As an author, when you’ve put lots of effort into submitting your work to a journal or publisher only to have it rejected, it’s natural to feel pretty frustrated. But if you take a deep breath and step back, you’ll realize that you have, in a nutshell, two options.
First, you can write a rebuttal to the rejection decision and continue to try to get your work published in the same venue. Or, you can move on from that venue and go in a different direction. Part I of this two-part series will focus on the first option.
…So—you’re not throwing in the towel on this journal or publisher just yet. Now what?
For one thing, keep in mind that even the best authors—whether of scientific manuscripts or biographical nonfiction books—sometimes face rejection; it’s just the nature of the beast. Most prestigious journals only accept about 10% to 25% of the papers they receive as submissions, if that—and they’re getting literally thousands of them per year.
Timing and Initial Assessment
Nevertheless, it can still be tempting to sit down right away to write an appeal letter to the editor or publisher. But if you do that immediately, while your emotions are still raw from the rejection, you’re setting yourself up for failure, because those hot emotions are inevitably going to come across in your letter. And that’s unlikely to increase the odds of your efforts going in the direct that you would like.
…The exception, of course, would be if the venue’s policy states that any appeal letters must be received within a certain amount of time after the decision letter is delivered. However, even if that is the case, it is highly unlikely that this time window will be shorter than a couple of weeks (although it’s certainly worth checking).
But once you’ve given yourself—and the editor/publisher—a cooling-off period of, say, three business days, writing an appeal letter could be fair. Before you do so, though, it’s worth asking yourself: “Do I have any legitimate key reasons as to why this rejection is unwarranted?”
Reconsidering the Appeal
If the answer is no, you might want to reconsider whether writing an appeal letter is even worth your time and energy. Or, at the very least, if the work is scientific in nature, you might want to conduct new experiments or do more research first, and then think about writing an appeal letter.
But if the answer is yes—meaning, you determine after thoughtful consideration that a rebuttal is justified, and it’s justified now—the next logical step is looking at your editor’s or publisher’s policies, to see whether they have rules in place about when or how to do so. If you don’t follow their rules (if there are any), once again, you’re setting yourself up to fall flat.
Tips for Writing an Appeal Letter
No matter what the formal rules are, though, there are a few tips that will increase your odds of a positive outcome, regardless of which venue or editor/publisher you’re dealing with. These include:
- Address the editor/publisher respectfully, using a full name and professional title.
- Express gratitude for the time the editor/publisher has already taken to evaluate your work. You can convey this message by beginning your letter in a similar format that you would write a thank-you note for a gift, or for someone’s hospitality.
- Think about whom, exactly, your appeal is addressed to, along with why. Are you challenging the editor’s decision based on what you believe was a misunderstanding? Or, do you have worries about the evaluation(s) of the reviewer(s) possibly being biased or unethical? The answers to these questions will have a significant impact on how you word your appeal letter—but in any event, again, keep things respectful.
- If the editor/publisher, and/or the reviewers, provided specific reasons as to why your work was declined for publication, address each of those specific reasons in point-by-point format. This will let them know that you have done your due diligence in analyzing the decision, as opposed to simply making a rash choice to appeal it. Keep in mind that depending on the venue, there might already be a template in existence for this kind of letter; once again, carefully check the author guidelines of your venue to see whether this is the case.
Addressing Reviewer Comments
…When writing that point-by-point letter, make sure you’re adhering to a few basic guidelines:
- Be specific. Use a number, letter, or bullet point to clearly state a specific concern expressed by the reviewer, editor, or publisher—then, under that same bullet point, write out your reply to that specific concern. Again, this will aid in getting the point across that you are carefully considering the feedback that they have thoughtfully given to you.
- Whenever possible, keep things positive by expressing agreement when it is appropriate to do so. Use something similar to the following format, filling in the placeholders where needed: “I agree with [reviewer/editor/publisher] about [insert statement here]. However, I respectfully disagree with the particular point regarding [insert statement here], due to [insert concerns here].”
- If needed, complete any necessary follow-up work on your submission before writing your letter, and clearly state in your letter that you have done so. For instance, the reviewer/publisher/editor might indicate that a graphic, such as a scheme or figure, does not express a point clearly enough. In this type of case, it could be helpful to re-draw that graphic and send the modified work with the modified graphic as part of your letter. Then, you can write in your response, “We have redrawn Figure/Scheme X in an effort to clarify [insert point here].”
Final Thoughts
…Immediately before and after sending that appeal letter, a few final thoughts:
- Before hitting the “send” button on your letter, proofread it—multiple times, if need be—to make sure all of your points are clear and that there are no spelling/grammar errors. If your letter doesn’t look as professional as possible, there’s a good chance those reading it will immediately write it off, even if you have valid points to make.
- If possible, ask a trusted friend or colleague to read over your appeal letter as well before sending it off. Even the most skilled writers will admit that there is inherent bias when they are editing their own work. This is particularly true when it comes to persuasive writing—and an appeal letter would fall under that category. A second set of eyes might be able to pick up on lack of clarity or disrespectful overtones that you might not have been able to discern, through no fault of your own.
- After sending the appeal letter—which, in today’s digital world, will usually take the form of an electronic email message—resist temptation to write any follow-up emails if you don’t get a response right away. Remember, these editors and publishers tend to be very busy, and if you don’t get a reply immediately, it could simply mean that they are too buried at the moment to address your concerns as thoughtfully as they’d like to.
- If and when you do decide to write a follow-up email with a status update, first consult your journal’s guidelines again, to see if doing so includes any stipulations (e.g., how long to wait for a reply first, which email address to contact, etc.) And, of course, be respectful—if you essentially just ask, “What’s taking so long,” you’re unlikely to come across as professional to the person on the other end—which, again, is going to hurt your chances of a positive outcome.
Of course, there are occasions when, after thoughtful consideration, you might decide that appealing the rejection decision from this venue would be a waste of your efforts, and that it would be more productive to take your work in another direction. Or, perhaps you did write an appeal letter, and you got a reply from the editor or publisher stating that the decision is final, and any additional attempts to appeal it will not be considered—disappointing, but it happens. Part II of this series will address how to approach taking your work elsewhere—or, how to move forward if you determine that doing so isn’t worth it.
By: Anne Brenner
Anne is an Assistant Managing Editor at Technica Editorial
