Joining AuthorAID’s Discussion List—and Using It Well

By Barbara Gastel | 31 May 2009

Greetings again. I’ve now been back in Texas for a week. I’ve had lots to catch up on. And summer school begins this Monday. A busy time!

I’m glad that people are registering for the AuthorAID listserv (e-mail discussion list). If you haven’t registered, you can do so at http://dgroups.org/?6d1aztjq/register. Then, once your membership request is approved, you can post messages to the group by sending e-mail to authoraiddiscussion@dgroups.org.

My first message to the listserv included suggestions for using a listserv well. Here’s an expanded version of the list:

Give each message an informative subject line. For instance, don’t just label your message “A Resource” or “A Question”. Say, for example, “Good Website on _______” or “Advice Sought on _______”.
If you're posting a message on a new topic, provide a new subject line, even if you're contacting the group by replying to an old message.
For readability, keep paragraphs fairly short. If feasible, skip lines between paragraphs.
Remember that some readers aren’t native speakers of English—and that almost all readers are busy. Try to write in a way that is easy to understand.
When replying to a message, think about whether to write to everyone or only the sender. Check the address in the “To” slot, so you don’t mistakenly send a private message to the entire list.
Include at least your name and affiliation in a “signature” at the end of your message.

I look forward to valuable discussions on our listserv.

Wishing everyone a good June—

Barbara

Advice on time-frame for paper review process

Posted by Teresa Ramirez at 27 March 2011 04:09 PM

What should I do if my paper has been under review for over 10 months? The editor wrote to my enquire that one reviewer has accepted the paper and still waiting for the answer of 2 more reviewers. (I have reviewed manuscripts for the same journal and their request is to return in one month the reviewed paper).

Advice on journal policies

Posted by Teresa Ramirez at 27 March 2011 04:19 PM

I sent a paper to a journal and was published in 2010. I sent a second paper to the same journal in May 2010. The review process has extended over 10 months now, though one reviewer accepted my paper according to the editor. The editor also wrote that their journal policy is not to publish the same author papers in the same year. This policy is however NOT stated in the journal policies written in their web page, what should I do?