Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
The Revision Process
Regardless of what the letter says, you will want to read over the comments carefully. If
revisions are required, you will probably read the comments over several times. Send the
reviews to your coauthors if applicable and come up with a game plan. If revisions are
required, the letter will give you a deadline to submit those revisions, typically about two
months or so from the date of the letter. Sometimes the revisions are simple and sometimes
they are more involved, so get started early. You will make the necessary changes and write
a detailed letter to the editor and reviewers explaining how you have responded to each of
their comments specifically. Sometimes you may not agree with a change a reviewer is sug-
gesting. In that case, you will address the reason why in the response letter. Once again, you
will be ingratiating in the letter and thankful for the insight and helpful comments that have
improved the manuscript. Once finished, you will go through the online submission process
again with the revised manuscript. This time, however, you will probably not have to wait as
long for a new decision letter from the editor.
If your manuscript is not accepted because it is not suitable for publication in this partic-
ular journal, you will want to read over reviewer comments (if there are any), make minor
changes (if applicable), and resubmit to a journal that is more appropriate. If your manuscript
was not accepted because of formatting or writing issues, you need to fix those immediately.
Again, get someone to help you with this. If your manuscript was not accepted because it was
not a scientifically sound study, then you must read over the comments with an open mind to
determine the problems and possible remedies. If there were methodological issues, then you
may need to rework your research design. If there were ethical issues, then either abandon
the project or rework it so that no ethical issues remain. Hopefully you will never find your-
self in any of the above situations (especially after heeding the advice and knowledge in this
book)!
After Article Acceptance
Once all the necessary changes have been made and you receive the letter saying your
article has been accepted, congratulations! Your hard work has paid off. There is still
a little more to do, however. Within a few weeks or months (depending upon the journal's
production schedule) you will receive a set of proofs. These are a formatted copy of what
your article will look like in print. This is also an exciting day, because here is your article,
with your name on it, almost print-ready! This will be your
last chance
to make any
changes to your article. However, these changes will be minor
d
no adding new para-
graphs, figures, or the like. Changes you may need to make might include mentioning
someone else in the acknowledgments, adding one new sentence, fixing a number that
is incorrect, and things of that nature. You can also request that the copy editor or type-
setter move things around or make changes, such as making one figure larger or putting
two of the tables side by side.
You must read the proof over
very carefully.
Do not do this on a computer screen
because you will certainly miss things. Print out a copy and read it over in a location
with no distractions. You want to make sure that no errors were made when typesetting
your manuscript into its current format. Double-check the affiliation information and
