Thursday, October 27, 2005

Circuits down

Just posting this before I forget. At my current place of employment I manage the peer review process for science research before it is published. Sounds impressive, huh? Well, the fact is, it is largely automated. I push a little button on the screen and the system sends out emails that are ostensibly from me. Many people respond to these automatically generated missives with questions or comments, to which I compose a response. As I reflect on this I wonder how many authors out there think I am completely schizophrenic. One day they'll get a message to the tune of:

Dear Dr. Breshears,
This is a gentle reminder that the agreed upon date or resubmission of the revision of your manuscript "The grassland-forest continuum: how woody-plant mosaics determine ecosystem properties within sites and along gradients" [Paper #05FRN0050] is October 15, 2005. To submit the revised manuscript, click on the below link.

And then, the very next day they get something like
this:


Dave,
I'll look for your paper after October 29. We recognize the numerous
commitments that authors have. (If it happens again we'll show up at your
doorstep) Please contact me if you have any questions or concerns.

Hmmm. I wonder.

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