this is it...

I know, I sound like a broken record... but here I am, in Argentina, and I’ve done nothing since I got here 3 days ago but work on the flippin’ journal. It’s not like I’d not been working on it before leaving for this trip; I had. But this is the peak season for submissions (of both new manuscripts and reviews of manuscripts sent out to review). So I got here with 44 papers to make editorial decisions on, and 28 manuscripts to send out to review (or to ‘triage’ if they would be more appropriately submitted to a different journal). So far I’ve managed to get through a meagre 37 of the 72 total manuscripts that require my attention (there are others too that require more minor attention, but I’m disregarding those for the sake of my sanity). Which means I still have 35 to do. So when I say, in the now immortal words of the King of Pop, that “this is it”, this IS it: Unless something changes, and Elsevier come through with the additional support I’ve requested, this most definitely IS IT. Otherwise the risk that I end up like Whacko Jacko is just too great. It’ll either kill me, or I’ll go completely whacko. Are you listening, Elsevier?

Once I’ve calmed down, I shall write a more interesting entry, including why I shall never fly Air France again, why an elasticated waistband isn’t such a bad idea, why you should never dispense soap before establishing that there is running water with which to rinse it off, and why going to Philadelphia and to Stockholm were recent highlights on my calendar. With a bit of luck, this trip to Argentina will also turn into a highlight. But for now, a pile of manuscripts beckon as dusk draws nearer in the Patagonian winter...

editorial mortality

I have neglected this page. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that, whereas only 3 weeks ago the journal queues were cleared, and whereas I have been working on the journal fairly consistently despite a trip to Philadelphia in the interim (more of which in a subsequent entry), there are roughly 50 manuscripts on the queues now that require my attention. No amount of tranquilizers will help (though I suspect that a valium or two to the authors who are getting jittery might not be a bad thing!).

Somewhat disturbingly, when talking with another editor (of another leading Experimental Psychology journal), this other editor said to me, on hearing about my workload: It will kill you. He meant it literally. I fear he is right.