A LETTER FROM THE JDS EDITOR IN CHIEF

Accelerated Publishing Times for the Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications

Dear authors, readers, and colleagues,

We are pleased to announce that, as of April 2023, we have adjusted our processes to place Journal of Dairy Science and JDS Communications articles into the hands of researchers and readers faster than ever before.

This adjustment supports an overall aim to ensure we make the publication process the best it can be. The field of dairy science continues to advance and innovate, and we are committed to ensuring our journals meet the changing needs of authors and readers, while also maintaining our rigorous standards and record of excellence.

As such, we’ve streamlined our production process to allow for accepted, peer-reviewed proofs to be released early as uncorrected “articles in press.” This reduces the time from approval to publication from months down to weeks. Shortened production time is a benefit to our authors, who will be able to more rapidly share their research findings. It will also support early career scientists, who can now document their publication accomplishments in an even more timely manner. The change also benefits our readers, who will gain faster access to publications describing the cutting-edge research, innovations, and breakthroughs happening in dairy science.

Our streamlined production process will align more with practices of other leading journals and will not impact the long-held scientific rigor of our journals, nor does it impact our established overall peer-review process. The publications staff, our section editors, and I continue our commitment to maintaining fairness, excellence, and thoughtfulness at the core of our publishing process. To ensure complete transparency, I’ve provided the answers to a few frequently asked questions down below.

If you’re curious about the academic publishing process in general or want to go behind the scenes of the ADSA ecosystem of journals, I highly recommend watching my recent webinar, “Scientific publishing: Choosing a peer-reviewed journal and highlighting your scholarly and creative activity,” where I shared the details of our transparency, timeliness, and abilities to provide world-class editorial quality.

Paul Kononoff
pkononoff2@unl.edu
twitter.com/rumen8er

Frequently Asked Questions

How much faster will articles be published now?

Peer-reviewed articles will publish as uncorrected articles in press within a few weeks of acceptance, versus a few months.

Why is the process changing?

We heard feedback from our valued authors and researchers that the time it takes for manuscripts to go through the publishing process was a pain point in getting their citable work out into the world. Publishing uncorrected proofs is a way to accomplish quicker turnaround times to help our global community distribute their work faster without sacrificing the quality of the journals.

What does “uncorrected proof” mean?

It means the articles have gone through the journals’ rigorous editing and peer-review processes (undergoing evaluations that require scientific merit, novelty, and scope, and ensuring they feature high-quality scientific writing and clarity in presentation of the concepts and methods, as well as sufficient background information to allow thorough understanding by scientists in other disciplines). They are formatted for readability but have not yet undergone technical editing or final review.

Does this update impact the journals’ editorial or peer-review processes?

No. This change is merely to streamline the existing production process—nothing has changed in our established and top-notch submission, peer-review, or editorial processes. This workflow simply enables us to post accepted articles earlier on the journal websites, making open-access research available and citable quicker for everyone.

How different will uncorrected articles in press be compared with the final article?

The differences between the article in press and the final, edited article should be very minor, reflecting just the final stages of the technical editing process. These papers will still undergo the technical editing process, and, once the papers are finalized, they will be released within an upcoming journal issue. The article featured in the issue will become the “article of record.”

What if there’s an error in my article? Will I still be able to make changes?

Yes. We prioritize working in partnership with authors to make each article the best it can be. If, during the technical editing process, an error is uncovered, or the author would like to make a minor change, we will follow the same editing protocols we use during the current review process; the technical editors will make the changes requested by the author and the new corrected version of the article will be the one that appears in the journal issue and becomes the “article of record.”

Does this update impact an article’s DOI record?

No. An article’s digital object identifier (DOI) will point first to the uncorrected article in press, and then, once the article appears in the journal issue, the DOI will point to the final, corrected version.