When the Revisions Are Done and Accepted by the Journal Editor
Working to resolve the problems that prevented a research manuscript from being published when it was first submitted to a journal or press can be a long and arduous process. There is the initial shock and disappointment, the need for intense critical assessment and the carefully written negotiations with the acquisitions editor regarding changes and resubmission. These are followed by the work itself, which can be significant in some cases and may involve assistance from colleagues, mentors, proofreaders. When all the work is done and checked and polished, there is the waiting all over again – the sort of waiting that ended so unpleasantly when you submitted the manuscript before. Little wonder, then, that positive news from the editor along the lines of ‘Yes, the problems are resolved and publication is imminent’ can produce something akin to euphoria.
This is a moment to be enjoyed and celebrated, especially if it is the first scholarly manuscript you are publishing or if the journal or press is especially prestigious and it is somewhat amazing that you even managed to achieve such a publication. It is not a moment in which to forget, however, and the first thing to remember amidst your delight is to reply to the editor with thanks for all the help he or she has provided through the review and revision process. This should be done even and perhaps especially if the path of revisions and the communication between the editor and you became a little rocky at times. It is no small feat to work together successfully to attain a common goal despite differing opinions, and you should ensure that you remember the strategies that worked as well as those that did not so that you will be able to approach similar situations still more effectively in the future.
Also worth keeping in mind, perhaps by recording them in a journal or computer file, are the processes and strategies you used when revising your manuscript to earn publication. The revision process can involve many stages, and details slip all too easily from the mind, especially when the end result is a positive one. Perhaps a particular mentor provided excellent feedback on content, while another focussed primarily on language – you will want to remember which was which if you find yourself seeking critical help again. Maybe some of the software functions you tried for correcting spelling were disastrous, but those quick-formatting tricks saved you a great deal of time. It is definitely worth noting both in detail so that you do not make the same mistakes twice and can save even more time if you are ever faced with the same problems again.
It is also worth noting the name and contact information for any professional proofreaders or proofreaders you may have employed as you worked. They, too, may well prove useful in the future, and do not forget to make a note of and exercise as often as possible any particularly helpful language or formatting tips they may have shared as they worked to polish your manuscript for resubmission. Learning as much as you can from the revision and resubmission experience will enable you to make the most of a difficult situation and improve your chances of success on initial submission next time around.
Why Our Editing and Proofreading Services?
At Proof-Reading-Service.com we offer the highest quality journal article editing, phd thesis editing and proofreading services via our large and extremely dedicated team of academic and scientific professionals. All of our proofreaders are native speakers of English who have earned their own postgraduate degrees, and their areas of specialisation cover such a wide range of disciplines that we are able to help our international clientele with research editing to improve and perfect all kinds of academic manuscripts for successful publication. Many of the carefully trained members of our expert editing and proofreading team work predominantly on articles intended for publication in scholarly journals, applying painstaking journal editing standards to ensure that the references and formatting used in each paper are in conformity with the journal’s instructions for authors and to correct any grammar, spelling, punctuation or simple typing errors. In this way, we enable our clients to report their research in the clear and accurate ways required to impress acquisitions proofreaders and achieve publication.
Our scientific proofreading services for the authors of a wide variety of scientific journal papers are especially popular, but we also offer manuscript proofreading services and have the experience and expertise to proofread and edit manuscripts in all scholarly disciplines, as well as beyond them. We have team members who specialise in medical proofreading services, and some of our experts dedicate their time exclusively to PhD proofreading and master’s proofreading, offering research students the opportunity to improve their use of formatting and language through the most exacting PhD thesis editing and dissertation proofreading practices. Whether you are preparing a conference paper for presentation, polishing a progress report to share with colleagues, or facing the daunting task of editing and perfecting any kind of scholarly document for publication, a qualified member of our professional team can provide invaluable assistance and give you greater confidence in your written work.
If you are in the process of preparing an article for an academic or scientific journal, or planning one for the near future, you may well be interested in a new book, Guide to Journal Publication, which is available on our Tips and Advice on Publishing Research in Journals website.
