© BRYAN SATALINOIn October 1676, when Antoni van Leeuwenhoek wanted to tell the world about his discovery of protists and bacteria, he simply sent a letter—in low Dutch—to Henry Oldenburg who was editor of the Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Oldenburg translated the letter into English, shortened it somewhat, and published it less than five months later in the March 1677 issue of the journal, thereby founding the field of microbiology (Phil Trans R Soc B, 370:20140344, 2015). In those days, publication of scientific papers (letters) was largely at the whim of the journal editor, and was typically rapid.
For the next three centuries, the process of publishing papers remained remarkably consistent for scientists: write, submit, respond to reviews or try elsewhere (repeat as needed), and develop final copy—then wait weeks, months, or even years to see your work in print. Successively, 20th-century typewriters, then mainframe (and later personal) computers and word processors made writing and revising easier. Email and the Internet would, we hoped, streamline the process of submitting and reviewing manuscripts and reviews, but there is little evidence that these two innovations made it more efficient for authors.
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