Common Acceptance Rate Calculation Methods in Communication Journals: Developing Best Practices

Acceptance rates of journals can influence faculty tenure and promotion decisions as well as perception of journal quality and intention to submit manuscripts to a given journal. Variation exists in how acceptance rates are calculated across journals and editors, with different methods resulting in potentially misleading comparisons. Because differing calculation methods potentially affect tenure decisions, a normative standard should be developed. A survey of editors is used to reveal commonly practiced calculation methods. Two formulas are articulated for future use: (1) the Submission Acceptance Rate formula and (2) the Final Decision Acceptance Rate formula.