I can think of several reasons NOT to do this post. I'm traveling. I'm trying to mix business and pleasure, family (loud) and work (quiet). I have no time, and, 7 time zones from home, no idea what time it is anyway. I have more important things to blog about. I can smell that the coffee is charring in the crummy little hotel coffee maker.
But I had to get this out there. Ivan Oransky, a reputable medical journalist whom I know exists, has interviewed a person I don't quite believe even exists: The editor of the Journal of Universal Rejection:
Earlier today, we were introduced to the Journal of Universal Rejection by our friend Duncan Moore. From its homepage:
The founding principle of the Journal of Universal Rejection (JofUR) is rejection. Universal rejection. That is to say, all submissions, regardless of quality, will be rejected. Despite that apparent drawback, here are a number of reasons you may choose to submit to the JofUR:
- You can send your manuscript here without suffering waves of anxiety regarding the eventual fate of your submission. You know with 100% certainty that it will not be accepted for publication.
- There are no page-fees.
- You may claim to have submitted to the most prestigious journal (judged by acceptance rate).
- The JofUR is one-of-a-kind. Merely submitting work to it may be considered a badge of honor.
- You retain complete rights to your work, and are free to resubmit to other journals even before our review process is complete.
- Decisions are often (though not always) rendered within hours of submission.
Does it get better? Of course it does:
RW: When did you found the Journal?
JUR: Although the first issue appeared in March 2009, I did not dream up the JofUR until one rainy day in November 2010 as I was riding the bus home and thinking about middle school.
RW: How many submissions have you had?
JUR: We at the JofUR do not release that kind of information other than to say “None so far.” However I would like to add that I only just posted the first call for submissions on Facebook last Thursday, and frankly I don’t have that many friends so I’d say the turn-out has really been stellar.
One more sign that medical editors, even retraction watchers, have a sense of humor.
