Turnaround Times in Academic Publishing

So, after sending back the proofs of a recently accepted article within 8 hours of receipt, the editor wrote to me:
Wow, that is the quickest turnaround where we know you actually looked at the proofs in journal history. :)
Which, of course, is nice!  I do try, after all.

 But it also makes me reflect that, really, there's no real reason any stage of the academic publishing process has to take so long (besides the writing and revision stages.) When I receive reviews for Fafnir, I return commentary within 24 hours. And my peer reviews are finished in a week -- not the months it normally takes others -- unless I need to consult some special hard-to-get source. It's just a matter of staying on tops of things. No wonder academics are so stressed all the time.

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