Björn Brembs

[***UPDATE**, 10-02-2015: After a hint from a user on Twitter, I now
know that it is possible to open a PDF document in several windows, one
for text, one for legends and one for figures. Figures and legends
occupy one virtual desktop and the text another. In this way, I can
actually review on-screen, but it is one heck of a work-around and by no
means convenient.*]{style="font-size: 12pt;"}

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I cannot take it any more. This has been bugging me for more than ten
years, but now I've finally had it. From today on, I will refuse to
review any manuscripts that come in a format where I cannot easily have
figures, legends and text side by side on my screen (or at least
inline), like, e.g., in [eLife's Lens](https://lens.elifesciences.org/):

[![lens](https://bjoern.brembs.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lens-1024x745.png){.aligncenter
.size-large .wp-image-753 loading="lazy" decoding="async" width="520"
height="378"
srcset="https://bjoern.brembs.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lens-1024x745.png 1024w, https://bjoern.brembs.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lens-300x218.png 300w, https://bjoern.brembs.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lens-50x36.png 50w, https://bjoern.brembs.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lens.png 1378w"
sizes="(max-width: 520px) 100vw, 520px"}](https://bjoern.brembs.net/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/lens.png)The
standard way of reviewing articles is to receive a PDF with all the text
together first, then all the legends together below that and at the very
end all the figures, one on each PDF page. This makes it virtually
impossible to check the statements the authors make about their data, as
one has to scroll the screen back and forth between text, legend and
figure, just to find out what is displayed on the figure. Obviously, it
takes ages to find the correct legend and it's virtually impossible to
find the spot where one left off to go looking for figure and legend.
This needs to stop. It will stop for me. I can't waste my time any more
with such nonsense!

If you are an editor or publisher and would like me to review for your
journal, make it easy and fun for me to do it and not a chore. Either
develop a system like Lens, or license Lens, or ask your authors to not
separate text, legends and text in their submissions, whatever! I don't
care, just stop torturing your reviewers.

Personally, I already submit my articles with figures and legends
together, irrespective of what the publishers want me to do. From now
on, I will not only refuse to review a manuscript where I cannot see
figures, legends and text side-by-side (or inline) on my screen, I will
also ignore publisher rules to separate the three in my own submissions
-- I don't want the reviewers of my manuscripts to suffer more than they
already have to, reviewing my work.


<em>
 <strong>
  UPDATE
 </strong>
 , 10-02-2015: After a hint from a user on Twitter, I now know that it is possible to open a PDF document in several windows, one for text, one for legends and one for figures. Figures and legends occupy one virtual desktop and the text another. In this way, I can actually review on-screen, but it is one heck of a work-around and by no means convenient.
</em>
I cannot take it any more.

Messaggi di Rogue Scholar

Publishers, stop torturing your reviewers!