low) word-count requirements of a particular journal, only to have the paper rejected.

On 2017 Feb 08, Khaled Moustafa commented:

Thank you all for your comments.

Further reasons that strongly support the idea not to ask for any specific format or style at the submission stage include:

1) It is rare that a manuscript is accepted immediately from the first run; in most cases there is a revision, nonetheless a minor one. So, editors can ask authors to apply the journal’s style and page setup in the revised version only, but not at the submission stage.

2) In most cases, the final publication format is different from the initial submission format, whatever the style required by the journal and applied by the authors. That is, even if we apply a particular journal's style at the submission stage, the accepted final version (i.e., the PDF file) often appears in a different format and style than the initial one required at the submission stage. So, asking for a given page setup, citation style or specific format at the submission phase but not taking it into account in the final version is an obvious waste of authors’ time. Much time indeed is lost in doing things that are not taken into consideration in the final published versions (except maybe in the HTML version or authors’ version posted online prior to the proof version but not in the final PDF format. So, once again, it does not make much sense to require a drastic formatting at the submission stage).<br> Regardless of innumerable references’ styles (by name or date, with superscript or brackets, journal names in italic or not, in bold or not, underlined or not, etc.), some journals return manuscripts to the author just because the references are non-indented or indented… or because the headers were enumerated/non-enumerated... Other journals ask to upload two files of the same manuscript (a Word file and a PDF file), some others ask to include the images/figures or tables in the text or in separated files…etc. All these are trivial issues related to the form that does not change the inherent value of a manuscript. As it is the content that should matter but not the format or style, page setup or styles could be done only in a revised version when the manuscript is accepted but not elsewhere.<br> At least, journals should make it optional for authors to apply or not to apply the journal’s style at the submission stage. On another hand, the submission steps, in turn, are also long and overwhelming in many journals. In my view, these also need to be shortened to the strict minimum (for .e.g., login and upload files). Then, if the manuscript is accepted, authors could provide the long list of the required information (statement of conflict of interest, list of keywords, all the answers and questions currently stuffing in the submission process, etc.).

Regards,

KM