{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,4,27]],"date-time":"2026-04-27T14:20:10Z","timestamp":1777299610032,"version":"3.51.4"},"reference-count":47,"publisher":"MIT Press","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,4]],"date-time":"2024-09-04T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1725408000000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":247,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":["direct.mit.edu"],"crossmark-restriction":true},"short-container-title":[],"published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,1]]},"abstract":"<jats:title>Abstract<\/jats:title>\n                  <jats:p>Scientists are increasingly overwhelmed by the volume of articles being published. The total number of articles indexed in Scopus and Web of Science has grown exponentially in recent years; in 2022 the article total was \u223c47% higher than in 2016, which has outpaced the limited growth\u2014if any\u2014in the number of practicing scientists. Thus, publication workload per scientist has increased dramatically. We define this problem as \u201cthe strain on scientific publishing.\u201d To analyze this strain, we present five data-driven metrics showing publisher growth, processing times, and citation behaviors. We draw these data from web scrapes, and from publishers through their websites or upon request. Specific groups have disproportionately grown in their articles published per year, contributing to this strain. Some publishers enabled this growth by hosting \u201cspecial issues\u201d with reduced turnaround times. Given pressures on researchers to \u201cpublish or perish\u201d to compete for funding, this strain was likely amplified by these offers to publish more articles. We also observed widespread year-over-year inflation of journal impact factors coinciding with this strain, which risks confusing quality signals. Such exponential growth cannot be sustained. The metrics we define here should enable this evolving conversation to reach actionable solutions to address the strain on scientific publishing.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.1162\/qss_a_00327","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2024,9,4]],"date-time":"2024-09-04T14:47:25Z","timestamp":1725461245000},"page":"823-843","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/mitpressjournals.corrections.policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":186,"title":["The strain on scientific publishing"],"prefix":"10.1162","volume":"5","author":[{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6125-3672","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Mark A.","family":"Hanson","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"Centre for Ecology and Conservation, Faculty of Environment, Science and Economy, University of Exeter, Penryn Campus, Penryn, UK"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-3140-3326","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Pablo G\u00f3mez","family":"Barreiro","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-9153-0159","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Paolo","family":"Crosetto","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Universit\u00e9 Grenoble Alpes, INRAE, CNRS, Grenoble, France"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0001-5692-0154","authenticated-orcid":true,"given":"Dan","family":"Brockington","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Institut de Ci\u00e8ncia i Tecnologia Ambientals (ICTA), Universitat Aut\u00f2noma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"Instituci\u00f3n Catalana de Investigaci\u00f3n y Estudios Avanzados (ICREA), Barcelona, Spain"},{"name":"El Departament de Dret Privat, Universitat Aut\u00f2noma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain"}]}],"member":"281","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,1]]},"reference":[{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib1","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"689","DOI":"10.1002\/leap.1574","article-title":"Publication and collaboration anomalies in academic papers originating from a paper mill: Evidence from a Russia-based paper mill","volume":"36","author":"Abalkina","year":"2023","journal-title":"Learned Publishing"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib3","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"14","DOI":"10.1186\/s41073-021-00118-2","article-title":"A billion-dollar donation: Estimating the cost of researchers\u2019 time spent on peer review","volume":"6","author":"Aczel","year":"2021","journal-title":"Research Integrity and Peer Review"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib4","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31234\/osf.io\/6mbgv","article-title":"Red flags for paper mills need to go beyond the level of individual articles: A case study of Hindawi special issues [Preprint]","author":"Bishop","year":"2023","journal-title":"PsyArXiv"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024122514555298600_bib5","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"778","DOI":"10.1162\/qss_a_00272","article-title":"The oligopoly\u2019s shift to open access: How the big five academic publishers profit from article processing charges","volume":"4","author":"Butler","year":"2023","journal-title":"Quantitative Science Studies"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib6","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e071517","DOI":"10.1136\/bmj-2022-071517","article-title":"Retracted papers originating from paper mills: Cross sectional study","volume":"379","author":"Candal-Pedreira","year":"2022","journal-title":"BMJ"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib7","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.24318\/7cKLAia0","volume-title":"Best practices for guest edited collections","author":"COPE","year":"2023"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024122514555298600_bib8","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"249","DOI":"10.1002\/leap.1235","article-title":"On the skewness of journal self-citations and publisher self-citations: Cues for discussion from a case study","volume":"32","author":"Copiello","year":"2019","journal-title":"Learned Publishing"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib9","author":"CrossRef","year":"2023"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib10","volume-title":"Changing the narrative: Considering common principles for the use of narrative CVs in grant evaluation","author":"DORA","year":"2022"},{"issue":"7851","key":"2024122514555298600_bib11","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"516","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-021-00733-5","article-title":"The fight against fake-paper factories that churn out sham science","volume":"591","author":"Else","year":"2021","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib12","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.aac4629","article-title":"Open-access publisher sacks 31 editors amid fierce row over independence","author":"Enserink","year":"2015","journal-title":"Science"},{"issue":"6","key":"2024122514555298600_bib13","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"giz053","DOI":"10.1093\/gigascience\/giz053","article-title":"Over-optimization of academic publishing metrics: Observing Goodhart\u2019s Law in action","volume":"8","author":"Fire","year":"2019","journal-title":"GigaScience"},{"issue":"5","key":"2024122514555298600_bib14","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"104754","DOI":"10.1016\/j.respol.2023.104754","article-title":"Accommodating coercion: Authors, editors, and citations","volume":"52","author":"Fong","year":"2023","journal-title":"Research Policy"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib15","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3","DOI":"10.1186\/s41073-017-0027-x","article-title":"Recruitment of reviewers is becoming harder at some journals: A test of the influence of reviewer fatigue at six journals in ecology and evolution","volume":"2","author":"Fox","year":"2017","journal-title":"Research Integrity and Peer Review"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024122514555298600_bib16","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"90","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.295.1.90","article-title":"The history and meaning of the journal impact factor","volume":"295","author":"Garfield","year":"2006","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"issue":"34","key":"2024122514555298600_bib17","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"5199","DOI":"10.1016\/j.biomaterials.2007.07.004","article-title":"Peer review as professional responsibility: A quality control system only as good as the participants","volume":"28","author":"Grainger","year":"2007","journal-title":"Biomaterials"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024122514555298600_bib18","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"171511","DOI":"10.1098\/rsos.171511","article-title":"Modelling science trustworthiness under publish or perish pressure","volume":"5","author":"Grimes","year":"2018","journal-title":"Royal Society Open Science"},{"issue":"7786","key":"2024122514555298600_bib19","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"210","DOI":"10.1038\/d41586-019-03759-y","article-title":"Predatory journals: No definition, no defence","volume":"576","author":"Grudniewicz","year":"2019","journal-title":"Nature"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024122514555298600_bib20","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"674","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joi.2012.07.001","article-title":"A further step forward in measuring journals\u2019 scientific prestige: The SJR2 indicator","volume":"6","author":"Guerrero-Bote","year":"2012","journal-title":"Journal of Informetrics"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024122514555298600_bib21","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"21","DOI":"10.1093\/carcin\/bgx085","article-title":"Getting rigorous with scientific rigor","volume":"39","author":"Hofseth","year":"2018","journal-title":"Carcinogenesis"},{"issue":"15","key":"2024122514555298600_bib22","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1253","DOI":"10.1001\/jama.2023.3212","article-title":"The rapid growth of mega-journals: Threats and opportunities","volume":"329","author":"Ioannidis","year":"2023","journal-title":"JAMA"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024122514555298600_bib23","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"187","DOI":"10.1002\/leap.1422","article-title":"Expanding Nature: Product line and brand extensions of a scientific journal","volume":"35","author":"Khelfaoui","year":"2022","journal-title":"Learned Publishing"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024122514555298600_bib24","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.18352\/lq.10280","article-title":"Article processing charge hyperinflation and price insensitivity: An open access sequel to the serials crisis","volume":"29","author":"Khoo","year":"2019","journal-title":"LIBER Quarterly: The Journal of the Association of European Research Libraries"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib25","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.1126\/science.adh1702","volume-title":"U.S. scientific leaders need to address structural racism, report urges","author":"Langin","year":"2023"},{"issue":"6","key":"2024122514555298600_bib26","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e0127502","DOI":"10.1371\/journal.pone.0127502","article-title":"The oligopoly of academic publishers in the digital era","volume":"10","author":"Larivi\u00e8re","year":"2015","journal-title":"PLOS ONE"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024122514555298600_bib27","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"32","DOI":"10.1037\/arc0000062","article-title":"Patching the \u201cleaky pipeline\u201d: Interventions for women of color faculty in STEM academia","volume":"7","author":"Liu","year":"2019","journal-title":"Archives of Scientific Psychology"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024122514555298600_bib28","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"e002212","DOI":"10.1136\/bmjgh-2019-002212","article-title":"External funding to strengthen capacity for research in low-income and middle-income countries: Exigence, excellence and equity","volume":"5","author":"Maher","year":"2020","journal-title":"BMJ Global Health"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib29","volume-title":"Comment on: \u00abJournal citation reports and the definition of a predatory journal: The case of the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)\u00bb from Oviedo-Garc\u00eda","author":"MDPI","year":"2021"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib30","volume-title":"Clarivate discontinues IJERPH and JRFM coverage in Web of Science","author":"MDPI","year":"2023"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024122514555298600_bib31","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"920","DOI":"10.1111\/cobi.12489","article-title":"Geographic bias in citation rates of conservation research","volume":"29","author":"Meijaard","year":"2015","journal-title":"Conservation Biology"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024122514555298600_bib32","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"030201","DOI":"10.11613\/BM.2017.030201","article-title":"Dealing with the positive publication bias: Why you should really publish your negative results","volume":"27","author":"Mlinari\u0107","year":"2017","journal-title":"Biochemia Medica"},{"issue":"1","key":"2024122514555298600_bib33","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"17","DOI":"10.1038\/s44185-023-00021-7","article-title":"Three pathways to better recognize the expertise of Global South researchers","volume":"2","author":"Nakamura","year":"2023","journal-title":"npj Biodiversity"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib34","volume-title":"Higher education in science and engineering","author":"National Science Foundation","year":"2022"},{"issue":"6","key":"2024122514555298600_bib35","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"455","DOI":"10.1525\/bio.2010.60.6.9","article-title":"Not so fast: Inflation in impact factors contributes to apparent improvements in journal quality","volume":"60","author":"Neff","year":"2010","journal-title":"BioScience"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024122514555298600_bib36","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"405","DOI":"10.1093\/reseval\/rvab020","article-title":"Journal citation reports and the definition of a predatory journal: The case of the Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute (MDPI)","volume":"30","author":"Oviedo-Garc\u00eda","year":"2021","journal-title":"Research Evaluation"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024122514555298600_bib37","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"734","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joi.2015.07.006","article-title":"Attention decay in science","volume":"9","author":"Parolo","year":"2015","journal-title":"Journal of Informetrics"},{"issue":"3","key":"2024122514555298600_bib38","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"394","DOI":"10.1080\/08998280.2022.2035189","article-title":"The challenge of recruiting peer reviewers from one medical journal\u2019s perspective","volume":"35","author":"Peterson","year":"2022","journal-title":"Baylor University Medical Center Proceedings"},{"issue":"5","key":"2024122514555298600_bib39","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"486","DOI":"10.1108\/AJIM-01-2017-0014","article-title":"Publish or impoverish: An investigation of the monetary reward system of science in China (1999\u20132016)","volume":"69","author":"Quan","year":"2017","journal-title":"Aslib Journal of Information Management"},{"issue":"7602","key":"2024122514555298600_bib40","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"147","DOI":"10.1038\/533147a","article-title":"The pressure to publish pushes down quality","volume":"533","author":"Sarewitz","year":"2016","journal-title":"Nature"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib41","volume-title":"SCImago journal & country rank","author":"Scimago","year":"2023"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib42","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","DOI":"10.31235\/osf.io\/5t8v7","article-title":"Academic publishing business models: Self-citations and the selectivity-reputation trade-off","author":"Seeber","year":"2024","journal-title":"SocArXiv"},{"issue":"4","key":"2024122514555298600_bib43","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"537","DOI":"10.1002\/leap.1392","article-title":"Overburdening of peer reviewers: A multi-stakeholder perspective on causes and effects","volume":"34","author":"Severin","year":"2021","journal-title":"Learned Publishing"},{"issue":"6","key":"2024122514555298600_bib44","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"785","DOI":"10.5860\/crl.79.6.785","article-title":"Is it such a big deal? On the cost of journal use in the digital era","volume":"79","author":"Shu","year":"2018","journal-title":"College & Research Libraries"},{"issue":"7","key":"2024122514555298600_bib45","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"3915","DOI":"10.1007\/s11192-023-04735-0","article-title":"In which fields do higher impact journals publish higher quality articles?","volume":"128","author":"Thelwall","year":"2023","journal-title":"Scientometrics"},{"issue":"2","key":"2024122514555298600_bib47","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","first-page":"365","DOI":"10.1016\/j.joi.2016.02.007","article-title":"A review of the literature on citation impact indicators","volume":"10","author":"Waltman","year":"2016","journal-title":"Journal of Informetrics"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib48","volume-title":"What researchers think about the culture they work in","author":"Wellcome Trust","year":"2020"},{"key":"2024122514555298600_bib49","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","DOI":"10.51593\/20210018","volume-title":"China is fast outpacing U.S. STEM PhD growth","author":"Zwetsloot","year":"2021"}],"container-title":["Quantitative Science Studies"],"original-title":[],"language":"en","link":[{"URL":"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/qss\/article-pdf\/5\/4\/823\/2478590\/qss_a_00327.pdf","content-type":"application\/pdf","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"syndication"},{"URL":"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/qss\/article-pdf\/5\/4\/823\/2478590\/qss_a_00327.pdf","content-type":"unspecified","content-version":"vor","intended-application":"similarity-checking"}],"deposited":{"date-parts":[[2024,12,25]],"date-time":"2024-12-25T09:56:00Z","timestamp":1735120560000},"score":1,"resource":{"primary":{"URL":"https:\/\/direct.mit.edu\/qss\/article\/5\/4\/823\/124269\/The-strain-on-scientific-publishing"}},"subtitle":[],"short-title":[],"issued":{"date-parts":[[2024]]},"references-count":47,"journal-issue":{"issue":"4","published-print":{"date-parts":[[2024,11,1]]}},"URL":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.1162\/qss_a_00327","relation":{"has-review":[{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1162\/QSS_A_00327\/v2\/decision1","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1162\/QSS_A_00327\/v1\/review1","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1162\/QSS_A_00327\/v1\/review2","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1162\/QSS_A_00327\/v2\/review1","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1162\/QSS_A_00327\/v2\/response1","asserted-by":"object"},{"id-type":"doi","id":"10.1162\/QSS_A_00327\/v1\/decision1","asserted-by":"object"}]},"ISSN":["2641-3337"],"issn-type":[{"value":"2641-3337","type":"electronic"}],"subject":[],"published-other":{"date-parts":[[2024]]},"published":{"date-parts":[[2024]]}}}