Simultaneous submissions without simultaneous peer review

Abstract This article borrows and adapts a concept from law and finance called an ‘exclusive option’ that would allow simultaneous submission of journal manuscripts across multiple disconnected platforms without duplicated peer review. Simultaneous submission systems increase the probability that an author will be receive a decision faster than single submission systems because multiple journals, instead of just one, can review a manuscript at the same time. But peer-reviewed journals generally avoid simultaneous systems because they waste overlapping peer-review work and risk multiple acceptances and duplicate publications. The proposed method finds a middle ground. It allows a researcher to submit to multiple journals at the same time—increasing the chances of getting speedier initial journal interest and allowing researchers to choose between interested journals—but then avoids overlapping review by requiring the researcher to give the right to proceed to peer review (and eventual publication) to only one journal. The proposed method is meant to work side-by-side with, not replace, the single submission system. The article describes and discusses (1) the pros and cons of both systems, (2) the main innovative features of the ‘exclusive option’ and how it would work, (3) the potential probable impact of the option on authors, editors, reviewers and publishers, (4) major objections and drawbacks, and (5) the incentive publishers would have to adopt this method. The article’s main takeaway, and its primary contribution to the literature, is that some of the time-saving features of simultaneous submission systems can be achieved without overlapping peer review.