How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

When to complain
The publishing process (How to deal with proofs)—and after publication
Publishing the paper

If you have learned nothing else from this chapter, we trust that you now know that you must provide quality control. Too many authors have complained after the fact (after publication) without ever realizing that only they could have prevented whatever it is they are complaining about. For example, many authors have complained that their pictures were printed upside down or sideways. When such complaints have been checked, it has commonly been found that the authors failed to note that the photos were oriented incorrectly in their proofs.

So, if you are going to complain, do it at the proof stage. And, believe it or not, your complaint is likely to be received graciously. Publishers have invested heavily in setting the specifications that can provide quality reproduction. They need your quality control, however, to ensure that their money is not wasted.

Good journals with hard-copy versions are printed by good printers, hired by good publishers. The published paper will have your name on it, but the reputations of both the publisher and the printer are also at stake. They expect you to work with them in creating a superior product. Likewise, if a journal is solely electronic, the publisher wants to ensure that the product is of high quality, and depends on your collaboration in that regard. (If, however, the published version of your paper contains an error despite your best efforts, inform the journal. Depending on the situation, they may be able to correct the paper online, publish a correction, or both.)

Because managing editors of such journals must protect the integrity of the product, those we have known would never hire a printer exclusively because it was the lowest bidder. John Ruskin was no doubt right when he said, “There is hardly anything in the world that somebody cannot make a little worse and sell a little cheaper, and the people who consider price only are this person’s lawful prey.”

A sign in a printing shop made the same point:

PRICE

QUALITY

SERVICE

Pick any two of the above