Sick and tired

Why is this not accepted already?

You designed the research. 

Collected data. 

Analysed it. 

Wrote the paper. 

Submitted it.

 

It bounced. 😧😞

 

You re-formatted it. 

Submitted to another journal. 

It went to peer review.

Reviewers asked for extra experiments you never thought were necessary. 

You spent time, money, and energy working on those. 

Resubmitted.

 

Rejected again. 😖😠

 

What are you doing wrong? 

That should be more than enough, right?

Some things you just can't polish... 💩

 

Go back to basics.  

• Was the research design sound?  

• Were the findings interesting and/or novel? 

• Did you compare them to all the relevant literature?

 

 

It's dog eat dog out there. 🐕

 

In the time it took for you to conduct and write up your extra experiments, a competitor may have submitted their paper to another or the same journal as you. Maybe theirs is further ahead in the editorial process. Maybe they have collaborations with more well-known names. Maybe their design is just better.

Every time you resubmit, the process starts again. 

The clock goes back to zero. ⏲

 

Keep your eyes open 👀 and your ears pricked 👂to the buzz. Read the latest research. Keep abreast of novel techniques, and informed on new developments. Maybe the assumptions you were working on are outdated.

 

But not all is lost. Not every paper needs to be cutting edge. Yet, if your study is not well designed from the start, you will loose valuable time. Read in your field. Read in related fields. Attend conferences (presential or virtual). 

 

There is a lot of good research out there, and you may contribute to the story.

 

Your paper doesn't have to be perfect. 

But it has to be good.