Why has my article been transferred to another journal (or a transfer has been suggested), and what are my options?

JMIR Publications offers "portable peer-review" (also called "cascading peer-review"), meaning that manuscripts and their peer-reviews can be transferred to other JMIR Publications journals.

"Apart from reducing the redundancy of having a paper shepherded through the peer-review process a second or third time, internal manuscript and peer-review referral services ["cascading peer-review"] offers real value to the submitting author — i.e., faster publishing." (Phil Davis, Scholarly Kitchen)

How and When are Manuscripts Transferred?

When an editorial decision is issued:

During initial triage or after initial peer-review or a re-review of a revised submission, the editor will decide if a manuscript can be accepted, should be declined, or should undergo a further round of revision. Any of these decisions can be combined with an offer/recommendation to transfer the paper to another JMIR Publications journal. 

Automatically with a rejection:

The transfer can also be executed automatically on rejection from the journal it was originally submitted to (unless the author specified in their cover letter that they do not want that (see: How do I prevent my article from being transferred to another journal when it is rejected? (cascading peer-review)).

In response to an author request:

Apart from an editor-initiated transfer, the authors also can request a transfer at any time (see How do I request a manuscript transfer to another journal?).

If the paper was submitted to a special issue (theme issue), then the paper will still appear in that theme issue. Theme issues, e-collections, may contain papers from different journals. The theme issue discount will still be applied.

What is the Transfer Hub (manuscript eXchange)?

The JMIR Publications "Transfer Hub" (also called manuscript eXchange) is a platform into which we transfer manuscripts looking for a new journal home. We generally poll editors of other potential target JMIR Publications journals in the order indicated by the author(s) in the cover letter or in the revision form (see section "How can I indicate my preference ranking of journals?" below). 

Benefits of Transferring

The advantages of a transfer (over a straight rejection or withdrawal) include the following:

• Don't lose time by sending the paper around to journal after journal
• Cascading ("portable") peer-review and manuscript transfer are beneficial for the author if a specific editor/journal has rejected an article on the grounds of relevance, fit (scope), or importance, i.e., if the reviewers and/or editor have indicated that the manuscript is in principle publishable but not strong enough for a high-impact journal or a better fit for another journal. Authors need to understand that a high-impact journal like the Journal of Medical Internet Research (the flagship JMIR journal) needs to be selective and does not publish feasibility/pilot/usability studies. In many cases, the paper may then be reframed (e.g., as research protocol or methods paper) and would be acceptable for JMIR Research Protocol, JMIR Formative Research, or another journal within the portfolio that may be more suitable for your work. You should "save" the high-impact journals for your best "final results" papers. By using the manuscript transfer option, authors save time as they do not have to go through a new submission process at another publisher and wait for new reviews.
• The reviewers usually stay the same, which has the advantage that there are no delays in finding new reviewers.
• Another advantage for the author is that the submission date does not change (i.e., we publish the original submission date rather than the transfer date as "Date Submitted" within the paper), which can be important for priority claims of ideas. If authors were to withdraw and resubmit the paper elsewhere, the submission date would change.

Differences in APFs between JMIR Journals

Once a paper is transferred, the APF of the new journal is applicable. Before accepting a transfer, the authors are required to review the APF of the target journal at the time of transfer (not submission). The authors are responsible for paying the APF in the case of a transfer and should review the journal homepage for indexing information of the target journal. 

How to Respond to a Transfer Recommendation

If a manuscript transfer has been offered (or executed) by the editor to a new journal, please either:

1. Indicate promptly if you are not interested in that option and wish to withdraw the manuscript (have it rejected by the journal you submitted it to) (see How do I withdraw a submitted (but not published) article from peer-review?). You may also inquire if the paper is suitable for another journal or escalate this to the Editorial Director or Managing Editor of the journal by filing a support ticket at ed-support@jmir.org.

or

• (unless the paper is "on hold" in Transfer Hub) revise the manuscript, respond to as many reviewer comments as possible, and indicate your journal preference (or state that you are ok with a manuscript transfer if already executed) in your cover letter/responses to the editor/reviewers (see: How do I respond to reviewer comments and upload a revised manuscript?) 

How can I opt out of a transfer to another journal or to the Transfer Hub?

Upon submission, authors must check a checkbox indicating that they agree with our transfer policy to another journal unless they specify in their cover letter that they do not wish this:

In the cover letter, authors can opt out of any transfers (in which case a submission may be outright rejected), or can specify a ranking list of journals they would like the manuscript potentially to be transferred to, if the paper is rejected by the original journal.

How can I indicate my preference ranking of journals?

For a list of all our journals see Which journal titles are JMIR Publications currently publishing? (Journal Portfolio).

You can indicate your ranking 

• on submission: in the cover letter
• after a rejection or transfer to a journal you don't like: email ed-support@jmir.org
• during revision: If the editor or reviewer suggests a different journal during peer-review, authors can also indicate this in the revision form (see How do I respond to reviewer comments and upload a revised manuscript?)

See also:

• How do I request a manuscript transfer to another journal?
• How do I prevent my article from being transferred to another journal when it is rejected? (cascading peer-review)
• How do I withdraw a submitted (but not published) article from peer-review?
• How do I respond to reviewer comments and upload a revised manuscript?