Reflections as 2020 comes to an end: the editing and educational environment during the COVID-19 pandemic the power of Scopus and Web of Science in scholarly publishing journal statistics and appreciation to reviewers and volunteers

摘要

This year began with the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has dramatically influenced all aspects of life for people throughout the world, including editors. A striking trend has been a marked increase in the number of submissions to journals. For instance, the number of submitted manuscripts increased by 42% in 2020, compared with an average expected increase of 11% during 2016–2019, in the neurosurgical, stroke neurology, and neurointerventional literature [1]. According to an analysis of a single journal, the Journal of Animal Science and Technology, “since May 2020, the article processing time has stably decreased. It is believed that the article processing time will continue to become shorter, as time spent at home will increase in the future” [2]. While there is a possibility of the frequent decline of review requests due to increased workload for online teaching if reviewers work in academic institutes. Publications on COVID-19 or SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19, have expanded dramatically in various fields of science [3]. The Journal of Educational Evaluation for Health Professions (JEEHP) is not an exception. The number of submitted manuscripts has increased by 95% in 2020 (from 146 in 2019 to 285 as of December 25, 2020). JEEHP has also published some articles related to COVID-19, including an editorial [4], training materials [5], and a research article [6]. However, it is not fully evident how to interpret this increase in submissions. One possibility is that researchers may have more time to analyze their data because they now spend less time in meetings or travel. Another factor may be the dramatic increase in the frequency of online, or contactless meetings to offset the sharp decline in offline meetings. Online platforms make it easy for colleagues to meet with each other. Journal editing had already transitioned to online platforms, so there were no technical difficulties in handling the increased number of submitted manuscripts. According to a survey on the impact of COVID-19 on scholarly editors, some editors’ workload has increased, and the online-only publication of scholarly journals is predicted to accelerate after the COVID-19 pandemic [7].