The Operational Strain on Journal Editorial Offices
Scientific publishing has never been more competitive or more complex. The volume of manuscript submissions to peer-reviewed journals has grown by an estimated 4 to 6 percent annually for the past decade, driven by increasing global research output. At the same time, reviewer fatigue—the phenomenon of qualified experts declining or delaying peer review requests—has extended average time-to-decision at many journals.
A 2024 study published in PLOS ONE found that the average time from manuscript submission to first editorial decision across a sample of 1,200 journals was 37 days. For high-volume journals receiving 2,000 or more submissions annually, editorial office staff spend the majority of their working hours on reviewer recruitment, reminder follow-up, and author correspondence—tasks that are essential but do not require editorial expertise.
"Our managing editors are spending six hours a day sending reminders and tracking down reviews," said the editorial director of a biomedical journal group with five active titles. "That is not why we hired them."
Virtual assistants are helping journal editorial offices recapture that operational time.
Core VA Functions in Journal Publishing Operations
Manuscript submission tracking. Every submission that enters a journal's system—whether through ScholarOne, Editorial Manager, or Open Journal Systems—requires tracking across multiple stages: receipt acknowledgment, initial quality check, editor assignment, reviewer invitation, review completion, and decision communication. VAs maintain master submission trackers, flag overdue items, and generate status reports for editorial board meetings.
Reviewer recruitment and correspondence. Identifying qualified reviewers, sending invitation emails, processing responses, and escalating to backup reviewers when invitations are declined is a continuous, high-volume task. VAs working from editorial databases and Scopus profiles can execute first-wave reviewer outreach at scale, following up with reminders on schedule and routing acceptances to the handling editor's queue.
Author communication. Revision requests, decision letters, and production queries are templated communications that VAs can draft and send under editor review, dramatically reducing the time between editorial decision and author notification.
Production coordination. For journals managing their own production rather than outsourcing to a publisher, VAs coordinate with copyediting, typesetting, and proofing vendors—tracking deliverables, managing version control, and ensuring articles move through the production queue on schedule.
Indexing and metadata management. Ensuring that published articles are properly submitted to PubMed, Scopus, Web of Science, and CrossRef requires systematic metadata preparation and submission. VAs trained in these systems handle the submission workflow for each published issue.
Measurable Improvements in Publication Efficiency
The Society for Scholarly Publishing's 2025 Operations Survey found that journals using dedicated administrative support—including VAs—reduced average time from submission to first decision by 19% compared to journals relying entirely on editor-managed workflows. Reviewer response rates also improved modestly, as systematic follow-up replaced ad hoc reminders.
One open-access journal in the environmental sciences reduced its average submission-to-decision time from 52 days to 33 days after introducing VA support for reviewer coordination. "The improvement came entirely from faster reviewer recruitment and more consistent follow-up," the managing editor noted. "The scientific quality of reviews was identical."
Cost economics are favorable for journal publishers of all sizes. A full-time journal coordinator in academic publishing earns $45,000 to $65,000 annually. A VA providing 30 hours per week of support for editorial operations costs $2,000 to $4,000 per month.
Skills Profile for Journal Publishing VAs
The most effective VAs in journal publishing contexts understand the editorial process, are comfortable with manuscript management systems, and can handle large volumes of templated correspondence accurately and quickly. Familiarity with scientific publishing conventions—citation formats, DOI systems, preprint servers—is a strong advantage.
Stealth Agents provides VAs with experience in academic and scientific publishing support, covering everything from submission tracking to production coordination. Learn more at https://www.stealthagents.com.
Protecting Editorial Quality While Scaling Output
Journals that use VA support effectively protect their editors' bandwidth for the work that genuinely requires editorial judgment: evaluating reviewer recommendations, making difficult accept/reject calls, and maintaining the scientific standards that define the journal's reputation. Everything else can move to a well-trained VA.
As the volume of global research output continues to grow, journals that build efficient operational infrastructure will be able to handle increasing submission loads without proportional increases in editorial staff—a significant competitive advantage in a market where author experience increasingly shapes journal choice.
Sources
- PLOS ONE, "Time-to-Decision Benchmarks in Peer-Reviewed Journals," 2024
- Society for Scholarly Publishing, "Journal Operations Survey," 2025
- International Association of Scientific, Technical and Medical Publishers, "Global Research Output Trends," 2024