Accept Publication in Random Journal, or Hold Out? Forum

[Anonymous User]

Hi Everyone,

Hoping others with prior experience could provide some advice. I know academia is a long shot, but I'd like to keep that door open if possible, so I was hoping on getting one article published now (as a note or otherwise), and publishing a few more pieces as I progress in my career.

Just graduated from CCN and going to a biglaw firm, and was fortunate to receive an offer from a journal for publication. That being said, the journal is quite new and not well known. I'm not trying to be a prestige whore or anything like that, but I was wondering, would accepting this publication help my chances at being published by another journal later in my career, or would this be viewed somewhat as a negative because this journal does not have a good reputation?

In other words, should I accept the offer for publication, or hold out and apply next cycle in the hopes of getting something better? If it makes a difference, the subject is somewhat timely, but I'm not sure a year would make a massive difference.

Thanks!

[A. Nony Mouse]

I'm not at all the last word on this, but I think if you can place it in a "better" journal, you'd be better off doing so. Legal academia seems to care a lot about this. It may not *hurt* to go with your current journal but it likely won't help you.

[LurkerTurnedMember]

You got an offer! Congrats! Now you need to use your offer with that journal to climb up the ranks. So reach out to a few journals right above that journal's "prestige" (or to all of em if the deadline for that one is approaching soon) and say "i got an offer from so and so journal can you expedite my review?" They'll do a quick review and maybe give you an offer. Then use those offers to request expedited review in journals one step up and so on and so on until you get the highest offer. Then accept. I'm assuming you submitted to a bunch of journals.

[Anonymous User]

You got an offer! Congrats! Now you need to use your offer with that journal to climb up the ranks. So reach out to a few journals right above that journal's "prestige" (or to all of em if the deadline for that one is approaching soon) and say "i got an offer from so and so journal can you expedite my review?" They'll do a quick review and maybe give you an offer. Then use those offers to request expedited review in journals one step up and so on and so on until you get the highest offer. Then accept. I'm assuming you submitted to a bunch of journals.

Yes I did! Thanks for this! (And A.Nony.Mouse thanks for your input!)

I don't think the journal is ranked, so should I just reply to all of the journals asking for expedited review? Or should I start with the lowest first? I'm just a bit afraid of waiting because I feel like time might be running out as editors finalize their decisions. Is there anything I can add that might help my chances?

[LurkerTurnedMember]

You got an offer! Congrats! Now you need to use your offer with that journal to climb up the ranks. So reach out to a few journals right above that journal's "prestige" (or to all of em if the deadline for that one is approaching soon) and say "i got an offer from so and so journal can you expedite my review?" They'll do a quick review and maybe give you an offer. Then use those offers to request expedited review in journals one step up and so on and so on until you get the highest offer. Then accept. I'm assuming you submitted to a bunch of journals.

Yes I did! Thanks for this! (And A.Nony.Mouse thanks for your input!)

I don't think the journal is ranked, so should I just reply to all of the journals asking for expedited review? Or should I start with the lowest first? I'm just a bit afraid of waiting because I feel like time might be running out as editors finalize their decisions. Is there anything I can add that might help my chances?

It depends on each journal. Some publish once per year, others twice, some three, etc. So journals will likely be off cycle with admissions and it's hard to tell when each journal is nearing its cycle's end without knowing which journal. But I think you should focus on your current offer. They likely gave you a deadline to accept by. So you don't wanna blow that deadline and you need another offer by then or you'll be left with nothing. So if the deadline is close (within a couple weeks) ask expedited review from all journals. If it's like a month or something then you can try leveling up over time. No need to start at the very bottom and move slowly. Do the "everyone but the very top journals" first then the very top ones after.

When you do it be very nice. Apologize for having to ask for expedited review (reviewers are busy people and your request is likely at a busy time). But say you got an offer from so and so but you'd love to publish with whatever journal you're askin expedited review from and so if they could please review it by [give exact date at least a week from request if possible], that would be great. Also add that you're willing to give more info or assist in any way.

[BulletTooth]

I 100% agree with the advice on asking higher ranked journals to expedite review, and bring extremely friendly with the submissions editors is hugely important--they get 1000s of submissions and could potentially ignore an author simply because of the tone he uses in an email. The more friendly you are, the more likely the editors will review the article.

Also, if you don't end up getting offers from higher ranked journals, it definitely wouldn't hurt to hold the article until the next submissions cycle. A lot of authors pull their pieces when they don't get an offer from journals that they were hoping to.

I think you may also technically be out of cycle, which could be making it harder for you to get the article reviewed at higher ranked journals. I think most of the journals start reviewing around the start of the August (when school starts back up again). Right now, since most journals are student run, all of the editors are at their summer jobs.

[LurkerTurnedMember]

I'm not disagreeing with the above poster but taking your journal out of cycle and resubmitting might make some reviewers notice you're resubmitting during another cycle and it hurts your chances because the assumption is you played the prior cycle and no one gave you an offer so there has to be something wrong with your article.

[grades??]

I'm not disagreeing with the above poster but taking your journal out of cycle and resubmitting might make some reviewers notice you're resubmitting during another cycle and it hurts your chances because the assumption is you played the prior cycle and no one gave you an offer so there has to be something wrong with your article.

Agreed, especially now that the fall/winter cycle is over and many journals publish less in the spring.

[gaddockteeg]

Definitely hold out. I have some experience with this.

It's a huge pain, but once you get your first acceptance, the right move is to email/apply to journals slightly more well-known or better ranked. Tell them you have an offer from peer journal already. Then when you get an offer from someone higher up the "ladder," repeat. Keep doing this until you get as high as you can.

I did this from an unknown journal at a TTTT and climbed all the way to a HYS secondary journal where I'm now published. I "climbed" 8 times to get there.

[Anonymous User]

Definitely hold out. I have some experience with this.

It's a huge pain, but once you get your first acceptance, the right move is to email/apply to journals slightly more well-known or better ranked. Tell them you have an offer from peer journal already. Then when you get an offer from someone higher up the "ladder," repeat. Keep doing this until you get as high as you can.

I did this from an unknown journal at a TTTT and climbed all the way to a HYS secondary journal where I'm now published. I "climbed" 8 times to get there.

Thanks for this! But just to clarify, should I wait and apply next cycle, telling them that I have an offer for publication? The offer for publication expires soon, however, and I'm not sure they'll give me another offer for the same article next year.

If so, what about the previous poster who noted that many journals will notice that you're trying to reapply again after not getting in the first time, and therefore presume something is wrong with your article?

[gaddockteeg]

Definitely hold out. I have some experience with this.

It's a huge pain, but once you get your first acceptance, the right move is to email/apply to journals slightly more well-known or better ranked. Tell them you have an offer from peer journal already. Then when you get an offer from someone higher up the "ladder," repeat. Keep doing this until you get as high as you can.

I did this from an unknown journal at a TTTT and climbed all the way to a HYS secondary journal where I'm now published. I "climbed" 8 times to get there.

Thanks for this! But just to clarify, should I wait and apply next cycle, telling them that I have an offer for publication? The offer for publication expires soon, however, and I'm not sure they'll give me another offer for the same article next year.

If so, what about the previous poster who noted that many journals will notice that you're trying to reapply again after not getting in the first time, and therefore presume something is wrong with your article?

I'd apply to whatever you can now and see what you can get and how high you can climb.

Regardless, journals IMO will not notice/care that youre re-applying. Esp if its the first time theyve seen your article. They also won't assume something is wrong if you have an offer from a peer journal.

Just start from the bottom of ladder and work your way up.

edit: i read your post more carefully. If you plan to crank out other articles in the future, having a publication is definitely a good thing and will make future publications easier.

[jbagelboy]

Wait is everyone trolling

[A. Nony Mouse]

Wait is everyone trolling

...no?

[FloridaCoastalorbust]

Hold out for sure. Many journals publish at least four issues a year, so you're not under any time pressure (unless your article will be preempted by someone else in the interim). Submit your article to the top 100 law reviews on Scholastica, and request an expedited review. Many law reviews will consider your article much faster because of your outstanding offer. The outstanding offer will also communicate to editors that you actually have a good piece of scholarship.