108 PRS Proofreading and Editing Service PhD Experts • All Academic Areas • Fast Turnaround • High Quality proofs, for instance) should be met. Journals usually work on very tight schedules, and you want your work published sooner rather than later. Keep the doors of communication open as you’re working toward final publication, and be sure to explain (and justify) any problems you’re facing that may make it difficult for you to comply with any requirements or to do so in the time frame set by the journal. Any fees for publication of your paper or for printing figures in colour (which tends to be expensive and cost extra) should be paid as soon as they are due. However, as such fees can often be paid by your university, subsidised through membership or taken from research grants or scholarship funds, do explore those avenues before sending along your credit card number: publication fees for some journals can be very high these days, and institutional support of scholarly publication is usually expected by journals as much as it is desired by academic and scientific authors. 7.2 when ‘no’ means no: Professional departures and new Beginnings As an undergraduate, I and some fellow students once attended a dinner party at which one of our most respected professors confessed that she had earned a D grade in a university-level philosophy course. I suspect that we would never have heard such shocking news had tongues not been well loosened by the wine that was flowing in celebration of exams coming to an end, and only later did I realise how interesting and encouraging a confession it was as we all anxiously awaited our grades. The person who made it was, after all, a tenured full professor, she had designed and directed a women’s studies programme for years and was both well respected and well published in her field. She concluded her confession with words that are well worth considering when faced with a rejection letter from a journal or PARt III: commUnIcAtIng wItH JoURnAl edItoRs: sUBmIssIon, AccePtAnce, RevIsIon And ReJectIon