I always found threads like this to be helpful, partly because I *still* spend days getting over the pain and self-doubt that especially bad rejections bring up. It& #39;s nice to know that everyone gets turned down. So, here are the three worst rejections I can immediately recall. https://twitter.com/jburnford/status/1199716051941916673">https://twitter.com/jburnford...

First: a retroactive rejection - after peer review, after acceptance, after proofs, just before publication - because my article was (supposedly) too similar to another I had recently published. They were both on climate change and conflict, I guess?

Second: a rejection letter, more than *two years after* I submitted my application, for a tenure-track job. I opened the e-mail from my office at Georgetown, which did soften the blow (though it didn& #39;t exactly help my early career imposter syndrome).

Third: another retroactive rejection, this time by the editor of a major newspaper, who had a "change of heart" because my article didn& #39;t explain how climate change really influenced history. I replied saying that the topic was my specialty and offered changes. No response.

Recently, a very well known colleague told me that whenever he gets rejected - which happens often - he simply shrugs and submits to the next editor. Eventually, good work gets published. I hope someday to reach that level, and to stop sweating about getting turned down.