Working hard to say no!

I’ve been saying ‘no’ to an invitation from a journal to handle a paper review for a couple of weeks but it seems you just can’t say ‘no’ to Elsevier. It’s not that I don’t review, I do, and often, but I do so for the four journals I’ve committed to work with and they keep my inbox pretty full. Let’s not forget, reviewing is time-intensive, effortful and yes, completely voluntary — free labor that keeps the process moving as it compunds the free labor authors put in creating the documents. Applied Ergonomics, a journal that might claim to represent good design practice, has taken it upon itself to invite reviewers by sending an automated email which requires the recipient to register with them in order to view and handle the manuscript. This makes a lot of sense for reviewers – the papers are in one locatable place, reviews can be submitted there, no need for the old fashioned paper and envelope stage, and let’s face it, once you’ve registered, you’ve put yourself on their list of available reviewers for the future. The trouble with Applied Ergonomics (and most of these systems) is that you cannot say ‘no’ to a request without registering. It’s clear something is wrong in the world when you have to make an effort to decline an invitation you do not want and did not seek — merely ignoring it only results in pesky automated reminders. I told the editorial office I would not handle the MS, and I would not register in their system to tell them so. One week later I get a letter asking me to review the same manuscript and a reminder to register if I wanted to decline. And so it goes on. Applied Ergonomics describes itself as “aimed at all those interested in applying ergonomics/human factors in the design, planning and management of technical and social systems at work or leisure”. Irony is a lost art.