CIS 720 Seminar – A Talk on Peer-Review Process by Prof. Davidson

Title:  Getting to “Accept”:  The perilous pathway from paper submission to peer reviewed journal publication

Scholarly journal publications rely on the peer-review process to assess the quality and usefulness of manuscripts submitted for publication. In this process, the journal editor solicits reviewers to read and critique the manuscript, and based on reviews, decides whether to accept, reject, or ask for revisions to the paper before further consideration for publication.  Today, few scholars in the social sciences receive an “accept” decision on their first round of submissions; most are delighted to get a “major revision” decision with the option to revise and resubmit.  Depending on the field, the journal, and the editor, papers may go through two, three or even more review rounds.  In this session, Liz Davidson will draw from her own experiences as an author as well as years of experience in editorial roles in several leading IS journals. The session will focus on practical ideas for how to plan for, respond to, and recover from experiences with peer reviewing and, ultimately, how to “get to accept.”  Attendees are encouraged to bring questions and to share experiences on topics such as, how journal publication differs from conference submission, field differences in journal publication, time frames for submissions, and how being a reviewer can help you learn to navigate this process.

Bio:

Liz Davidson is the W. Ruel Johnson Professor of Information Technology Management.  Her research includes qualitative field studies of information systems phenomena in organizational settings with an emphasis on healthcare settings, social media discourse analysis, and innovation on social platforms. Over her career she has been Associate Editor and Special Issue Guest Editor for MIS Quarterly, the top journal in her field, Senior Editor for Journal of the AIS and European Journal of Information Systems, and Senior Editor and Editor in Chief for Information and Organization. She has also survived the peer review process in each of these journals as a (co)author!