Dealing with Rejection Gitanjali Batmanabane M D Ph

Dealing with Rejection Gitanjali Batmanabane M. D. , Ph. D Professor of Pharmacology JIPMER Pondicherry gitabatman@gmail. com Dec 3, 2009 Gitanjali 1

The only way to avoid rejection is to never submit a manuscript. Gitanjali Dec 3, 2009 2

Rejection is part of being a writer the same way that falling is part of being a hurdler…. 62% of published papers have been rejected at least once 1. 1. Hall SA, Wilcox AJ (2007) The fate of epidemiologic manuscripts: a study of papers submitted to Epidemiology 18: 262– 265. Gitanjali Dec 3, 2009 3

Many famous people have had their work rejected* Prof. R. Williams – discovered one of the B vitamins – J Clinical investigation rejected the paper. v Raymond P Ahlquist – paper on adrenoceptors published in Am J Physiol was rejected by J Pharmacol Exper Ther v Rosalind Yallow - J Clinical investigation rejected the paper. v Nature rejected Hans Krebs letter describing the citric acid cycle v We are not alone *Campanario JM. Consolation for the Scientist: Sometimes it is Hard to Publish Papers that are Later Highly- Cited. Soc Studies Sci 1993; 23: 34262 Dec 3, 2009 Gitanjali 4

Rejection letters serve two purposes: It proves you have actually written up your work May provide good constructive criticism – use to write up a better manuscript Dec 3, 2009 Gitanjali 5

Types of Rejection Slush pile rejection – editor has not even read the manuscript Criticism rejection Near miss rejection Dec 3, 2009 Gitanjali 6

“It hasn’t been published yet. Bloody idiots wouldn’t recognize a great book if it jumped up and bit them” Dec 3, 2009 Gitanjali 7

How common is manuscript rejection? Very common – 69% of papers would have been rejected at least once. Top journals have high rejection rate Wooley CHEST 2009; 135: 573 -7 Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 8

What is rejected and what is salvageable? Lack of new knowledge , major methodological flaws - most common reason for rejection Some errors in research methodology like data analysis, language flaws - can be salvaged to some extent. Errors in manuscript organization, including methods, results, figures, tables, graphs, and references, are correctable. Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 9

The Top 10 Reasons Why Manuscripts Are Not Published* 10. Picking the wrong journal 9. Submitting a manuscript in a format that does not match what the journal publishes 8. Not following the manuscript preparation instructions 7. Poor writing 6. Getting carried away in the discussion *Pierson DJ. The top 10 reasons why manuscripts are not accepted for publication. Resp Care 2004; 49: 1246 -52. Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 10

The Top 10 Reasons Why Manuscripts Are Not Published…contd… 5. Suboptimal reporting of the results 4. Inadequate description of the methods 3. Poor study design 2. Failure to revise and resubmit following peer review 1. Failure to write and submit a full manuscript after presenting the abstract at meetings Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 11

Top ten reasons for rejection of manuscripts in Indian Pediatrics Reason for rejection Percentage 1. Absence of a message 54. 5 2. Poor originality 43. 5 3. Poor methodology 28. 2 4. Not relevant to journal 25. 4 5. Over-interpretation of results 25. 4 6. Inappropriate writing style/grammar 24. 2 7. Inaccurate/inconsistent data 17. 0 8. Poor statistical analysis 9. 8 23% 9. Insufficient data 10. Unsatisfactory illustrations/tables 8. 0 5. 2 N=347, Indian Pediatrics, 2006 (rejection 50%) Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 13

Is rejection fatal? Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 14

Rejection letter received Give up Determine type of rejection No chance of publication success Outright rejection Conditional rejection Flow diagram illustrating the choices authors can make after receiving a manuscript rejection letter from the editor of their firstchoice journal. (Wooley KL et al. Handling manuscript rejection. Chest 2009; 135: 573 -7). Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 15

Flowchart of choices authors can make after receiving a rejection letter from the first journal Condition al rejection Dec 14, 2009 Incorporate reviewer and editorial comments Resubmit well prepared manuscript to same journal Better than reasonable chance of publication Gitanjali Give up No chance of publication success 16

Rejection letter received Give up Determine type of rejection No chance of publication success Outright rejection Conditional rejection Flow diagram illustrating the choices authors can make after receiving a manuscript rejection letter from the editor of their firstchoice journal. (Wooley KL et al. Handling manuscript rejection. Chest 2009; 135: 573 -7). Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 17

Outright rejection No chance of publication success Give up Identify reason for rejection Not suitable for journal Fatal Flaw Submit to a more appropriate and probably a lower impact journal Inappropriate to pursue publication Incorporate reviewers & editorial comments. Better than reasonable chance of publication success. No chance of publication success Reasonable chance of publication success Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 18

Coping Be positive v Persevere v Keep writing v Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 19

We all have different ways of dealing with rejection slips, but I find going to bed for five days with eight kilos of choc chip works for me! Dealing with rejection

Preventing grant proposals from being rejected Choose the funding agency to suit your topic v Check whether it is the thrust area v Get a recent application format v Read the instructions carefully and follow them v Keep to limits v Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 21

Preventing manuscripts from being rejected – some tips Choose the journal carefully – scope, visibility, importance of the work done v Get the most recent instructions to authors – read them v Follow the instructions v Ask a colleague to critically assess your paper v Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 22

Three golden rules of replying to referees’ comments* Respond completely v Respond politely v Respond with evidence v Respond promptly v *Williams HC. How to reply to referees’ comments when submitting manuscripts for publication. J Am Acad Dermatol 2004; 51: 79 -83 Dec 3, 2009 Gitanjali 23

Be honest about… v v v Re-analysing data Additional data collection References Conflicts of interest “Foreign” collaborators Trust, like glass, is fragile…

How to predict which papers will be rejected? Dec 14, 2009 Gitanjali 25

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