Submissions Over Time

With our decades of experience running Duotrope, we've seen a lot. When Duotrope first started, most submissions were still sent via post, or email if the publisher was cutting-edge. Then came the rise of the submission manager, and submission fees seemed to become increasingly common. Then came the pandemic. How much have response times changed throughout all this? How much more common are submission fees? Are publishers less responsive now than they were? How much have submission methods changed? Let's take a look to see if our perception matches the data.

Quick Links: Avg Response Times Response Types Submission Fees Submission Method

Submissions Over Time

Neon sign reading 'Time is Precious' — Time is Precious. Photo by Justin Veenema.

Average Response Times Year to Year

Year	Avg Response	<30	<60	<90	<120	<180	<365	More	Total
2005	67 days	33%	26%	17%	8%	8%	6%	1%	1,780
2006	64 days	39%	24%	14%	8%	9%	6%	1%	10,471
2007	68 days	39%	22%	13%	8%	10%	7%	1%	26,577
2008	72 days	38%	22%	14%	9%	9%	7%	2%	39,811
2009	67 days	41%	22%	13%	8%	8%	6%	1%	61,394
2010	63 days	44%	21%	12%	8%	9%	6%	1%	89,184
2011	66 days	43%	20%	12%	8%	8%	7%	1%	109,080
2012	63 days	45%	20%	13%	8%	8%	6%	1%	132,771
2013	68 days	41%	20%	14%	8%	9%	7%	1%	113,255
2014	72 days	39%	20%	13%	9%	10%	7%	1%	118,831
2015	69 days	40%	19%	14%	9%	9%	6%	1%	128,469
2016	74 days	39%	19%	14%	9%	10%	7%	2%	136,121
2017	77 days	37%	20%	13%	9%	11%	8%	2%	132,423
2018	79 days	36%	19%	14%	10%	11%	9%	2%	131,490
2019	78 days	35%	20%	14%	10%	11%	8%	2%	132,942
2020	76 days	38%	19%	13%	9%	10%	9%	2%	143,304
2021	76 days	39%	19%	13%	9%	11%	8%	2%	155,409
2022	80 days	36%	19%	13%	10%	11%	9%	2%	147,583
2023	85 days	35%	18%	13%	10%	11%	10%	2%	142,590
2024	78 days	37%	19%	13%	10%	11%	9%	2%	144,620
2025	73 days	39%	19%	13%	10%	10%	8%	1%	163,017
2026	74 days	39%	18%	13%	9%	11%	8%	2%	120,704

Type of Response Year to Year

Rejections

Acceptances

Non-Responses (submissions reported lost or never responded)

Withdrawals

Year	Rejection	Acceptance	Non-Response	Withdrawal	Total
2009	84.0%	6.9%	4.0%	5.1%	61,394
2010	85.1%	6.4%	3.8%	4.7%	89,184
2011	83.9%	6.5%	4.0%	5.6%	109,080
2012	85.4%	5.7%	3.7%	5.2%	132,771
2013	84.3%	6.2%	3.6%	5.9%	113,255
2014	84.5%	5.8%	3.8%	5.9%	118,831
2015	84.2%	6.0%	3.5%	6.3%	128,469
2016	83.8%	6.3%	3.2%	6.8%	136,121
2017	82.8%	6.3%	3.3%	7.6%	132,423
2018	83.2%	6.4%	3.3%	7.1%	131,490
2019	83.3%	6.5%	3.2%	7.0%	132,942
2020	82.2%	7.1%	3.3%	7.5%	143,304
2021	81.3%	7.9%	3.3%	7.6%	155,409
2022	81.2%	7.7%	3.6%	7.5%	147,583
2023	80.9%	7.6%	4.2%	7.3%	142,590
2024	80.1%	8.5%	4.2%	7.2%	144,620
2025	80.7%	8.8%	3.2%	7.4%	163,017
2026	81.3%	8.5%	3.2%	7.0%	120,704

Note: In our first four years, our Submission Tracker did not offer all the response type options it offers today, so that data is not comparable and not included here.

Submission Fees Year to Year

Note that these statistics include journals, which typically have fees in the USD $3.00-$4.25 range, as well as contests, which typically have fees in the $14.00-$21.00 range. This skews the average higher than it would be if we were looking only at journals.

See our Submission Fees Report for an in-depth look at the state of submission fees now.

Percentage of Submissions with Fees

Average Fee Amount

Year	Pct Fees	Avg Fee	Total
2018	16.8%	$8.26	39,464
2019	18.0%	$8.49	132,608
2020	19.4%	$7.79	142,476
2021	20.7%	$8.18	151,110
2022	22.3%	$7.90	144,478
2023	24.2%	$7.94	134,705
2024	24.0%	$7.97	140,003
2025	24.9%	$7.91	158,595
2026	25.6%	$8.87	121,366

Note: We did not start tracking fees until September 2018, so we're only looking at reports made after that addition. This report also only includes submissions fees paid in US dollars. Finally, be aware that fee reporting is an optional component of our submission reports, so these figures are likely to be underestimated.

Submission Methods Year to Year

Average response times for each submission method (in days)

Legend:

Postal

Electronic*

Submission Manager*

Duosuma*

Submission method use year to year

Year	Postal		Electronic*		Submission Manager*		Duosuma*		Total
2005	84 days	62.6%	51 days	37.4%	-	-	-	-	1,410
2006	85 days	41.4%	48 days	58.6%	-	-	-	-	9,674
2007	93 days	34.6%	55 days	65.4%	-	-	-	-	25,861
2008	97 days	28.1%	62 days	71.9%	-	-	-	-	39,475
2009	94 days	20.4%	59 days	79.6%	-	-	-	-	61,394
2010	98 days	14.1%	57 days	85.9%	-	-	-	-	89,184
2011	96 days	9.3%	63 days	90.7%	-	-	-	-	109,080
2012	102 days	6.0%	61 days	94.0%	-	-	-	-	132,771
2013	102 days	4.8%	66 days	95.1%	-	-	-	-	113,255
2014	106 days	3.8%	70 days	96.1%	-	-	-	-	118,831
2015	108 days	3.1%	68 days	96.7%	-	-	-	-	128,469
2016	108 days	2.5%	73 days	97.0%	-	-	-	-	136,121
2017	114 days	2.0%	80 days	86.7%	43 days	11.2%	-	-	132,423
2018	108 days	1.5%	86 days	52.3%	70 days	46.2%	-	-	131,490
2019	117 days	1.2%	79 days	44.0%	77 days	54.8%	-	-	132,942
2020	156 days	0.7%	71 days	43.4%	80 days	54.1%	24 days	1.9%	143,304
2021	-	-	72 days	44.3%	83 days	46.7%	51 days	8.5%	155,409
2022	-	-	76 days	44.9%	87 days	47.1%	65 days	7.5%	147,583
2023	-	-	80 days	43.9%	88 days	45.6%	88 days	10.1%	142,590
2024	-	-	78 days	42.9%	85 days	42.1%	58 days	14.6%	144,620
2025	-	-	76 days	38.2%	84 days	37.9%	50 days	23.6%	163,017
2026	-	-	79 days	33.7%	86 days	33.9%	57 days	32.1%	120,704

Notes: "Electronic" can include any electronic submission method, but usually indicates email or an online form. Duosuma is Duotrope's submission manager which was launched in August 2020. "Submission Manager" is for any submission manager that is not Duosuma (Submittable, Moksha, etc.). If a method accounts for less than 0.5% of the reports that year, we are not including that data. Also, this does not include reports where the submission method was unknown (it was optional in the early years of Duotrope).

Note: These statistics are calculated once a day. Last compiled: 4 September 2026 12:50 PM UTC (6 hours, 6 minutes ago).
For the Submission Fees report, the year indicates the date the submission was sent. For all other resports, the year indicates the date the submission was finalized, not when it was sent. Also, each submission is only counted once, even when it includes multiple pieces. Outliers are excluded.

If you have any suggestions on how we can improve this report, please let us know.