The Importance of Scope

As an international scholarly publisher, IGI Global maintains a global commitment to progressing innovation and the availability of knowledge resources for academicians, independent researchers, industry practitioners, and professionals worldwide. There are many ways to work with IGI Global including submitting a book proposal, journal proposal, or special issue proposal, or becoming a reviewer.

IGI Global offers a plethora of books and journals for researchers and scholars to submit to or review across 11 innovative subject areas:

However, there is a growing problem of researchers being so eager to release their findings to the world that they choose to submit to publications that are not a good match for their work, as opposed to finding a book or journal that would be more appropriate for their research. Additionally, due to the pressure of finding eligible publications that are recognized by researcher institutions, contributors may be more focused on, for example, the indexing status of a publication rather than on whether or not their paper actually meets the research areas of that title.

This is particularly an issue for journals. Due to a constant focus on indexing, with many researchers unable to receive credit for work published in journals not indexed in specific lists, highly indexed journals have become a catch-all for articles that are relevant, and those that are not. Subsequently, the high volume of manuscripts overburdens the Editor(s)-in-Chief and reviewers of the journal, who must sort through an exorbitant amount of submissions. Thus, when submissions are made that are completely out of scope of the journal, it slows the process further for everyone involved as the Editor(s)-in-Chief attempt to weed out the relevant articles from those that are unrelated.

IGI Global understands authors’ desire to share their research in a timely manner and knows that it can be frustrating to not find an ideal outlet to submit their work to when they are ready to publish. However, it is important to understand that submitting chapters or articles to books and journals that do not match the scope of the work as a whole is a practice that can waste the authors, editors, and Editor(s)-in-Chief’s time. Editors and the Editor(s)-in-Chief will have to expend the effort to review work that is not relevant to their projects and the researchers who submit will waste time having the article reviewed and ultimately rejected, when that time could have been spent in the peer review process for a more appropriate title.

Taking the time to ensure the research aligns with the specific needs stated within the book or journals’ call for chapters/papers page will assist researchers in deciding whether or not their work is appropriate to submit and save the time and resources of everyone involved. Even if a publication does not currently exist that aligns with the chapter or article, it is better to wait for a future project than to submit to a project that is not a match.

Researchers looking to join review boards for both books and journals must also be mindful of the scope of the project they wish to support and whether their expertise is relevant. It is unethical to sign up to be a reviewer in a journal or book that is not within their scope of education/expertise, yet, some issues have arisen in which reviewers have signed on to be included in as many journals or books as possible, simply for recognition and credit purposes, or to be associated with numerous prestigious/highly indexed publications. Thus, when they are assigned an article or chapter to review, they either must decline or, at worst, attempt to review it with no actual experience. This wastes the time of the editors/Editor(s)-in-Chief and cripples the peer review process, leading to longer turnaround times for authors and potentially harmful feedback.

Editor(s)-in-Chief and Editors must be mindful when accepting new reviewers to their journals or assigning reviewers for book chapters. They must ensure the reviewer in question has relevant experience and expertise within the field. Regarding an ethical peer review process, the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) states, “In order to assign appropriate reviewers, editors must match reviewers with the scope of the content in a manuscript to get the best reviews possible. Potential reviewers should provide journals with personal and professional information that is accurate and a fair representation of their expertise, including verifiable and accurate contact information” (Ethical Guidelines for Peer Reviewers – Cope, 2017).

IGI Global continues to offer numerous opportunities for authors and reviewers and seeks out niche topics to ensure that all researchers have a place to contribute their work ethically and relevantly.

IGI Global provides a search mechanism that allows researchers to find appropriate books and journals to submit to by using numerous filters. Researchers may browse by content type, subject area, title, keywords, access type, and indexing on the Publications Seeking Submission page.

Potential authors and reviewers are welcome to consult with the Acquisitions Division of IGI Global should they wonder if their expertise appropriately matches an IGI Global publication and for support in finding a match for their publication needs.

The Acquisitions Team may be reached at acquisition@igi-global.com.

COPE Council. COPE Ethical guidelines for peer reviewers — English.
https://doi.org/10.24318/cope.2019.1.9 Version 2: September 2017. ©2017 Committee on Publication Ethics
(CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)