118 PRS Proofreading and Editing Service PhD Experts • All Academic Areas • Fast Turnaround • High Quality PARt III: commUnIcAtIng wItH JoURnAl edItoRs: sUBmIssIon, AccePtAnce, RevIsIon And ReJectIon In all decisions you make about revising the content of your paper you should carefully weigh your options with a focus on what is best for you and your work as well as for the journal in which you’d like to see your paper published. Seeking knowledgeable advice is vital and giving yourself enough time to digest the criticism offered by the editor and/or reviewers as well as to conduct a careful, objective review of your work is essential. If you decide to revise in order to resolve the problems identified in the letter you received and resubmit to the same journal, you can reply to the editor using the approaches I’ve outlined in the section on formatting, structure and referencing above (7.3.1). Explain in your initial reply that you’ve considered the criticism offered and describe how you’re planning to revise the content of your paper to resolve the problems identified. This may well involve explaining what you can’t change as well as what you can, so be sure to clarify and justify your reasoning regarding any noncompliance with the journal’s requests, remembering that you need to convince the editor and/or reviewers why your view on these points is a valid one. If you earn a conditional acceptance or reconsideration, you want to be sure that it’s been given on the basis of what you actually can do to meet the journal’s needs while maintaining the integrity of your research. That way, when you resubmit your paper, the changes you’ve made and explained again in your new covering letter will be expected and an indication of your ability to work effectively with the journal to achieve publication, rather than an unwanted surprise. Persistence can reap rewards and is a necessary skill for an academic or scientist (or any other author) who wishes to publish his or her writing, but just as there are times when a particular publishing venue such as an academic or scientific journal has to be passed over in placing your work appropriately, so there are papers that may need to be abandoned, or perhaps completely