Author Satisfaction at Transfer Desk

The Springer Nature transfer service has expanded rapidly in recent years, and it is now a deeply-integrated aspect of submissions for most of our portfolios.

In this post, part of the Insight Into Transfers series, we look at how authors experience the transfer service and how satisfied they are with it.

How are satisfaction rates for authors collected?

Each time we conclude an interaction with our authors, we send them a link to our author experience survey and invite them to fill it out. The survey investigates author satisfaction with different aspects of the transfers process. Completed surveys are analyzed in aggregate to give us a holistic idea of how our service is being received.

What is measured?

The survey examines many facets of author satisfaction, including:

• Satisfaction with helpfulness of Transfer Desk editors
• Satisfaction with information provided about the transfer process
• Satisfaction with rapidity of responses
• Satisfaction with information provided about destination journals
• Overall satisfaction

The survey also collects qualitative information about the author experience, allowing authors to leave specific comments on any aspect of the service.

How satisfied are authors with the Transfer Desk?

Satisfaction rates for different aspects of the transfer process are consistently very high.

Of the authors who engaged with the transfer process, 96% graded their overall experience as either excellent or good.

Authors’ most commonly cited motivation for transfer is consistently journal relevance, followed closely by time-saving.

Among the authors who opted to transfer a paper to one of our suggested journals, 86% said they had no history of previously submitting to their chosen journal, which indicates how influential Transfer Desk can be at retaining manuscripts within Springer.

What about the authors that decline the offer of a transfer?

Most non-transferred authors (28%) chose to submit to the same journal that was suggested by the Transfer Desk service, but as a fresh submission rather than as a transfer. 

Interestingly, more than half (54%) of non-transferred authors who chose to submit to the suggested journal but as a fresh submission only did so because it was suggested to them by the Transfer Desk service.

How is author satisfaction likely to change in the future?

Author satisfaction at Transfer Desk has traditionally been high, but journals that move onto the SNAPP submission system routinely see an increase in authors electing to transfer their papers.

The SNAPP platform enables a more autonomous and instantaneous transfer experience than Editorial Manager is able to offer. As more journals are able to take advantage of the rapid transfer architecture available on SNAPP, it is clear that authors are drawn to the enhanced service we now provide.

As an increasing proportion of journals are moved onto SNAPP, we hope to see author satisfaction rise in reflection of this trend.

If you are an author you can learn more about Transfer Desk, how to use it and its benefits by visiting its dedicated page.

If you are an editor you can learn how you can benefit by using the Transfer Desk service.

About the author

Hannah Froggatt is Head of Submissions and Author Service for the humanities and social sciences portfolio, and she works closely with the Transfer Desk. She has been working with Springer for about five years.