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And here is thread 2/2 of my #ritaunsolicited advice on appeals.
When planning your rebuttal, look to the heart of the criticisms. Sit with the criticisms, invite them to lunch, own them. Don’t just try to address issues superficially or talk your way out of them. Experiments are crucial for moving forward post-rejection.
Your goal for an appeal of a rejection after review is to show that you can prove as well as humanly possible the validity/benefits of your results/method.
Maybe it’s helpful to think of it this way: We know our papers are going to be scrutinized and we care about their correctness. We don’t like to overrule expert refs on technical details for this reason. You’re going to have to do the work to convince them and convince us.
Some more random advice follows. A big point is don’t rush into an appeal. Sit with the decision a day, two days, a week before deciding how you want to proceed. I don’t think this is a situation that benefits from a heated or rushed response. We’ll still remember your paper.
Also, please do not simply revise and resubmit after a rejection without talking to us first. Or if you do, don’t be upset with us when your paper is rejected again. Talk to us first!
It also benefits you. In the long run it will save time. If we overrule our original decision, we will help you map out a revision plan that satisfies us and that we think will satisfy the reviewers!
What about tone of appeals? I tend to be agnostic about tone. Be yourself. It never hurts to be kind.
Some people tend to be more apologetic about their appeals. This doesn’t hurt, but it’s not necessary. You submitted to us, we read your paper, we have established this relationship, and conversing with you about your paper is part of our job—it’s not a bother.
I can’t speak for all editors, but I come at appeals with an open mind. I remind myself that I am not perfect, and if I missed something, I want to know about it. No editor wants to miss out on a blockbuster! And we all have a few such ‘mistakes’ under our belt.
If you’re not a person who tends to appeal, that’s OK. MANY successful/famous scientists don’t appeal. For whatever reason it’s not in their nature. Many do, that’s fine too. There is no one way to be successful.
I think the real value in an appeal is that you can know, regardless of outcome, that you fought for your paper. And in an ideal world, you at least come away with a complete understanding of why the decision came down the way it did and ultimately can improve your paper.
Two other details: (1) for us our decisions on appeals are final. You can’t appeal an appeal. (2) we don’t prioritize appeals over our other duties and new submissions, and they take discussion, so don’t expect to hear back immediately with our decision.
So what not to do? What could hurt you? Being a jerk or bully? I don’t recommend it, but we’re trained to deal with this. Being racist? This will hurt you big time. We (at NMeth) have a zero-tolerance policy and it goes beyond a specific paper.
Some commonly observed things that don’t help you: (1) saying only an expert can assess the paper (see my above point on not submitting to journals where you don’t trust the editorial board).
(2) trashing another paper we’ve published or one you’ve reviewed for us. I understand this inclination—truly I do, but each paper is a unique beast, we had our reasons for sending that one out/publishing it and rejecting yours, focus on your own work.
(3) trash-talking or belittling the refs. This should be self-explanatory. Again, we get your frustrated, but it's not a good look.
(4) please don’t ask for all new refs. We are not going to keep reviewing your paper until three people like it. If you strongly believe the refs were biased against you (note, we do not deliberately choose such people), you can try to make a case that we engage an arbiter.
Finally, as far as I know there is no 'window' for appeals, so you can come back a year later if you want. There are also no downsides to appealing other than potential time lost.
That’s all for now. As always, I will try to answer specific questions and welcome good-natured conversation. Remember that the best thing about advice is you don’t have to take it ;)
