Monday, February 02, 2009

Referees

I'm submitting a paper to Animal Behaviour. Their instructions to authors require that I suggest four referees, people who they could send the paper to who are qualified to review it and decide if it goes in Animal Behaviour. They don't necessarily take my suggestions, but they require that I suggest.
I found myself rather stumped. I decided to write the paper because as far as I could tell, nobody had written anything similar. So who should I suggest they send it to?

I wrote to one of my professors for advice. One of his suggestions was that it was their job to figure out who was the best person to review it, and I should just make up four fictitious names and send them in. He even suggested a made up name to use: G. Hector Meckel.

This is the adviser who is notorious for scoffing at the etiquette and protocol of bureaucracies in general and the scientific societies in specific. Despite the humor value, I think I will submit real names of potentially interested people.

3 comments:

jte said...

List me! List me! I'm an animal and I behave. They want more than that?

Dan Levitis said...

I think they may want people who aren't my relatives.

jte said...

How would they know? We've got different last names. And I have a masters in economics, which is all about behavior these days. You simply can't go wrong.

If not for me, consider the children.