Re:Is Peer Review a Good Idea? (2020)
by auggierose on Wednesday September 14, 2022 @05:28AM
(#32834910)
First, journals and conferences are different. I would expect more valuable feedback from journals than from conference reviews.
Second, journals are overloaded, the journal reviewers unpaid, and frankly, they are not doing a good job anymore in reviewing work. Feedback that amounts to "maybe submit first to a conference" is not that valuable. Effectively, you have to have the idea, then execute it perfectly, then do a major marketing effort to popularise your work, and why exactly would you at the end of this still submit to a journal? Given that the journal either wants the rights to your work, or charges you for the pleasure of publishing with them. At this point, a journal is just another marketing step, and for marketing you pay, I guess.
Second, journals are overloaded, the journal reviewers unpaid, and frankly, they are not doing a good job anymore in reviewing work. Feedback that amounts to "maybe submit first to a conference" is not that valuable. Effectively, you have to have the idea, then execute it perfectly, then do a major marketing effort to popularise your work, and why exactly would you at the end of this still submit to a journal? Given that the journal either wants the rights to your work, or charges you for the pleasure of publishing with them. At this point, a journal is just another marketing step, and for marketing you pay, I guess.