REVISING YOUR MANUSCRIPT RESPONDING TO CRITIQUES

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REVISING YOUR MANUSCRIPTRESPONDING TO CRITIQUES

• Sue Duckles, Ph.D.
• University of California-Irvine College of
  Medicine
• 2001 Women in Physiology/Pharmacology Workshop

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PART I Receiving the Reviews

• Go ahead and get mad, but do nothing!
• Return after cooling off, and calmly re-read the
  critique.
• Try to understand what the reviewers are really
  saying. Remember, if the reviewer didnt
  understand what you were trying to say, have you
  stated it clearly in the first place?
• Discuss the issues with colleagues
• Look for clues in the editors cover letter
  (Need for additional experiments or not, for
  example.)
• 3. Complete additional experiments if appropriate.

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PART II Preparing your Response

• 4. Consider which issues are really critical.
• Give way on minor, inconsequential points,
• Acknowledge where you have made mistakes and fix
  them.
• Dont hesitate to stand firm if that is the
  right thing to do.
• 5. Make a numbered list of each point in each
  critique, and start to draft your response.
• 6. Responses should be thoughtful and clear.
  Omit the emotion.
• 7. Under each point, detail exactly what changes
  you have made in the manuscript and quote any
  text that has been added or altered.

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PART II Preparing your Response

• 8. If you think the reviewer is wrong, politely
  and diplomatically disagree and give detailed
  reasons, including appropriate citations.
• 9. Sincerely thank the reviewers and editor for
  helping you improve your manuscript. They have
  invested a lot of time in your work.
• 10. Have a neutral colleague review your response
  before sending it back.

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PART III What to do if your manuscript is
rejected

• 1. Seriously consider your options
• a. Submit to another journal (was your choice of
  journal part of the problem?)
• b. Do more experiments
• c. Combine with additional work to make a more
  substantive manuscript
• 2. Whatever you decide to do, be sure to
  thoughtfully revise your manuscript taking into
  consideration all the reviewers comments.
• 3. Remember if the reviewer didnt understand
  something, is it because it was not clearly
  explained?