Peer Review Process and Responding to Reviewers How

SO– You’re got your submitted manuscript back What did the Editor say? reject revise—minor

Editor’s Letter • Look for “clues” • Minor or major revisions needed – Usually

Review Decisions • Accepted with no revisions- RARE • Accepted with revisions • Interesting

Why Manuscripts Get Rejected • Inappropriate for journal • Study was poorly designed •

What to Do If Rejected • Read reviews very carefully – May not be

What to do if rejected- Cont’d • Resubmission to same journal – Does the

Revision Needed • Read Editor’s letter and reviews – Most painful part – Read

Responding to Reviews • • Read and get mad Put reviews away for 24

Preparing the Revised Manuscript • Common revisions – Re-write unclear or incomplete text –

Writing the Response to the Editor • Cover letter thanking Editor and reviewers •

Submitting Your Revisions • Return letter detailing responses to reviewers and revised manuscript to

After Acceptance • Final acceptance notice – This feels good! – Hopefully, you’ll feel

The Experience • Peer review is a professional AND human endeavor – You will

The Experience– cont’d • Dealing with critical comments – Hopefully, you’ll get mostly constructive

Finally-Teach Your Students • This is important in the academic process • Use your

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Peer Review Process and Responding to Reviewers How to respond without beating yourself up! Professor Gregory L. Florant Dept. of Biology Colorado State University Fort Collins, CO Florant@lamar. colostate. edu

SO– You’re got your submitted manuscript back What did the Editor say? reject revise—minor revise—major accept!! Hurrah! What did the reviewers say?

Editor’s Letter • Look for “clues” • Minor or major revisions needed – Usually a statement will indicate what’s needed: “ your results aren’t justified without the following experiments as suggested by the reviewers” • Critical issues to deal with– Language – Experimental data • Advice if reviewers requests are contradictory • Contact Editor if you have questions

Review Decisions • Accepted with no revisions- RARE • Accepted with revisions • Interesting paper– the reviewers had the following comments- This is the most received comment. • Rejected

Why Manuscripts Get Rejected • Inappropriate for journal • Study was poorly designed • Conclusions made are not supported by data • Manuscript was poorly written or organized • Major revisions required

What to Do If Rejected • Read reviews very carefully – May not be able to re-submit • Do additional experiments if needed • Include other work to expand study if needed • Rewrite/revise the manuscript based on reviewers’ comments

What to do if rejected- Cont’d • Resubmission to same journal – Does the Editor want a resubmission? – Must address the issues from the previous review – “No” means NO! • Submission to an alternate journal – Address issues from previous review – Could get the same reviewer(s) • Learn from the experience!

Revision Needed • Read Editor’s letter and reviews – Most painful part – Read carefully– call if you have questions • Revise the manuscript – Enlist help from co-authors • Respond to reviewers – Nicely!. . Remember, the customer is always right!! – Document your argument • Resubmit revised manuscript

Responding to Reviews • • Read and get mad Put reviews away for 24 -48 hours Re-read reviews Try to understand what reviewers are saying Discuss reviews with collaborators & mentor Consider which issues are critical Give way on minor inconsequential points Reviewer is ALWAYS right

Preparing the Revised Manuscript • Common revisions – Re-write unclear or incomplete text – Additional data analysis-incomplete stats – Additional experiments • Colleague read and comment • Prepare manuscript for re-submission

Writing the Response to the Editor • Cover letter thanking Editor and reviewers • Respond to each of the reviewers points • Detail changes made to manuscript! – Make sure to CLEARLY show the change! – Reviewer one- Point 1: Meaning not clear whether x happened • Response: Sentence re-written to show x happened – Reviewer two- Point 2: Period missing in sentence 1 • Response: Period inserted • If you think reviewer is wrong, give reasons and politely disagree • Have a colleague read and comment on the revised manuscript.

Submitting Your Revisions • Return letter detailing responses to reviewers and revised manuscript to Editor – Make sure you do this in a timely manner – Many manuscripts have a deadline for resubmissions • If you decide not to revise the manuscript, contact the Editor and withdraw it

After Acceptance • Final acceptance notice – This feels good! – Hopefully, you’ll feel that you have produced a better paper. • • • Submit final text and graphics Copyediting and art editing Page proof approval Color figure approval Publication

The Experience • Peer review is a professional AND human endeavor – You will be doing it! • Critical to seek out advice from colleagues • Understand the decision based on editor’s cover letter • Understanding level of revision needed

The Experience– cont’d • Dealing with critical comments – Hopefully, you’ll get mostly constructive criticism • Writing ability– Your “friend” must be able to understand the experiment and your conclusions! – Check grammar– use spell check! – Re-read your paper – Check tenses

Finally-Teach Your Students • This is important in the academic process • Use your paper as an example • Illustrate how you could have made it better: – This will help them to provide you with a better first draft of their thesis!!