College and Research Libraries Publishing in the Journal Literature of Library and Information Science: A Survey of Manuscript Review Processes and Acceptance Barbara J. Via The journal literature of library and information science is important be- cause it not only enhances the ability of librarians to do their work, but also provides a major part of the scholarly underpinnings, both theoreti- cal and applied, for the field. Many academic librarians are expected to publish in the journal literature as part of their faculty responsibilities. There is keen interest on the part of academic librarians in assessing the quality of library and information science journals, the methods used to review unsolicited manuscripts, and the acceptance rates for those manuscripts. This article reports on a survey of library and information science journal editors. The survey results show that thirty-four of the sixty-eight journals covered by the survey utilize some form of blind re- view for unsolicited manuscripts. The proliferation of new journal titles in the field has meant that there are many more publishing outlets for po- tential authors. This survey shows that the acceptance rates reported in earlier studies in 1978 and 1988 have risen for a majority of the journals reported in this study. rospective authors of articles in the field of library and infor- mation science face a nearly overwhelming array of jour- nals to which they might consider sub- mitting manuscripts. However, informa- tion on these journals-their aims and scope, their quality, and their manuscript review processes-sometimes is difficult to ascertain. Because promotion and ten- ure decisions in academic libraries are often based partly on the perceived qual- ity of the journals in which articles are published, it is important that academic librarians be well informed ?.bout the publication policies and practices of jour- nals in the field. This paper reports on the results of a survey that investigated manuscript review processes, acceptance rates, and availability of instructions to authors for library and information sci- ence journals. The proliferation of journal titles is not a new phenomenon. A quarter century ago, in an oft-quoted piece on the library press, Eric Moon, former editor of Library Barbara J. Via is Reference Coordinator and Bibliographer at the Thomas E. Dewey Graduate Library for Public Affairs and Policy at the University at Albany, State University of New York; e-mail: bv848@cnsvax.albany.edu . 365 366 College & Research Libraries Journal, provided a dismal picture of the state of library literature. He opened his article by stating: The deadliest disease afflicting the library press is proliferation. The kindest and most conservative esti- mate I am able to bring myself to make is that there are at least three times as many library periodicals in this country as we can afford or are necessary. Perhaps the most con- structive single thing that could be accomplished would be to persuade at least one in three publishers of a library periodical to cease publica- tion.1 It is obvious from a quick scan of the list of periodicals indexed by Library Lit- erature in 1994 that Moon's suggestion about pruning the number of publishing This plethora of journals strains library budgets and most certainly spreads the limited number of quality articles among diffuse journals, many of which have very low circulation. outlets for library science literature has not been heeded. The appearance of many new titles in the late sixties and through the seventies is probably attributable in some part to the faculty status movement for academic librarians and its attendant "publish or perish" ethos. This prolifera- tion continued into the eighties and nine- ties. Indeed, the past fifteen years or so have seen a veritable explosion of new periodicals devoted to ever-narrower sub- topics of library and information science. Moon's stated "evils" of the prolifera- tion of periodicals still seem convincing. Specifically, he stated that the proliferation of journals: spreads too thinly the limited amount of good material; ... July 1996 spreads too thinly the advertising support which otherwise could help sustain a smaller number of stronger ... magazines; ... occasionally di- verts into an obscure publication a piece of writing that deserves to reach a wider audience ... prolifera- tion makes it possible for almost any- thing on the topic of librarianship, no matter how appalling, to find its way into print. . .. 2 In 1995, there are so many library/in- formation science journals on the scene that in addition to journals devoted to reference services, there are journals de- voted to music reference services, legal reference services, and medical reference services. Commercial publishers account for the majority of the recent multiplica- tion of titles. In fact, one publisher has produced at least nineteen new journals dealing with various subtopics of library and information science since 1980. There are now journals devoted to college and undergraduate libraries, popular culture in libraries, public and access services in libraries, and primary and original works. This plethora of journals strains library budgets and most certainly spreads the limited number of quality articles among diffuse journals, many of which have very low circulation. W. Boyd Rayward states that "if there are too many journals, schol- arly standards will fall as editors compete for a limited number of good articles and fill up their journals with the best of what · remains." 3 Assessing the Quality of Journals As it seems likely that in the near future the number of journals will not diminish, it is critical that prospective authors care- fully consider where to submit their manuscripts. They need to have a clear idea of the scope of the journals in the field, the likely readership, and the pro- cess used by the journals to review unso- licited manuscripts. The ranking of li- brary and information science journals (reported by John Budd; Belen Altuna Esteibar and F.W. Lancaster; David F. Kohl and Charles H. Davis; Renee Tjoumas and Virgil L.P. Blake; and Mary T. Kim) should be considered when deciding to submit to a given journa1.4 Various authors (including Jesse Shera; Kohl and Davis; and Stuart Glogoff) have defined a "core" group of library and in- formation science journals.5 However, even within this core group, there is great variation on how manuscripts are re- viewed. In fact, Library Trends, which con- sistently appears high on ranked lists of journals for the field, solicits all manu- scripts and therefore does not get in- cluded in lists of refereed journals. For prospective writers employed in academic libraries, especially those with faculty status, it is often the refereed lit- erature that holds the most weight in terms of tenure and promotion, and rank. The refereed journal is widely considered the appropriate outlet for scholarship. The referee process is meant to provide an unbiased, expert review of the meth- odology, arguments, presentation, and conclusions offered in a research paper. In her book on the editing of journals and newsletters, Josephine Lyders describes refereed journals as "intended to improve the literature of the field through broader participation in the publishing of new ideas and new material. ... Refereed jour- nals seek to encourage better scholarship, which is of obvious value to a profession."6 A noteworthy review of the literature on refereeing has recently appeared in the Annual Review of Information Science and Technology. In that review, Margaret Stieg Dalton discusses the role of refereeing, its history, its standards, criticisms of the ref- eree process, and prospects for the future in light of the rapid evolution of electronic publishing. Dalton concludes her review by stating that electronic publishing is changing scholarly publishing and that "there is a good chance that refereeing will no longer play the major role that it has in publishing." 7 Until the scholarly Publishing in the Journal Literature 367 corninunity begins to adjust its view of the refereed journal as the benchmark of scholarly publishing, tenure and promo- tion committees in universities and col- leges will continue to judge the quality of journals at least partly on whether a ref- eree process is employed for manuscript review. It is therefore critical that these com- mittees have accurate information upon which to base their evaluations of journal titles. In studies such as Budd's and Kim's, which have used measurable factors such as citation statistics to evaluate journals, the most heavily cited journals are, for the most part, those that utilize some sort of referee process (broadly defined to include those using blind review by editorial board members). 8 Further, the majority of the journals that are given highest-perceived prestige rankings by library school deans and ARL directors as reported by Kohl and Davis, are those that utilize some form of blind review.9 Daniel O'Connor and Phyllis Van Orden, writing in their 1978 article on publishing opportunities for librarians, state: "Although refereeing does not guar- antee the production of quality manu- scripts, it does inject independence and im- partiality into the selection process. Ideally, a referee is an outside expert who judges anonymous manuscripts for their intrin- sic worth." 10 Misinformation on whether given jour- nals are refereed or not abounds. For in- stance, Wrich's Infernational Periodicals Di- rectory indicates whether a journal is refer- eed by the phrase "Refereed Serial" at the end of an entry.U However, several jour- nals listed in the 1994/95 edition of Wrich's as "refereed" do not qualify as refereed. For example, The Acquisitions Librarian and The Reference Librarian, both of which ac- cept only solicited articles, are listed in Wrich's as refereed journals. Conversely, several journals that do employ a blind referee process, including American Archi- vist, College & Research Libraries, Govern- ment Information Quarterly, Library Resources & Technical Services, and Libraries & Culture, are not listed as refereed in Wrich's. 12 In an 368 College & Research Libraries July 1996 TABLE I Manuscript Acceptance Rates Journal Title % of feature art. # of unsolic. % of unsolic . publ. from mss. rec'd. mss. accepted · unsolic. mss. (1994) (1994) Acquisitions Librarian Against the Grain American Archivist American Libraries Art Documentation The Bottom Line Bulletin of the Medical Library Assn. Canadian Journal of Info. & Lib. Science Catholic Library World CD-ROM Professional Collection Building Collection Management College & Research Libraries Database Government Information Quarterly Hom Book Magazine Information Processing & Management Information Services & Use Information Technology & Libraries Int'l. Information & Library Review Int'l. Journal of Micrographics & Optical Technology Journal of Academic Librarianship Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship Journal of Educ. for Lib. & Info. Science Journal of Government Information Journal of Information Ethics Journal of Information Science Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply Journal of Library Administration Journal of Religious & Theological Inform. Journal of the Amer. Soc. for Info. Science Journal of Youth Services in Libraries Judaica Librarianship annual guide to library periodicals by Molly Skeen, entries indicate whether a journal is refereed. 13 Several titles listed as refereed in that guide did not indicate the use of a referee process in answers to the survey reported here. Examples include The Bottom Line, The International Journal of 0% NA NA 5-10 15 83% 75 30 50 90 750 7 33 5-6 75 c.25 14 33 50 40 75 66 12 25 20 7 28.5 10 40-60 <10 0-100 20 60 0-5 7 50 100 100 35-40 10 unavailable 25 25 20 50 0-10 c. 50 10 100 95 40-50 25 12 60 100 20 70 100 55 40 80 12 90 100 110 45 100 unavailable unavailable 100 14 20 60 60 35 varies unavailable unavailable 80 c. 60 c. 60 70 50 75 10 25 25 50 10 6 100 84 65 50 21 57 varies 40 90 (cont. on next page) Micrographics and Optical Technology, and Popular Culture in Libraries. In a recent monograph, Guide to Publish- ing Opportunities for Librarians, Carol F. Schroeder and Gloria Roberson define a refereed journal as "one in which submitted manuscripts are evaluated by an indepen- Publishing in the Journal Literature 369 TABLE 1 cont. Manuscri~t Acce~tance Rates Journal Title % of feature art. # of unsolic. % of unsolic. publ. from mss. rec'd. mss. accepted unsolic. mss. (1994) (1994) Libraries & Culture Library Acquisitions: Practice & Theory Library Administration and Management Library & Archival Security Library & Information Science Research Library Hi Tech Library Mosaics Library Quarterly Library Resources & Technical Services Library Trends Medical Reference Services Quarterly . Microcomputers for Information Mgt. Microform Review Music Reference Services Quarterly Notes: Quar. J. of the Music Lib. Assn. Online Popular Culture in Libraries Primary Sources & Original Works Public Libraries Public Library Quarterly Public & Access Services Quarterly Rare Books & Manuscripts Librarianship Reference Librarian Research Strategies RSR: Reference Services Review RQ Resource Sharing and Inform. Networks Rural Libraries School Library Journal School Library Media Quarterly Science & Technology Libraries Serials Review Special Libraries Urban Academic Librarian Voice of Youth Advocates dent expert or a panel of experts. The re- viewers evaluating the manuscript may be members of the journals' editorial board, or external reviewers, or a combination of both." 14 The list of refereed journals pro- vided in the book includes several titles that did not indicate on the survey reported here that they employ a referee process in 100% 26 58% 10 20 40 50 60 50 c. 80 13 85 100 50 50 10 75-100 6-7 100 46 26 100 46 26 90 38 83 0 NA NA 75 15 73 75 NA c.60 25-35 6-8 c. 100 c. 25 5-6 100 varies 9 33 10 10 5 25 c.20 25 25 5 40 75-100 30 56 75 10 90 60-70 20 66.6 50-60 6-8 100 0 NA NA 100 22 68.2 75 20 70 100 40 66 50 14 80 1 3 c.20 10 284 11 60 c.60 c.20 c. 75 20-30 c. 50 66.6 18 80 85 34 61 50 6 66 100 15-20 85 their review of manuscripts. These titles in- clude The Bottom Line, Collection Building, and The International Journal of Micrograph- ics and Optical Technology. There is debate in the literature about what criteria must be met in order for a journal to be labelled "refereed," but sev- eral common criteria are included in 370 College & Research Libraries many authors' lists of basic requirements. Josephine Lyders notes that refereed jour- nals in the field of library science do have common characteristics in their review processes. In her book on newsletter and journal editing, Lyders lists the criteria adopted by Journal of Youth Services in Li- braries when it became a refereed periodi- cal in 1989. They include the following: guidelines for authors are published regu- larly; the editor acknowledges receipt of a manuscript within two weeks; the author's name is not to appear on the manuscript; referees will have a written job description; the editor, with help from others, identifies referees; referees are in- vited to serve by the editor and are re- There is debate in the literature about what criteria must be met in order for a journal to be labelled "refereed," but several common criteria are included in many authors' lists of basic requirements. quested to respond in writing; two or more people in addition to the editor re- view each manuscript; reviewing is double-blind; referees use the evaluation form designed by the editor; the editor re- spects recommendations of referees but handles the final publication decision; turnaround time for the referee's response to the editor is normally four weeks; the editor excerpts and/ or summarizes refer- ees' evaluations and sends them to the author with the letter about the decision on publication; turnaround time from re- ceipt of the manuscript to author notifica- tion about the decision on publication is up to ten weeks; referees do not have a defined term-length of service depends on willingness and ability; and the names of referees are published once in each vol- ume of the journal.15 The Survey This study attempted to gain information on the manuscript acceptance rates and July 1996 the review processes for eighty-seven li- brary and information science journals. The survey was designed to update and expand the information provided by Budd in 1988 and by O'Connor and Van Orden in 1978.16 The author modeled the survey questionnaire on data provided in Budd's report. The journals included in the study are all English language, and nearly all are published in the United States. Specifically excluded were local or regional publications, and those pub- lications that consist largely of staff- written news stories about products and services. There are sixty-eight jour- nals included in this report. The re- sponse rate was 80 percent (seventy completed surveys of eighty-seven solic- ited). Two responding journals are ex- cluded from the report. One journal edi- tor completed the survey but suggested that the journal was not really suited to the study because of its being a newsstand type of publication. The editor of Wilson Library Bulletin completed the survey, but the journal ceased publication with the June 1995 issue. Nearly all the journals included in this survey are indexed by Library Literature, the major U.S. indexing tool for library and information science journals. Index- ing coverage is extremely important in ensuring a wide audience for professional and scholarly journals. The journal start dates are of interest in light of Moon's exhortation in 1969 that fewer library sci- ence journals were needed. Forty-eight of the sixty-eight titles included in this re- port began publication after Moon's 1969 article appeared. Information on number of manuscripts received and acceptance rates is reported in table 1. Editors re- ported data on numbers of manuscripts received and acceptance rates for calen- dar year 1994. A comparison with Budd's 1988 survey findings is shown in table 2. This table shows that for the majority of the journals covered by both Budd's sur- vey and the current survey, the number of unsolicited manuscripts received by Publishing in the Journal Literature 371 Journal Title TABLE2 Comparison of Manuscript Acceptance Rates (Budd and Via Surveys) Budd# of Via# of Budd% Via% Unsolic. Mss. Unsolic. Mss. Unsolic. Mss. Unsolic. Mss. Received Received Accepted Accepted American Libraries 150-200 750 8-13% 7% Bull. of the Med. Lib. Assn. 90 40 44 75 Catholic Library World 30 7 33 28.5 Collection Building 50 20 40 60 College & Research Libraries 100 100 35 35-40 Information Processing & 85 95 29 40-50 Management Information Tech. & Libs. 75-100 20 c. 60 70 Journal of Academic 100-150 110 13-30 45 Librarianship Journal of Educ. for Library 45-55 14 29-44 20 & Information Science Journal of Government 20 60 60 35 Information* Journal of the American 75 84 67 65 Society for Information Sci. Journal of Youth Services 50-60 21 25-60 57 & Libraries Libraries & Culture** 45 26 36 58 Library & Archival Security 6-10 13 30-83 85 Library & Information 30-40 50 30-53 50 Science Research Library Quarterly c. 54 46 24 26 Library Resources 41 38 32 83 & Technical Services Medical Reference Services 12 15 42 73 Quarterly Microform Review 3 6-8 100 100 Online 60 10 33 5 Public Libraries c: 40 30 20 56 Public Library Quarterly 30 10 67 90 RSR : Reference Services Review 10-20 20 50-100 70 Research Strategies 75 22 32 68.2 Resource Sharing and 10-15 14 c.90 80 Information Networks RQ 58 40 31 66 School Library Journal 300 284 10 11 School Library Media Quarterly 35 c. 60 38-43 c.20 Science & Technology Libraries 5-10 20-30 40-100 50 Special Libraries 25 34 48-52 61 *Title at the time of Budd's survey was Government Publications Review. **Title at the time of Budd's survey was Journal of Library History. 372 College & Research Libraries July 1996 TABLE3 Comparison of Manuscript Acceptance Rates (O'Connor & Van Orden~ and Via Surveis} Journal Title O'Connor & Via# of O'Connor & Via% of Van Orden# Unsolic. Van Orden% Unsolic. Unsolic. Mss. Mss. Unsolic. Mss. Received Received Accepted Accepted American Archivist 40 30 50 50 American Libraries 200 750 5 7 Bulletin of the Medical Library 95 40 50 75 Association Catholic Library World 30 7 20 28.5 College & Research Libraries 135 100 25 35-40 Hom Book Magazine 100 c. 50 10 10 Information Processing & 70 95 60 40-50 Management Information Technology & Libraries* 50 20 40 70 Inter. Journal of Micrographics 15 12 95 90 & Optical Technology+ Journal of Academic Librarianship 150 110 24 45 Journal of Education for Library 150 14 10 20 & Information Sciencet Journal of the Amer. Society for 75 84 50 65 Information Science Journal of Youth Services in Libs. :l: 50 21 13 57 Libraries & Culture§ 55 26 30 58 Library Quarterly 85 46 15 26 Library Res. & Tech. Services 40 38 50 83 Microform Review 10 6-8 80 100 Notes 14 9 40 33 RQ 100 40 20 66 School Library Journal 300 284 10 11 School Library Media Quarterly# 20 c.60 3 20 Special Libraries 170 34 49 61 *Title (at the time of O'Connor & Van Orden 's survey) was Journal of Library Automation. +Title was Journal of Micrographics. tTitle was Journal of Education for Librarians hip. :!:Title was Top of the News. §Title was Journal of Library History, Philosophy and Comparative Librarianship. ~itle was School Media Quarterly. individual journals has decreased since Budd's report, whereas acceptance rates have risen. This finding seems to support the idea that the continuing expansion of new journal titles has meant that au- thors have many more choices of publish- ing outlets. This may be a contributing factor to the higher acceptance rates for unsolicited manuscripts. Another factor for lower submission rates could be the rapid phenomenon of electronic com- munication, including listservs, e-jour- nals, and other outlets for professional writing. A comparison of twenty-two titles in- cluded in the present study and the 1978 study by O'Connor and Van Orden is pre- sented in table 3. This table shows a marked difference in numbers of manu- scripts submitted and their acceptance rates between the 1978 survey and the present one. Interestingly, for a number of the refereed titles covered by both the O'Connor and Van Orden study and the present survey, the decline in numbers of manuscripts submitted and the rise in ac- ceptance rates is notable. Bulletin of the Medical Library Association, College & Re- search Libraries, Information Technology & Libraries, Journal of Academic Librarianship, Journal of Education for Library & Informa- tion Science, Libraries & Culture, Library Quarterly, Library Resources & Technical Services, RQ, School Library Media Quar- terly, and Special Libraries all show a de- crease in numbers of manuscripts re- ceived and an increase in the acceptance rate of unsolicited articles between the 1978 survey and the present one. The various methods that journals em- ploy to review manuscripts are displayed in table 4. The information in table 4 shows that a large number of library and information science journals employ some type of referee process. The journals that utilize a blind external review pro- cess would only include those journals listed under the category "External refer- ees who do not know the author's name decide." (Twenty-seven journals fit that criterion in this study.) However, it is cer- tainly worth noting that the instructions to authors provided by some of the most prestigious journals in the field indicate that manuscript review is blind, but is most often performed by members of the editorial board, rather than external re- viewers. 17 Presumably, editorial board members are chosen for their expertise in the field, are well versed in the aims and scope of a given journal, and are well qualified to judge manuscripts where author names are removed. There are advantages for editors in having edito- Publishing in the Journal Literature 373 rial board members review manuscripts, including sharing a vision of the purpose of a given journal, preferred writing style, and timeliness of the review process. If the term refereed journal is more broadly defined to include blind review by edito- rial board members (six titles in this study), then thirty-three of the sixty-eight journals covered by this survey could be considered refereed. It is important that journal editors pro- vide prospective authors with a clear statement of the scope and aims of a par- ticular journal, and with instructions to authors that include a detailed descrip- tion of the manuscript review process. This information should be published within the pages of each journal at least once for each volume. The frequent pub- lication of this information is mutually beneficial for editors and prospective authors. Inclusion of this material in a journal should prevent editors from having to review at least some pieces that either are clearly out of scope or do not conform to the journal's stylis- tic requirements. For prospective au- thors, such information can save a lot of time and frustration. The majority of jour- nals (fifty-two of sixty-eight) included in this study do provide at least some type of instruction to authors within the jour- nal itself. Unfortunately, some of these in- structions are neither very detailed nor very helpful. For example, simply stating that "all manuscripts are refereed" with- out any explanation of the process is not really useful. Or stating that a ''blind" process is used, but not indicating that blind copies must be submitted with a separate author I title page seems less than helpful. Journals that include clear, complete instructions to authors and that could serve as examples for editors of other journals to emulate include: Ameri- can Archivist, College & Research Libraries, Government Information Quarterly, Journal of Academic Librarianship, Journal of Edu- cation for Library and Information Science, andRQ. 374 College & Research Libraries July 1996 TABLE4 Methods of Manuscript Review Journal Solicits All Manuscripts Acquisitions Librarian Library Trends Reference Librarian Journal Accepts Unsolicited Manuscripts • Editor alone decides The Bottom Line International Journal of Microgra- phics and Optical Technology Journal of Information Ethics Microform Review Public Library Quarterly Voice of Youth Advocates • Editor decides with other staff American Libraries CD-ROM Professional The Horn Book Magazine Library Administration and Management Library Mosaics Popular Culture in Libraries Rural Libraries School Library Journal • Editor and editorial board decide Bulletin of the Medical Library Assoc.* Collection Building Journal of Business & Finance Librarians hip* Journal of Library Administration Library & Archival Security Medical Reference Services Quarterly* Music Reference Services Quarterly Public & Access Services Quarterly RSR: Reference Services Review* Research Strategies* Science & Technology Libraries Special Libraries* Journal of the Amer. Soc. for Inf Science Judaica Librarianship • External referees who do not know the author's name decide American Archivist Art Documentation Canadian Journal of Inf & Library Science Catholic Library Worldt Collection Managementt College & Research Libraries* Government Information Quarterly Information Services & Uset.§ Information Technology & Libraries International Information & Library Rev. t.+.§ Journal of Academic Librarianship Journal of Educ. for Library & Inf Sci. t Journal of Government Information Journal of Religious & Theological Informationt Journal of Youth Services in Libraries Libraries & Culture Library Acquisitions: Practice and Theoryt Library & Information Science Research* Library Quarterly*·t·* Library Resources & Technical Services* ·* Microcomputers for Information Management* Primary Sources & Original Works* Rare Books and Manuscripts Librarianship RQ School Library Media Quarterly Serials Review*'* Urban Academic Librarian • Combination of methods are used Database. Journal of Interlibrary Loan, Document Delivery & Information Supply Library Hi Tech • External referees who know the author's name Online decide Against the Grain Information Processing & Management Journal of Information Science Notes Public Libraries*·§ • Resource Sharing and Information Networks *Review is blind, but may be by a combination of editorial board members and external reviewers. tsome manuscripts may be rejected by the editor without being sent for review if out of scope or poorly written. *Editor (sometimes with editorial board) makes final decision based on reviewers recommendations. §Editor occasionally accepts a manuscript w/o external review. ' Conclusions The variety of responses received to the questionnaire raised issues that had not been anticipated. For example, there are journal editors who indicate they use a referee process but note that they are not always consistent in their re- view. For example, one editor commented: "Some are obviously of high enough qual- ity for me to decide." Another editor stated: "If a well-known author sends us some- thing time sensitive we will use [it], but this is done sparingly." Another jour- nal uses various methods of review, depending on the topic, type of article, etc. The problem with this type of in- consistency is that an author in his or her vita may list a given article as be- ing in a refereed journal when, in fact, the article may not have been subjected to a referee process. Even when a journal consistently employs a referee process, there are other concerns. Glogoff, reporting on his survey of referees for scholarly jour- nals in librarianship, found that for 50 percent of the referees, no evaluation criteria form was provided for manu- script review. 18 Another concern is that although articles appearing in refereed journals are often given more weight when being judged by peer review bod- ies in academic libraries, these articles do not necessarily qualify as research articles. A study by Lois Buttlar showed that the majority of article s published in even the core journals for the field are not research based. In her analysis, Buttlar found that in the six- teen journals she studied, all of which publish at least some research-based pieces, 1,725 articles were published between January 1987 and June 1989, but only 500 met Buttlar's criteria for the research-based category. Buttlar de- fined a research-based article as follows : one in which a formal research methodology was used in order to collect and/ or analyze data (e.g., Publishing in the Journal Literature 375 survey or interview, experiment, content analysis, statistical analysis of existing data, development of lin- ear programming or other math- ematical model, case study, histori- cal study with extensive primary and secondary sources, citation analysis or bibliometrics, and an observation/ field study) as op- posed to an opinion paper, descrip- tion of the status quo, editorial, book review, or news/announcements. 19 Prospective authors in the field of li- brary and information science would be wise to carefully review manuscript sub- mission information for a given journal before submitting a piece of writing. If an author's goal is to communicate and to have a wide audience for the work, he or she should consider the journal's index- ing coverage, citation ranking, and per- ceived prestige. First-time authors could gain valuable insight by reading an edi- torial in the Bulletin of the Medical Library Association titled "Why Authors Fail." In it, Trudy K. Landwirth gives an analysis of referee criticisms for manuscripts re- jected betweenApril1988 and June 1990.20 Also, an article by editor Beryl K. Smith, in Art Documentation, provides much helpful advice to budding authors. 21 The survey reported on here, as well as earlier surveys, provides evidence that manuscript review processes for journals in the field of library and information sci- ence are difficult to describe consistently and reliably. An interesting recent article by William K. Black and Joan M. Leysen stresses the need for clear performance criteria for academic librarians. In an ap- pendix to their article, they provide some useful factors to consider in judging the merit of publications by library faculty. Acceptance of a given work through a referee process is but one of twenty-two factors listed. 22 Perhaps it is time for academics to' re- think the way that scholarly writing is evaluated in terms of faculty promotion 376 College & Research Libraries I July 1996 and tenure decisions. The appearance of an article in an externally refereed jour- nal should be but one of many factors con- sidered in evaluating the published work. The quality of a given piece of writing, its contribution to the knowledge base of the field, its readability, its timeliness, and its accessibility through indexing cover- age are among the factors that should be considered. Notes 1. Eric Moon, "The Library Press," Library Journal94 (Nov. 15, 1969): 4104. 2.1bid. 3. W. Boyd Rayward, "Scholarly Publishing in Journals of Library and Information Science," Australian Library Journal39 (May 1990): 132-33. 4. John M. Budd, "The Literature of Academic Libraries: An Analysis," College & Research Libraries 52 (May 1991): 290-95; Belen Altuna Esteiber and F. W. Lancaster, "Ranking of Journals in Library and Information Science by Research and Teaching Relatedness," Serials Librarian 23 (1992): 1-10; David F. Kohl and Charles H. Davis, "Ratings of Journals by ARL Library Directors and Deans of Library and Information Science Schools," College & Research Libraries 46 (Jan. 1985): 40-47; Renee Tjoumas and Virgil L.P. Blake, "Faculty Perceptions of the Professional Jour- nal Literature: Quo Vadis?" Journal of Education for Library and Information Science 33 (summer 1992): 173-94; Mary T. Kim, "A Comparison of Three Measures of Journal Status: Influence Weight, Importance-Index, and Measure of Standing," Library & Information Science Research 14 (Jan./Mar. 1992): 75-96; Mary T. Kim, "Ranking of Journals in Library and Information Science: A Comparison of Perceptual and Citations-based Measures," College & Research Libraries 52 (Jan. 1991): 24-37. 5. Jesse H. Shera, Introduction to Library Science (Littleton, Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1976), 131-35; David F. Kohl and Charles H. Davis, "Ratings of Journals," 41; Stuart Glogoff, "Review- ing the Gatekeepers: A Survey of Referees of Library Journals," Journal of the American Society for Information Science 39 (Nov. 1988): 401 6. Josette Anne Lyders, Journal and Newsletter Editing (Littleton Colo.: Libraries Unlimited, 1993): 89. 7. Margaret Stieg Dalton, "Refereeing of Sch9larly Works for Primary Publishing," Annual Review of Information Science and Technology 30 (1995): 239. 8. Budd, "The Literature of Academic Libraries," 293; Kim, "Ranking of Journals," 28. 9. Kohl and Davis, "Ratings of Journals," 40-47. 10. Daniel O'Connor and Phyllis Van Orden, "Getting into Print," College & Research Libraries 39 (Sept. 1978): 393. 11. Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory (New Providence, N.J.: R. R. Bowker, 1994). 12. Ibid. 13. Molly Skeen, Library Periodicals: An Annual Guide for Subscribers, Authors, and Publicists (Alameda, Calif.: Periodical Guides Pub., 1994). 14. Carol F. Schroeder and Gloria Roberson, Guide to Publishing Opportunities for Librarians (New York: Haworth Pr., 1995), 211 . 15. Lyders, Journal and Newsletter Editing, 90-91. 16. John Budd, "Publication in Library & Information Science: The State of the Literature," Library Journal113 (Sept. 1, 1988): 125-31; O'Connor and Van Orden, "Getting into Print," 389- 96. 17. "About College & Research Libraries," College & Research Libraries 56 (Jan. 1995): 92. 18. Glogoff, "Reviewing the Gatekeepers," 405. 19. Lois Buttlar, "Analyzing the Library Periodical Literature: Content and Authorship," Col- lege & Research Libraries 52 (Jan. 1991): 40-41. 20. Trudy K. Landwirth, "Why Authors Fail," Bulletin of the Medical Library Association 79 (July 1991): 337-38. 21. Beryl K. Smith, "The Journal Article-Conception to Publication," Art Documentation (win- ter 1993): 159-62. 22. William K. Black and Joan M. Leysen, "Scholarship and the Academic Librarian," College & Research Libraries 55 (May 1994): 240-41.