Once again, it is not pre-publication peer review that is your problem

The perennial discussion arose on the Twitts yesterday, probably sparked by renewed ranting from dear old @mbeisen.

For the uninitiated, a brief review of the components that go into the pre-publication approval of a scientific manuscript. In general, authors select a journal and submit a manuscript that they feel is ready for publication*. At this point an Editor (usually there is one Editor in Chief and a handful or so of sub-Editors usually referred to as Associate Editors; AEs) gives it a look and decides whether to 1) accept it immediately, 2) reject it immediately or 3) send it to peer scientists for review. The first option is exceptionally rare. The second option depends on both the obvious “fit” of the manuscript for the journal in terms of topic (e.g., “Mathematical Proof of Newton’s Fifth and Sixth Laws” submitted to “Journal of Trangender Sociology”) and some more-rarified considerations not immediately obvious to the home viewer.