Resubmitted articles more frequently cited than nonrejected ones

Nature : An examination of manuscript flows for bioscience articles reveals that articles published on a second submission attempt are more frequently cited than those accepted on their first submission. Vincent Calcagno of the French Institute for Agricultural Research in Sophia-Antipolis and his colleagues looked at more than 80 000 articles published between 2006 and 2008. One finding reinforces the idea that papers rejected by higher-impact journals generally tend to be published in lower-impact journals. But 75% of papers appear in the journal to which they are first submitted. Regardless of journal impact, the articles that were initially rejected were more highly cited on average within 3â6 years of their publication. Calcagno believes that is because of the impact of peer review and the resulting improvements in the articles.