Writing for the sake of publishing work in journals is one of the hardest things academics do. There is the strain of putting everything together in a way you hope will convince the reviewers. Then there is the revising, the pushing around of text, the addition of new materials, the nod to work you didn’t cite fully in the first place, and then the final decision – often delayed – to finally re-send it, ideally with the end result that the reviewers and editor(s) accept your changes. Some time thereafter your work appears on the journal’s web site, or in print form, and bingo: your work is ‘out there.’

This whole process takes time. And it can be exhausting, not least in an emotional sense: reviews can be harsh. Even when they aren’t, that moment of seeing what your peers make of your work can be tough going. To…