Many people, especially ethnic minority scholars, tell stories
about how they did not get a fair shake at a journal due to the fact that their
papers were related to cultural and/or ethnic minority psychology.
Just recently, Qi Wang opened her paper, “Why
should we all be cultural psychologists?” with an anecdote of this happening to her:
Not long ago, I submitted an article to a journal specialized
in my area of research. Within days, I heard back from the action editor, an
eminent cognitive psychologist whose work I admire. In her e-mail, she informed
me that she had decided not to send the manuscript out for review because
cross-cultural research did not fit well enough with the goals of the journal.
Really? I could not believe my eyes. I took another look at the journal’s Aims
and Scope, which clearly states that the journal covers “human” conceptual
processes, memory, learning, problem solving, and more. Ironically, all these aspects
of cognition have been shown to be susceptible to cultural influences. If the
journal indeed tries to exclude cross-cultural research, then “WEIRD
human”—that is, from Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic societies
(Henrich, Heine, & Norenzayan, 2010)—would be a more accurate description
in its Aims and Scope. I wrote back and copied my e-mail to the
editor-in-chief, hoping to engage them in a constructive discussion, but never
heard back from either. (Wang, 2016, p. 583[1])
I was a reviewer of Wang’s paper, and urged her to name the
journal, to make this phenomenon known and hold the journal accountable. She
chose not to do so, which I understand but do not agree with. For one thing, if
this perspective is de facto journal
policy, then potential authors have a right to know. But even more so, I fear
that some people who have not experienced this treatment may not believe us,
thinking that we are paranoid and seeking alternative explanations for why a
weak paper was rejected.
So here I provide concrete evidence that should convince even
the most hardened skeptic that this is a real thing. To be clear, it is true that it is not always
clear-cut that the reason for the rejection is the focus on culture/ethnic
minorities. Sometimes you have to read between the lines. Not in this case.
This case is so remarkable because it is so dang clear.
Below is a series of emails between me and first, the manuscript
coordinator, and second, the editor, regarding a paper I submitted to Personality and Individual Differences. This
was some years ago now, and I did not seek approval from these people to
include their names, so I omit them below. I also removed some additional text
that was not directly pertinent to my point here, but none of the words or
meanings have been altered.
The initial decision email (in full):
Dear Dr. Moin Syed,
The Editors have now examined your above
referenced manuscript and unfortunately cannot accept it for publication in
Personality and Individual Differences.
This article would be more appropriate for
a journal such as the International Journal of Intercultural Relations.
We thank you for providing us with the
opportunity to consider your manuscript.
Yours sincerely,
XXXX
Brief and to the point: more appropriate for a journal focused
on cultural issues, but no indication why. So I followed up:
Thanks,
XXXX.
I am a
bit confused about why the article is not appropriate for PAID. The aims and
scopes of the journal state an interest in papers that focus on the "the
traditional type of work on traits, abilities, attitudes, types and other
latent structures underlying consistencies in behavior." The article I
submitted examines traits and identity motives predicting attitudes. That
sounds right in line with the aims to me. Is it because the attitudes I
examined were cultural? Is PAID not interested in culturally-related
research?
I am
following up so as to better understand what PAID is interested
in publishing, because, as I stated, it seems that the content of my paper
is congruent with the stated emphasis of the journal (it could, of course, be
rejected for other reasons).
Thank
you for your time.
moin
The reply
I received:
Dear Dr. Moin Syed,
I have received the editors
response - although your work is in general in line with PAID,
we do, however, tend not to focus on papers which look
at cultural issues.
Regards,
XXXX
I could not believe that they
would be so matter of fact about it. At this point I felt like I needed to
communicate directly with the editor to get more information. My opening salvo:
Dear XXXX,
I am writing you in
regards to a paper that I recently submitted to Personality and Individual
Differences, which was rejected without review. Let me be clear up front: I am
not appealing the decision and the paper has been submitted elsewhere. Rather,
I had some questions pertaining to the policies of the journal.
In the decision
letter I was informed that the paper was not appropriate for the journal. I was
surprised to hear this, as the paper examines personality traits and identity
motives as predictors of cultural beliefs, which, on the surface, appears to be
well-aligned with the stated focus of the journal. I contacted the Managing
Editor, XXXX, about my concerns, asking if the reason it was deemed
inappropriate is because PAID is not interested in culturally-related
research. After checking with the Editor, XXXX indicated
that PAID was generally not interested in papers that examine
cultural issues.
I am contacting you
because I was hoping to get clarity on the scope of research that PAID is
interested in publishing. I enjoy reading the journal and very much respect its
position in the discipline, and would like be clear on whether my research
would ever be suitable for its pages.
I have attached a
copy of the paper as well as the complete email record of my correspondence
with XXXX. Please let me know if you have any questions.
Thank you for your
time and consideration.
Respectfully yours,
Moin
And the reply:
Dear Moin: thank
you for your e-mail.
The reason for this
decision was indeed that PAID tends not to accept papers that deal
with cultural or cross-cultural issues.
Your future
research would certainly be of interest to PAID insofar as its focus
is on personality and related constructs in their own right rather than in a
cultural or cross-cultural context.
Best wishes,
XXXX
Still aghast, I really needed
more answers:
Hi XXXX,
Thank you for your
quick response and clarifying remarks. I am surprised to hear of a journal
that explicitly rejects cultural research. I know you are very busy, but I
would be interested to hear your rationale for why you feel there is little
cause for considering the cultural nature of personality and IDs within the
pages of PAID.
Thanks again for
your response,
moin
Alas, I never received a
response.
[1] Wang, Q.
(2016). Why should we all be cultural psychologists? Lessons from the study of social
cognition. Perspectives on Psychological
Science, 11(5), 583-596.
