In a previous study, we analyzed 43 SCIE (Science Citation Index Expanded) journals categorized under “Clinical Medicine” in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) database, specifically focusing on those from South Korea, and we reported the JIF for the years 2018 to 2022 [4]. That study aimed to track changes in the quantitative indicators of these journals before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. From the JCR database, we identified 58 Korean medical journals between 2018 and 2022. After removing duplicates, 43 journals remained, for which JIF data was available from 2018 to 2022. The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in South Korea was reported on January 20, 2020. Consequently, we designated 2019 as the pre-COVID-19 period and the years 2020, 2021, and 2022 as the COVID-19 period. From these 43 journals, we selected 12 papers published between 2019 and 2022. The selection was based on the frequency of publication; for instance, a journal issuing 12 issues annually contributed one article per issue, while a journal with six issues per year contributed two articles per issue. We specifically chose the first original article presented in each issue. In total, we extracted 48 papers from each of the 43 journals, amounting to 2,064 papers.

We collected information on journal and study characteristics from the websites of each journal. Data were independently extracted by two reviewers from each journal, and any discrepancies were resolved through consensus. The data extraction and consensus processes were consistently conducted using Covidence software (https://www.covidence.org/).

Journal characteristics included the presence of visual/graphic abstracts (no, yes), access type (subscription only, open access, both), article processing charges (no, yes), and the number of issues published annually. The JIF was categorized as high or low based on the median JIF of the journals included in 2021. Additionally, we gathered data on the overall review and publication speed of the journals, which included the time to first decision from submission, time to acceptance from submission, time to publication after acceptance, review rate, and acceptance rate.

The dates when each selected paper was received, revised, accepted, and published were extracted. Articles with titles or abstracts containing terms related to COVID-19, such as acute respiratory virus, personal protective equipment, N95, COVID-19, coronavirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS), or novel virus, were categorized as COVID-19-related articles.

The characteristics of the included journals were presented using frequencies and percentages. We calculated the publication speed measures by assessing the differences between the received, revised, accepted, and published data of the included papers. These measures included the time from submission to revision, submission to acceptance, submission to online publication, acceptance to online publication, submission to final publication, acceptance to final publication, and online to final publication.

The differences in publication speed indicators between 2021 and 2019 were analyzed, and the variations in these indicators from 2019 to 2022 were assessed using analysis of variance. We defined acceptance as occurring within 30 and 60 days based on the submission and acceptance dates, and we used the chi-square test to evaluate the differences. For papers published during the COVID-19 period (2020–2022), we examined the impact of various factors on publication speed. These factors included whether the article was related to COVID-19, the presence of visual/graphic abstracts, open access status, article processing charges, the number of issues published per year, and the 2021 JIF, using the t-test. If a journal did not specify an exact publication date, we assumed it to be the 30th day of the given month. For instance, if the publication date was listed only as January 2020, we calculated the date as January 30, 2020. All statistical analyses were conducted using SAS version 9.4 (SAS Institute Inc., Cary, NC, USA).

We included 43 journals in our analysis, with 74.4% offering visual/graphic abstracts and charging an article processing fee, and 72.1% publishing more than six publications per year. Regarding peer review time, 39.5% of the journals provided information from submission to first decision, and 11.6% reported their acceptance rates (Table 1). A list of the 43 journals is available in Supplementary Table S1.

We selected 516 papers from 43 journals by year, and the average time from submission to revision for the included studies was 103.3 days in 2019, 103.2 days in 2020, 100.2 days in 2021, and 107.2 days in 2022. The average duration from submission to acceptance was 127.0 days in 2019, 126.1 days in 2020, 124.6 days in 2021, and 126.4 days in 2022. The proportion of papers related to COVID-19 was 1.6% in 2020, 3.9% in 2021, and 5.2% in 2022. Papers approved within 30 days of submission accounted for 5.1% in 2019, 6.1% in 2020, 6.9% in 2021, and 4.4% in 2022 (Table 2).

In papers published during the COVID-19 period (2020–2022), the duration from submission to revision for studies related to COVID-19 was 61.4 days, compared to 105.1 days for studies unrelated to COVID-19. The time from submission to acceptance was 87.4 days for COVID-19-related studies and 127.1 days for those unrelated to COVID-19. All indicators of publication speed were shorter for studies related to COVID-19. Studies that included article processing charges demonstrated shorter durations from submission to online publication and from acceptance to online publication compared to those without charges. However, the time from submission to final publication, from acceptance to final publication, and from online to final publication were significantly longer. In instances where the JIF was high in 2021, there was a notable increase in the rate of acceptance within 30 or 60 days (Table 3).

Of the 43 journals analyzed, 39.5% reported the overall period from submission to the first decision, and 11.6% disclosed the acceptance rate. The average duration from submission to acceptance was 127.0 days in 2019, 126.1 days in 2020, 124.6 days in 2021, and 126.4 days in 2022. For COVID-19-related studies, the average time from submission to revision was 61.4 days, compared to 105.1 days for non-COVID-19 studies. The time from submission to acceptance was 87.4 days for COVID-19-related studies and 127.1 days for non-COVID-19 studies. All timelines for COVID-19-related studies were shorter than those for non-COVID-19 studies, and a significantly higher proportion of these studies were approved within 30 or 60 days of submission.

Our study has several strengths. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first to examine the publication speed of Korean journals before and after the onset of COVID-19. As such, it offers a comprehensive overview of trends in international journals based in Korea. Furthermore, to guarantee the accuracy of the data, the extraction process was conducted by two independent reviewers who independently performed duplicate data extraction from the journals.

Furthermore, this study included data on various stages of the publication process: from submission to revision and from submission to acceptance, as well as online and final publication dates. It also analyzed data on whether manuscripts were accepted within 30 or 60 days. These aspects were compared across different journals based on various characteristic indicators, such as the presence of visual/graphic abstracts, open access availability, and JIF.

Nonetheless, our study has the following limitations. During the paper selection process, not all papers published in the journal were included—instead, only the first 12 papers from each publication year were selected. However, we do not expect that the findings presented here will significantly differ from those of other studies.

Since the evaluation of publication speed was limited to papers that were approved and published on the journal’s homepage, information on submissions that were either not reviewed or rejected was not included. Evaluating review speed data, which includes information on all studies submitted to a journal, would aid in assessing the impact of COVID-19 on the overall review process.

We included original articles that did not specify detailed characteristics such as study design (e.g., cohort study, case report) and research topics. A previous study found that during the pandemic, COVID-19-related research letters and case reports accounted for 52.1% of publications, which was 23.4% higher than the proportion of non-COVID-19-related review letters and case reports at 28.7% [2]. However, because our study only selected original articles, its findings may not be representative of the peer review process for other types of papers. Evaluation of publication speed according to more specific characteristics, including study design and research topic, would help to identify differences across academic fields.

Papers related to COVID-19 were identified based on whether words related to COVID-19, such as “COVID-19,” “coronavirus 19,” and “SARS-CoV-2,” were present in the title and abstract. Although this theoretically reflects a limitation, this methodological choice is reasonable because if COVID-19 was an important research topic for a given study, related words would most likely have been present in the title and abstract.

In our study, the time from submission to acceptance was 127 days in 2019, which decreased slightly to 124.6 days in 2021; however, the difference was not statistically significant. Conversely, the time from submission to final publication increased by approximately 14.2 days, and the time from online publication to final publication was 16.5 days longer in 2021 than in 2019. In a study investigating papers submitted to JAMA Network Open, comparing periods before and during the COVID-19 pandemic, the number of paper submissions increased from 1,860 to 3,153. Additionally, the average time for reviewers to return reviews decreased from 15.8 days to 14.4 days [5]. A study of submissions to Federal Practitioner revealed that the journal received 208 papers during the COVID-19 pandemic (May 1, 2020, through April 30, 2021), marking a 110% increase over the previous year. The time required to invite reviewers decreased slightly from 10.3 days before the pandemic to 9.0 days during the pandemic. During the pandemic, individual reviewers handled additional manuscripts. Nevertheless, the time from submission to the first decision was reduced from 91.1 days to 72.8 days during the pandemic. During this period, there was a surge in papers related to COVID-19, and a significant proportion of editorials and columns focused on COVID-19. The journal’s manuscript acceptance rate during the COVID-19 year was higher than in previous years, not only for COVID-19 papers but also for other papers [6]. Our study included a number of Korean journals, whereas previous research focused exclusively on submissions to specific journals. Although the volume of paper submissions increased during the COVID-19 period, the volume and speed of processing were not compromised by the increased workload per reviewer. However, the time until final publication in regular issues may have increased due to the higher volume of publications.

In our study, the time from submission to acceptance was 87.4 days for COVID-19-related studies, compared to 127.1 days for non-COVID-19 studies; other publication period indicators were similarly shorter. The proportion of studies accepted within 30–60 days was higher for those related to COVID-19. This finding aligns with a previous study, which noted that during the pandemic, papers on COVID-19 were published more quickly than other papers in similar fields. The time taken from submission to acceptance and from submission to publication for COVID-19 papers listed in the PubMed database in 2020 was significantly shorter than for papers on influenza viruses. COVID-19-related papers were accepted 11.5 times faster than influenza papers, and the time from submission to publication was a quarter of that for influenza. Furthermore, 47.0% of the COVID-19 research papers were accepted within the first week after submission, compared with only 6.7% of influenza-related papers. Additionally, 19.5% of COVID-19 papers were approved either on the same day or the day after submission, whereas only 4.8% of influenza-related studies achieved this [3]. In a study targeting 16 anesthesiology journals included in the MEDLINE database, the median peer review time in 2019 and 2020 was 116 days and 79 days, respectively, representing a 31.8% decrease in 2020 compared to the previous year. The median peer review time for COVID-19 papers published in 2020 was 35 days, which was 55.6% shorter than that for non-COVID-19 papers [7]. The pandemic likely influenced journal review speeds to facilitate the rapid dissemination of new information.

In our study, we found no significant difference in the time from submission to approval based on whether there was an article processing charge. However, the time from submission to acceptance for online publication was significantly shorter, while the time to final publication was significantly longer. Similarly, a study focusing on anesthesiology journals found no significant difference in the peer review time from submission to acceptance, regardless of whether an article processing charge was applied [7]. Journals implement an article processing fee to cover costs related to the editorial process, review, and publication. Consequently, while article processing charges do not influence the review speed or acceptance of papers, they appear to expedite the process of online publication following acceptance.

In this study, journals with a high JIF demonstrated a high acceptance rate within 30 or 60 days. However, the duration from submission or acceptance to final publication was significantly longer. A previous study exploring the relationship between JIF and peer review duration in plastic surgery papers found that as JIF increased, the time from submission to acceptance also increased. Yet, conflicting results have been reported in surgical journals [8]. Another study examining review speeds during the COVID-19 pandemic in anesthesiology journals found that those with a higher h-index experienced longer peer review times [7]. The JIF serves as a quantitative measure to evaluate journals, but its value can vary across different academic fields. Unlike prior research that concentrated on specific fields, our study focuses on journals based in Korea.

Examining the review speed of academic journals during the COVID-19 pandemic can reveal the impact of COVID-19 on the journal review process. The excessively rapid publication of COVID-19-related papers might compromise the integrity of academic journals’ publication and peer-review processes [3].

This study examined publication speed by extracting data on submission, revision, acceptance, and publication dates from papers published in Korean international medical journals. However, some journals do not disclose information on review speed. Providing such information promotes transparency in the review process and assists authors in selecting appropriate journals. Studies on COVID-19 have shown accelerated review speeds, which may raise concerns about the quality of the review process. We were unable to include factors such as reviewer expertise, reviewer selection criteria, the number of reviewers, or details of the review process, which means the quality of the review process was not assessed in our study. Previous research has indicated that although the review speed of papers increased during the COVID-19 period, the quality of submitted research or reviews did not significantly decline [5]. In future studies, including indicators related to review quality, such as the quality of studies evaluated by editors or reviewers, could help determine whether COVID-19 has impacted the quality of the review process. Transparency in the review process could be enhanced by using tools that verify whether the journal website clearly states information such as the criteria reviewers use to evaluate submissions and the types of submissions considered suitable for the journal [9]. The quality of the peer review process might be measured using a scale or checklist that includes whether reviewers evaluated or commented on the significance of the study and the interpretation of the study results [10]. However, since there is currently no consensus or adoption of the optimal tools for use in medical journals, efforts to maintain and improve the quality of the peer review process, including the development of valid and reliable tools, are encouraged.

This study focused only on medical journals based in Korea. Future research incorporating comparisons with international journals outside of Korea would provide valuable insights into whether the observed trends are unique to Korea or reflect broader changes in publishing practices around the world due to COVID-19.

In this study, journals were selected from various medical academic fields. Among all the papers reviewed, 55 studies (3.6%) related to COVID-19 were published between 2020 and 2022. The proportion of COVID-19-related studies was relatively low. While COVID-19 has broadly influenced the scientific community, its impact appears to have differed across disciplines. Future research should concentrate on COVID-19-related studies and academic journals that focus on areas such as respiratory and infectious diseases.

Our study found a faster publication rate for COVID-19-related studies than for non-COVID-19 studies. The situation where an emerging infectious disease was rapidly spreading, with limited information on the disease characteristics, prognosis, and standard treatment, may have encouraged the rapid dissemination of relevant scientific publications. Consequently, the impact of new research in journals may be amplified due to the scarcity of information and the absence of established data. Thus, in the context of a pandemic or similar emergency, it is crucial for the scientific publishing community to recognize these potential effects and ensure that the integrity of peer review and the rigor of the publication process are upheld. Efforts to achieve this balance may involve the development and distribution of guidelines that harmonize quality assurance with accelerated review procedures in times of crisis.

This study investigated the publication speed of Korean international medical journals before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. Events such as the COVID-19 pandemic can influence the review and publication timelines of academic journals, potentially impacting the quality of the published research. We observed variations in publication speed due to COVID-19, with differences based on the specific characteristics of each journal or paper. Our findings offer up-to-date insights into publication speeds during the COVID-19 era, emphasizing the need for journals to uphold the integrity of their review and publication processes.