Non-zero failure rate is indeed often optimal because it provides valuable feedback toward finding the optimal horizon for various metrics, e.g. speed, quality,

Non-zero failure rate is indeed often optimal because it provides valuable feedback toward finding the optimal horizon for various metrics, e.g. speed, quality, LPU[1], etc. That said, given the labor involved in academic publishing and review, the optimal rejection rate should be quite low, i.e. find a lower cost way to pre-filter papers. OTOH, the reviewers may get value from rejected papers... [1] least publishable unit