Dear Authors of the Papers I Review:
Get to the point! Stop wasting my time. I'm getting older, more impatient and my time is getting more valuable (at least in perception). If I wanted to read 50 pages of nonsensical, dense, misdirected, overly complicated research, I would go back and read my earlier work.
In the future, please adhere religiously to the following general guidelines when submitting a paper for review:
- If your paper is more than 30 pages (double-spaced), hurry up and get to the point.
- If your paper is approaching 40 pages, it will not be accepted (you might get a recommendation for a revision that says "Get to the point.")
- If your paper is over 50 pages, you've pissed me off. Your paper will be rejected. That may sound harsh, biased, whatever, I don't care, you will not get a nice review. I will find everything I can wrong with the paper and make sure I never see it again. For craps sake, you're not going to win a Nobel for volume. If you can't make your point in 30 pages, take a damn writing class.
- If you really have more to say than you can say in 30 pages, congratulations, you have two papers. Split them and get tenure.
Thanks for listening.
Signed:
Frustrated in the Academy
