Feeling really sad--publication gone bad

[Tweetie_bird]

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Guys, I suppose I just need to vent, so please listen to my story..... <img border="0" alt="[Pity]" title="" src="graemlins/pity.gif" />
I got a "call for papers" from a particular journal (can't mention name, you'll understand why) and decided to write a paper. Anyway, fast forward 3 months, during december break, I worked day and night to get it done before the deadline. i later heard back from them (about a month ago) that they liked my paper and accepted it. Gave me a few errors to fix, I fixed it, and shipped it back to them. I was so excited about this, that i put it on my resume since I am the first and only author for a paper to be published in an international journal.

Anyway, i later found out that there is still another committee that needs to read it...and off the paper went again, for another review. I just got news from them that the upper honchos thought my paper was basically a bunch of crap. They said that it needs substantial work, and even after that it may not be published. I can't believe the amount of work I have put into this...the number of people i have told that I ma getting published...I even have an LOR from a prof whose advice I had taken during the writing (I also took a class from him)....and I told him last week that I am getting published...I suppose I just feel like a ####. 🙁 The first review committee told me that there is reason to believe that with substantial work, it may be accepted...yet....sigh....I am just depressed. I suppose it's not the journal's fault..perhaps it IS that bad, and perhaps it doesn't deserve to be published. I am just feeling so damn rejected. I told them that I am ready to do whatever it takes to get it published, and they should wait for my "substantial improvement." And to top that, I am suppose to do AMCAS which is another piece of crap.....
Your thoughts???
Tweetie

 

[efex101]

Tweetie do not feel to bad here is why. I did resarch at a very high profile place and sometimes it takes numerous attempts to plublish a paper. These are people that already have M.D/Ph.D and all they do is research yet they have to submit and resubmit to get published. Sometimes it does not get published after many attempts. So, do not think that this is a reflection of your abilities. Sometimes there is a lot of subjectivity on what gets or does not get published...

 

[moo]

Well, research is a big pain in the ass. I understand where you're coming from, cuz I've been there. I put in a lot of work for my thesis and in the end, all I had to show was a big ugly B for bad. Anyway, all I can say is, it's not really worth it to work more on this thing, esp. if you're not going into research. So you don't get published, big deal. Not to wrag on your paper, but half of the papers published out there by undergrads are crap, anyway, as my supervisor told me. It's better not to publish than to publish something that isn't of high quality.

 

[leorl]

Hey tweetie aww {{{{{tweetie}}}}}. It's frustrating, but don't feel like crap or feel you're rejected. Because in the research world, this happens all the time. There's never just one review board, and reviewers/editors are rather fickle. Sometimes they take a look at something and think it's marvelous. Other times they think it's crap. It just happens.

So usually a board is made of at least 2 people. if one likes it and one hates it, it gets sent to either a 3rd party or the editor. Either it's rejected, or it's sent off somewhere else for revision suggestion etc. Some papers don't actually get published for 2+ years after the original write-up/research, it's a very long process. And there's a grade of acceptances too 🙂 . So, don't be too disheartened. It doesn't mean you're crap at all, and it happens to everyone.

Good luck, at least you have a paper in submission! and it will be published eventually. It's very rare for a paper to be worked on for only 3 months!

 

[girl99]

hi tweetie bird,

i'm assuming you won't mention the name of the journal b/c it's high-profile & competitive--like nature, cell, or science? in any case, choosing which journal to submit to is half of the game...lots of papers that get submitted to these high-end journals will end up being rejected. so if you want to publish these results faster and make all your efforts worthwhile, you could try a less competitive journal. if your results are really bogus, which i doubt, their reviewers will let you know too. but it will be easier to get published in some journals as opposed to others...i know how you feel, i have gone through similar things...

 

[Tweetie_bird]

thanks guys for listening to me....I am feeling a bit better about the whole situation. And after all the hard work, if it turns out that they still don't like it....well, that's ok. I tried my best and that's what matters.

No, it's not a "scientfic" paper...it's an ethics paper. Although tons of research was involved in it, there could be no bogus data. So really, it's a problem of them not liking the way I had written the thing. Anyway, I'll keep you updated. I spoke to my mentor about this and he has made me see a lot of positive light from this experience. Plus, I am glad that atleast I made it to the submission part....there are others who didn't make it that far. Thanks for your input guys, I really needed it.
Tweetie

 

[Tweetie_bird]

Guys!
You are not going to believe this...it got accepted!! yayyyy. I can't believe all this whining and hard work finally paid off. 🙂

I love life! I love you all! Thank you for being my support and shoulder to cry on while I went through this nonsense. Turns out they LOVED the paper after it's revisions. 🙂 All my days and nights of staying up and getting it done..whew...who could imagine...A BIG THANK YOU!!!!

Tweetie

 

[lola]

congratulations, tweetie
that's great!