O custo da precariedade: o colapso da saúde dos editores é também o colapso da revista

The toll on precariousness: editors’ burnout is also the journal’s collapse Abstract: There have been cases of discontinuity, interruption of submissions, and long delays in manuscript evaluation in low-budget Brazilian journals in information science, possibly related to the capacity and health condition of their editors. What is the effect of increased workload on editors' stress? In this article, we simulate four scenarios of the stress of those editors using data on the number of submissions, evaluations, and editorial decisions. We use system dynamics to model stocks and flows of articles through the editorial process, describing four scenarios of the stress of journal editors for 72 months, with different submission loads. In two scenarios, with moderate submission loads, editors keep stress and total evaluation time at acceptable levels, increasing productivity under a small overhead, in accordance with the literature. In the two scenarios with the highest submission overload, the number of hours worked per month escalates, as well as the total evaluation time, and the accumulated stress. The exclusive but insufficient state funding for journals does not provide for high-quality editorial work in a timely manner. This threatens editors’ health and favors the interruption of submissions, delays, and even the collapse of those journals.