---

Publishing research is a critical aspect of scientific progress, yet the journey from manuscript preparation to publication is fraught with challenges. At the end of this often multi-year journey lies a final hurdle that faces researchers: the time-consuming and demoralizing process of formatting (and reformatting if rejected) manuscripts to meet the niche requirements of different journals. This often leads to delays in publication, increased costs, and a substantial waste of valuable research time. This article explores the burden of manuscript reformatting and proposes automation as a potential solution to this widespread issue.

The publication bottleneck of manuscript reformatting

Research has shown that reformatting manuscripts is a major bottleneck in the publication process. A study by Jiang et al. (2019) highlighted that on average, researchers experience over two weeks of delay due to reformatting, with 20% of manuscripts being postponed for over three months. The global impact is staggering, with an estimated 23.8 million hours and $1.1 billion spent annually on reformatting manuscripts.

Further studies, such as Clotworthy et al. (2023), underscore the immense resource waste, estimating that reformatting costs the US research community $230 million annually. This equates to 43,000 years of delayed public dissemination of research findings between 2022 and 2030. LeBlanc et al. (2019) further quantified this burden, showing that the average manuscript requires 14 hours of reformatting, costing researchers $477 per peer-reviewed manuscript.

Automated manuscript reformatting: an AI enabled solution

Despite the clear inefficiencies, most journals maintain unique formatting requirements to uphold their distinctive styles and facilitate their editorial processes. While some journals have moved towards format-free initial submissions, these are still the vast minority (less than 4%). Additionally, journal publishers are often disincentivized for format free submissions as this shifts the administrative burden and cost onto the journal as opposed to the researcher, ultimately cutting into their bottom line. The need for a more comprehensive solution is evident.

Automation offers an alternative solution to this problem. By leveraging software engineering and machine learning technologies, the reformatting process can be significantly streamlined. Automated systems can quickly adapt manuscripts to meet the specific formatting requirements of various journals, reducing the workload on researchers and speeding up the publication process. 

The time and cost savings of automated reformatting

Time Savings: Researchers can focus more on their scientific work rather than on figuring out if their spacing and paragraph alignment is acceptable. The reformatting process that previously took days or weeks can now be completed in minutes.

Cost Efficiency: By reducing the time spent on formatting, researchers can allocate their resources more effectively, potentially reducing overall research costs. Current manual formatting services cost hundreds of USD per manuscript. When considering that on average a manuscript undergoes 3 total submissions (~2 rejections per paper), a manual solution costs over $1000 per manuscript.

Increased Researcher Productivity: Faster turnaround times for manuscript submissions mean that research findings can be disseminated more quickly, accelerating the pace of scientific discovery.

Manuscript submissions in 2024: a new era

The current manuscript submission process is fraught with inefficiencies that cost the global research community billions of dollars and countless hours each year. Leveraging recent advances in natural language processing and other machine learning advances, automation of the formatting process offers a viable solution that can significantly reduce the burden on researchers. At Resub, we look forward to helping the scientific community move towards a more efficient and productive future.

---