What do our authors really think of Microbiology Society journals?

Earlier this year, the Microbiology Society surveyed over 850 authors to find out about their experience of publishing with our journals. This was a first for the Microbiology Society and we would like to share the results with our members.

The survey was conducted in May 2016 across five of the Society’s journals (Microbiology, Journal of General Virology, Journal of Medical Microbiology, JMM Case Reports, and International Journal of Evolutionary and Systematic Microbiology) and asked for feedback from anyone who had submitted an article to one of the journals in the last two years. We wanted to find out about authors’ experiences and learn where we can improve.

We are pleased to report that there has been a great deal of positive feedback. When asked, 83% of respondents rated the submissions process either ‘excellent’ or ‘very good’. On top of this, 81% of authors stated that they would submit to the journal again, and would recommend publishing with the Microbiology Society to a friend or colleague.

“Every step of the review process, including manuscript submission, was straightforward and easy to complete.”
Journal of General Virology author

On average, our authors rated the peer review process 4/5. Our expert Editors and reviewers work hard to maintain a fair and efficient peer review process, so we are delighted that this area has been rated so highly.

“My manuscript improved a lot thanks to the Editor contribution.”
Journal of Medical Microbiology author

When asked about publication time, 86% of respondents were either ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’ with the speed of publication on accepted papers (first version online), while 78% of respondents were ‘satisfied’ or ‘extremely satisfied’ with the speed of publication to the final Version of Record.

Since the survey, Microbiology Society journals have moved to a new typesetter. We hope to see author satisfaction increase in this area as the Society moves to a continuous publication model in 2017 – for more information see page 186.

One area of concern for our authors was the open access payment system, which has now changed. Using a streamlined online payment system via Copyright Clearance Center, we hope to see author satisfaction improve over time in this area.

“The journal is run by a professional team that gave us the impression of high efficiency.”
International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology author

The Society’s Publishing Team are always looking for ways to improve the peer review process and author experience; delivering a personal approach, ensuring the best service during every stage of the process. To achieve this we aim to run the survey annually.

The Microbiology Society would like to thank all authors who took part in the author survey this year.

To find out more about the Microbiology Society journals, including information on how to submit, visit www.microbiologyresearch.org. If you’ve published in one of our journals and want to share your experience, please get in touch via email  or Twitter .

DIANNDRA ROBERTS

Editorial Development Coordinator
[email protected]