Q: How long does it take from proofreading to publication?
It has been three weeks since I finished proofreading my manuscript. There was the seasonal holiday during these three weeks, but I am concerned about when my final manuscript will be published. By the way, I asked for one tiny correction, which has no relation to the subject theme or the conclusion of the manuscript. Is it possible that this has something to do with the manuscript pending publication?
Asked on 16 Jan, 2020
Firstly, congrats on being accepted for publication!
Now, there may be a couple of reasons for the delay. While the holiday season is over, the editor may still be working through the post-holiday backlog of mails and manuscripts, and so, they either haven’t got to your manuscript or are still making the post-proof changes to it. Also, apart from the tiny correction, you haven’t mentioned the amount of changes you needed to make during the proofing. If a considerable amount, this could be taking time too. Once these are complete, the final paper should shortly publish. High-quality journals typically take time before publication, ensuring the final manuscript is of the highest standards. To answer your question, no, it is unlikely that the tiny change you asked for impacted the timeline significantly.
So, you could do a couple of things. One, check the publication timelines (for the various stages) for other articles published by the journal. Two, if you haven’t written to the editor after the holidays, you could write to them checking on the prospective publishing date. If needed, you could share how eager you are to see your hard work see the light.
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