2007 Editor Report

• Date: 01 December 2007
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-6975.2007.00243.x
• Published date: 01 December 2007

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The Journal of Risk and Insurance, 2007, Vol.74, No. 4, 907-913

2007 EDITOR REPORT

Here is the printed version of the report of the Editor as presentedto the ARIA meeting

on August 2007.

SUBMISSIONS AND PUBLICATION STATISTICS (17 JULY 2007)

Table 1 provides the historical summary of JRI processes, as submitted in previous

years to ARIA. This table updates the historical trends in submissions, publication

rates, and international submission rates (outside of the USA). The number of sub-

missions continues to increase and acceptance rates to decrease, but the average pro-

cessing time is still lengthy. As we shall see, the number of submissions in Table 1

includes resubmissions, since a new submission number is assigned to a manuscript

resubmitted after revisions. The numbers in Table 2 reflect only initial submissions.

This manner of presentation has a significant effect on the numbers and particularly

on the acceptance rates. The second table shows higher acceptance rates, because the

manuscripts returned for revision in the second table are counted as new manuscripts

in the second run, whereas the total number of accepted manuscripts does not change.

The average processing time is also affected by the new way of presenting statistics

in Table 2, since the peer-review process is shorter in the second run. The average

processing time in the second table is that between the first submission and the first

decision, while that in the first table is the average over the total number of rounds

for which the paper receives a different manuscript number. Many journals publish

the type of statistics shown in the second table, since they seem to have the greatest

influence over where authors decide to submit their articles for publication. They also

give a better assessment of the submissions and the acceptance rates.

Since January 2007, we have been suggesting a 3-month deadline to the referees. We

have also adopted a screening process that allows us to return a manuscript to the

author without a referee report. This is usually done by an associate editor with expert

knowledge on the subject, who can decide to reject the paper or send it to referees.

The two main reasons for returning a paper after the screening process are: (1) a low

probability it will measure up to the standards of the Journal and (2) lack of any link

between the content of the paper and the mission of the JRI.

The last column of both tables provides the international submission rates. A paper

is considered international if the affiliation of the corresponding author is outside the

United States. In previous years, the criterion was not exactly the same. A paper was

considered international if the affiliation of any one of its authors was outside the

USA. We have chosen this new criterion because it better highlights the international

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