11-10 Writing and Publishing Scientific Articles
Minor points:
1. There is a typo in the tittle! [Reviewers make spelling and grammar errors, too. Your typo is embarrassing but easily corrected.]
2. The lanes in Figure 1 aren’t labeled. [Easily corrected.]
3. The Introduction is too long. [See “Unclear Letters and Comments” below.]
4. The differences in microarray spot intensity are difficult to see in the photographs and should be quantified and presented in a table. [Easily corrected.]
5. There should be spaces between numbers and “mM.” [A very minor point, easily corrected.]
Rejected manuscripts are usually revised and submitted to other journals. However, what if a reviewer has obviously misinterpreted your data? Or the reviewer is obviously biased? What if you believe you can address the reviewers’ concerns? A rejection decision is not always final. If you believe that the situation warrants, it is possible to appeal a rejection. Do not, however, under any circumstances call the journal editorial office or the editor and unleash your fury. Instead, call or write to the editor and explain in a professional and objective manner the reasons for your concern and your suggestions for solving the problem. If you believe a reviewer has been unfair, biased, or mistaken, you can request that the manuscript be sent to an additional reviewer. The editor may say the decision is final, or the editor may say he or she would reconsider a revised and resubmitted manuscript. Under the right circumstances, appealing a rejection may be the right thing to do. However, it is almost unheard of for a journal to accept a previously rejected manuscript without any revisions. Be prepared to make most of the requested changes. Sometimes a journal will reject a manuscript but allow the author to revise and resubmit anyway. That might happen if the editors were very interested in a study and wanted to encourage the authors to report it in the editors’ journal. Here is an example of a decision letter rejecting the article but encouraging the authors to revise and resubmit it. The letter states that the manuscript is not acceptable but that a revision will be considered. There are instructions on how to revise the manuscript, but the journal
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