If you’ve been at MIT long enough, you’ve probably heard grumblings about peer-reviewed journals that are slow or uncooperative. But those problems are trivial compared to the challenges faced by researchers in other parts of the world. Researchers in developing countries have to sift through lists of less familiar international journals that each have wildly different policies and review practices. That makes it more likely that papers will be sent back, which can delay publication times dramatically as they go back and forth with editors. Early-career researchers in particular are…
