Our Vice-Chancellor

The nature of expertise is a variable thing. It is fascinating how and why people come to be seen as legitimate commentators on issues, sometimes when they can be demonstrated to have little deep understanding of those same issues.

One of the things that often shocks new journal editors is the difficulty that they face in obtaining referees for papers. It is often necessary to approach a string of referees in order to obtain the requisite number of references. Most annoyingly of all, sometimes a person who has just submitted a paper to a journal then refuses to referee for it or has the nerve to complain about delays to the reviewing process occasioned precisely by the search for referees. And that is before we get to the people who are approached who never even deign to reply. More seriously, at least from my experience of editing a journal, the problem is getting worse.