Why do reviewers decline to review?

Decline-to-review responses were categorized into six broad categories: no reason given, reviewer was overcommitted (with academic or personal commitments), manuscript was not in an area of the reviewer's expertise, the reviewer had already committed to a simultaneous AJR manuscript review, the reviewer claimed a ...

Why do peer reviewers decline to review?

Lack of time is the principal factor in the decision to decline. Reviewing should be formally recognised by academic institutions and journals should acknowledge reviewers' work.

Why would you decline a review request?

In specific situations, a researcher can choose to decline an invitation to review a paper, such as conflict of interest, lack of time, and lack of expertise or familiarity with the subject matter.

Why was my paper rejected without review?

Sometimes, papers are desk rejected based on their poor writing, with sentences difficult to understand, or simply because they mix methods, results, and discussion or lack reporting essential components of the research.

Why do people oppose reviewers?

You also might oppose a reviewer because of a personal disagreement, a conflicting approach to your work, or a sense based on past interactions that this person would not comment on your manuscript fairly. For most reasonable requests, that's your business.

On Peer Reviewing: "Accepting with Major Revisions" vs. "Reject"

What do reviewers look for?

Reviewers look for accuracy, timeliness, and appropriateness of the manuscript that can greatly affect the chances of publishing your research. Apart from these, reviewers check for the scientific merits of the manuscript, its methods, and research misconduct (if any).

What does oppose reviewers mean?

An Opposed Reviewer is someone who an author does not want to have review his/her manuscript. There is no master list from which authors can select eligible reviewers.

Does an unusually quick peer review indicate rejection?

It is difficult to predict whether a short review time indicates rejection. I don't think there is any clear correlation between the time taken for review and its outcome. If a reviewer is quick, or is not tied up with other commitments at the time, it is possible to complete a review within a week's time.

Can a paper be accepted without review?

In cases where the work was felt to be of high quality, papers can sometimes be accepted without further review, but if there were serious criticisms, the editors will consider them in making the decision.

How many papers are rejected after review?

It is very common for papers to be rejected. Studies indicate that 21% of papers are rejected without review, and approximately 40% of papers are rejected after peer review.

What is the best response for denying a request?

Be straightforward about the future.

If you don't want to leave the door open for a next ask, be clear. State your reason and then stop talking. Say: “I appreciate your request but I have other priorities and can't take on the extra work.”

How do you say no to a reviewer?

Nearly always, it's better to publish the paper that best explains your research, so don't be afraid to say you won't make a change if that change won't clearly improve the paper—as long as you explain clearly and respectfully why you disagree with the reviewer's suggestion.

What is reject without review?

For instance, the editor may judge that the paper is not one that belongs to the topic or the field that the journal will publish. As such, It will then be a waste of time having the paper peer-reviewed. The author is then informed of rejection without review by the editor.

What percent of peer review submissions are rejected?

As you may have read in the article on desk rejection, depending on the journal, between 40%–75% of submitted manuscripts receive desk rejection.

What does a reviewer look for during peer review?

The peer review process starts once you have submitted your paper to a journal. After submission, your paper will be sent for assessment by independent experts in your field. The reviewers are asked to judge the validity, significance, and originality of your work.

What do reviewers look for in peer review?

Peer review is designed to assess the validity, quality and often the originality of articles for publication. Its ultimate purpose is to maintain the integrity of science by filtering out invalid or poor quality articles.

Do major revisions go back to reviewers?

Major revisions are almost always sent back to reviewers for a re-review to determine whether the comments have been addressed and no new comments are raised.

Do minor revisions go back to reviewers?

Minor revisions explained

An editorial decision of 'minor revisions' on your paper means that your work will almost certainly not be going back to the original peer reviewers for a further round of comments; indeed this is policy for many journals.

What is the most common type of peer review?

The most common type of peer review is single-blind (or single anonymized) review. Here, the names of the reviewers are not known by the author.

What is evasion of peer review?

Evasion of peer review is a hallmark of pseudoscience. But even more insidious is the obviation of scientific scrutiny by publishing in predatory and pseudoscientific journals that exist to provide an illusion of scientific legitimacy.

What not to do in a peer review?

Reviews that make assumptions about the paper without providing specific feedback are not helpful to the author. Review comments should offer guidance to the authors on how they can broaden their research so it may contribute something to the field. The review comments should give the authors actionable feedback.

What are the don'ts of peer review?

Be careful not to let your own opinions bias your review (for example, don't suggest that your peer completely rewrite the paper just because you don't agree with his/her point of view). Reread your comments before passing them on to your peer. Make sure all your comments make sense and are easy to follow.

How do you politely disagree with a reviewer?

Author response: While we appreciate the reviewer's feedback, we respectfully disagree. We think this study makes a valuable contribution to the field because [describe the knowledge gained, insights provided, questions answered, etc. by your study and/or its results or findings].

Can reviewers reject a manuscript?

Your manuscript can be rejected for many reasons but these can generally be divided into technical and editorial reasons. Technical reasons usually require more work such as further experiments or analysis before your work can be published. Technical reasons for rejection include: Incomplete data.

How do you respectfully disagree with a reviewer?