Manuscript submission under review

[Sach]

My PI submitted a manuscipt to a journal in January. In april, they got back To us with "major revisions" needed. We revised it and submitted it after a week. It said "Awaiting AE recommendation" for a while under status. Just now it says "awaiting EIC decision"
Is it most likely going to be accepted or hard to say?

Do journals generally accept if they ask for a revision? Just wondering.

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[orrghead16]

Do journals generally accept if they ask for a revision? Just wondering.

Depends on too many things to quantify. Including how you addressed the reviewers, what journals, if it goes out for a second round of peer-review, etc. If the reviews were not very critical, you are probably sitting very well. If they were critical, but you guys addressed them great, you are sitting well.

As a general rule though, the first round of revisions are almost always meant to be extremely critical and even negative. It is a once-in-a-lifetime shot to get the article accepted without being asked for a revision(s).

 

[sleepy425]

My PI submitted a manuscipt to a journal in January. In april, they got back To us with "major revisions" needed. We revised it and submitted it after a week. It said "Awaiting AE recommendation" for a while under status. Just now it says "awaiting EIC decision"
Is it most likely going to be accepted or hard to say?

Do journals generally accept if they ask for a revision? Just wondering.

It sounds like it's basically been accepted. Not because they asked for revision, but because it said "awaiting AE recommendation" and then it was changed to "awaiting EIC decision." So basically, the AE (associate editor) has sent your revised paper out for review, and he/she has received recommendations from the referees that the paper should be published. So now the editor-in-chief has to sign off on it. I've never heard of the editor-in-chief being involved in the editorial process after a paper has been sent to an associate editor, but I guess it's possible. Usually, the associate editor makes the publication decision (I'm sure the editor in chief can overrule this decision, but it usually doesn't happen). The editor-in-chief is primarily responsible for initial receipt of the manuscript and assignment to an associate editor. In addition, the editor-in-chief can immediately reject a manuscript if he/she deems it inappropriate for the journal (for example, if the manuscript is too specialized and belongs in a more specialized journal instead of a broader-interest journal). So my guess is that this journal you're submitting to just has to have the editor in chief sign off on the acceptance. How long has the status said "awaiting EIC decision?" Good luck!

 

[Sach]

It just got changed to "Awaiting EIC decision" yesterday. I hope EIC doesn't take as long as AE or reviewers!

My PI told me back in April that the paper will be published but I thought he was just making a guess based on their reviewer comments and revision.

Thanks sleepy425 for clarifying. I'm new to the whole journal submission concept and had no idea how it worked.

Also, I'm listed as second author on this one. If it gets accepted, I'm definitely going to list it on my AMCAS app. But I wonder if it will really help since I'm not a first author. Do med schools only care about first authorship? I'm applying MD only.

 

[Sach]

Ok this morning it says "minor revision" due in 21 days! It seems like they keep on wanting us to revise it. However, first time it was "major revision" an now it's only "minor" are we making progress? lol

 

[FSAP]

Ok this morning it says "minor revision" due in 21 days! It seems like they keep on wanting us to revise it. However, first time it was "major revision" an now it's only "minor" are we making progress? lol

Your paper is getting published, most likely. Is this AHA journal? Cause I had the same thing with my paper. First, major revisions that require more than a month. Then, minor revisions. Finally, accepted after that.

 

[Sach]

AHA journal?

 

[ninetynine]

I'm pretty sure it will get published. Usually, journals never accept papers outright. They usually send it for a few rounds of revisions - that's how they keep you accountable to the reviewers - by sending it back for "major/ minor" revisions again and again until it's perfect and they like it. Then they accept it. If you've been getting your foot in the door repeatedly, I'm pretty sure they like it. If they didn't want it, they wouldn't have sent it back for minor revisions. They could have rejected it outright. The fact they keep bearing with you and sending it back obviously means they want to keep it! Revisions are just part of the process. 👍

 

[sleepy425]

It just got changed to "Awaiting EIC decision" yesterday. I hope EIC doesn't take as long as AE or reviewers!

My PI told me back in April that the paper will be published but I thought he was just making a guess based on their reviewer comments and revision.

Thanks sleepy425 for clarifying. I'm new to the whole journal submission concept and had no idea how it worked.

Also, I'm listed as second author on this one. If it gets accepted, I'm definitely going to list it on my AMCAS app. But I wonder if it will really help since I'm not a first author. Do med schools only care about first authorship? I'm applying MD only.

Ok, so obviously, a first authored paper is much much much better than a second authored paper. However, in general, a second authored paper is very good (especially for an undergrad), and I would expect it to help you significantly, assuming you know the project well and can show that you know it well in an interview. If you submit AMCAS before you hear back from the journal, you should still put it, and just put in the description that it is pending minor revisions.

As for the revisions thing, usually when a journal requests major revisions, you make the revisions and it gets sent out to reviewers again. If the journal requests minor revisions, the reviewers have specified minor things that need to be changed, and usually have indicated to the associate editor that they don't need to see the paper again before it is accepted. So when you resubmit with these minor revisions, the associate editor checks to make sure you've made the changes, and then accepts it without further review.

Just to give you an example, in the Journal of Organic Chemistry, when you submit an article, reviewers can select one of 4 options: accept, accept with minor revisions, reconsider after major revisions, and reject. So you see, major revisions require further review and are not guaranteed to be accepted, while minor revisions are accepted as long as you do what they tell you to do.

So basically, your paper has been accepted, congratulations!

 

[esztisz]

What can be the reason for that:
- Date resubmission began: Jun 21 2011
- Status date: Jun 29 2011
- Status: Decision in process
In 8 days the status changed form under review to decision in process, and since then that remains... Why?😕