Publication Delay of Scholarly Journals: a Case for Journals Accredited by the Ministry of Science, Research & Technology of Iran

Abstract: Publication delay is a negative phenomenon in scientific information dissemination. The current research studies the publication delay of scientific journals accredited by the Ministry of Science, Research & Technology of Iran. It also investigates the association between journals’ characteristics and their publication lag. This study
employs the applied research method. All 1156 journals of the Ministry of Science, Research & Technology constitute the population of the study.
Publication status of journals until the end of 1394 was investigated using their website as well as the Commission of Scholarly Periodicals’ website. Results of the study showed that 581 out of the 1156 studied journals (50.25%) are published without any delay. However, average publication lag of all 1156 journals is 0.92 issues. Findings revealed
statistically significant differences among different majors and fields in regard to their journals’ publication delay. Accordingly, the shortest and longest delay was seen in Veterinary and Humanities journals, respectively. Results showed that characteristics like journal’s rank, using online journal management systems, language of publication,
indexing in citation databases as well as journal’s lifetime were significantly related to their publication delay. In other words, those journals with scientific-research rank, those which use online journal management systems, those which publish in English, those which index in national and international citation indices and those with more
lifetimes were reported to have lower publication delay. Last but not least, results showed journals of the Kharazmi University, Allameh Tabatabai University and Shahid Beheshti University had the greatest levels of publication delay.