11-12 Writing and Publishing Scientific Articles
Responding to Requests for Revisions
Decision Letters Asking for Revisions
The most common decision letter that authors receive is a request for revisions before a final decision is made. Revisions are often categorized as “major” or “minor.” Major revisions may involve repeating experiments, adding more data, or completely rewriting the manuscript. Minor revisions are often explaining or clarifying specific points in the text or making minor changes in figures. Here is an example of a decision letter requesting major revisions. Note that the final decision about acceptance has been postponed until the revised manuscript is received.
Dear Dr. X:
Thank you for submitting your manuscript to [name of journal]. Based on the comments of our reviewers, we must request major revisions before a final publication decision can be made. We are willing to reconsider the manuscript after it has been revised in response to the reviewers’ comments, and we have included the relevant reviewers’ comments. Your resubmission should be accompanied by a point-by- point response to the reviewer comments, as well as a copy of the revised manuscript on which you highlight in yellow marker the areas where revisions have been made. It is essential that authors consider and respond to the comments and recommendations. The updated Instructions to C ontributors (which can also be found at [journal’s URL]) reflect guidelines and style from the Uniform Requirements for Manuscripts Submitted to Biomedical Journals and the American Medical Association Manual of Style , 9 th edition. Included in these Instructions are criteria for authorship. Any alteration of the byline after final acceptance of the manuscript can be expected to delay publication.
We appreciate your interest in [name of journal] and look forward to seeing the revised version of your manuscript.
Yours truly, Editor-in-Chief
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