Write when you can and submit when you are ready!

In an earlier article in this journal Shalvi, Baas, Handgraaf and De Dreu1 presented data to support their hypothesis that one should write when hot, submit when not. Their data suggested that over a four-year period more authors submitted papers for publication in the summer months (when it was hot) but that, as acceptance rates did not vary across the months, it would be better to submit papers in the winter (when it was not) when there would be less competition. I have the following difficulties with this conclusion: 1. This pattern of data was reported for one journal only (Psychological Science): it was not found in a similar second journal (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin). Shalvi et al. thus over-generalize from their results. 2. The data were obtained from journals that publish 12 issues per year and have relatively large submission rates (approximately 1,500 per year for Psychological Science at the time of the study2). It is not clear whether or not there would be similar results for journals that publish bimonthly or quarterly, and/or for journals with low submission rates. Table 1 shows the results that I obtained when I compared the submission rates per month in three journals with different publication schedules. In all three cases case there were no significant differences between the numbers of articles submitted in the winter and the summer months. 3. Next, the notion of summer being hot (and winter not) is surely a hemispheric one? Should one therefore adjust the calculations for authors living below the equator? How might Shalvi et al. deal with a paper like that by Kuppens, Allen and Sheeber,3 where one author works in Belgium, one in Australia, and one in America? Furthermore, just what defines Write when you can and submit when you are ready! 29