Stuart Turnbull-Dugarte Stuart J. Turnbull-Dugarte

Peer Review Data

My experience of peer review as an author and reviewer: decision times, annual trends, and the path to revise and resubmit (R&R).

How long do review decisions take?

This figure compares decision times for my submissions with the time I take to provide reviews. Median first-decision times are 11 days for desk rejections, 73 days for rejections after review, and 70 days for R&R. My median review times are 28 days when recommending rejection and 25 days when recommending R&R. Received decisions cover papers that reached R&R or later; second-decision times run from revised submission. I have experienced the dreaded reject-after-R&R twice.

Box plots of first and second decision times received and review times provided, grouped by outcome.
Decision times in days; summaries are medians. View full-size figure.

How have review times changed?

Annual averages show how long my papers spend in review and how quickly I return reviews. Desk decisions are shown but excluded from the received-review averages. In 2026, the averages are 80.3 days for reviews received and 22.6 days for reviews provided; individual cases show substantial variation.

Annual review times: received-review averages range from 63.8 to 102.2 days during 2018–2026; provided-review averages range from 17.7 to 27.2 days during 2019–2026.
Points show individual cases; red lines show annual means. View full-size figure.

How many submissions does it take to reach R&R?

My papers take an average of 2.2 journal submissions to reach R&R, rising to 3.2 for the 2026 submission cohort. The figure also marks my new rejection record in 2026: six submissions to reach R&R. Apparently, my papers are taking the scenic route to publication. The lower panel tracks the annual percentage change in papers submitted for the first time. Dashed lines mark completing my PhD in March 2020 and promotion to Associate Professor in May 2023.

Journal submission attempts to reach R&R by year, with annual means from 1.3 to 3.2 and a maximum of six attempts, above annual changes in new paper submissions.
Annual means are grouped by submission year; changes in new submissions use 2018 as the baseline. View full-size figure.