Submission
Last Monday, I finally got my manuscript submitted. I keep calling it my paper, but I guess that isn't quite the right word to use until it's published. As with my last two papers, I finally reached the point where I was more interested in having it gone than making it better. I realize that's a dangerous place, but after so many drafts I completely lost patience with it. I gave my advisor a final draft to read over the weekend and I'm pretty sure he was sick enough of it to just okay it without even giving it a close read.
Now, it's in the hands of the reviewers. In another 2 weeks, I'll (hopefully) hear back from the journal. From my own experience and from what I've seen of others in the lab, I can only expect that the reviewers will want additional experiments, additional controls, and certain past published work discussed or at least cited. It's pretty rare to submit something and just have it fly through.
So, I'm enjoying these few weeks with fewer hours at my computer, fewer hours arguing with my advisor, and more hours at the bench. At the same time, I'm bracing myself for the storm that will hit when the reviews come back. With my first paper, the reviewers requested a number of additional experiments. Of course, you can't do them all since the journal wants the re-submitted manuscript within 2 months, so you pick the ones that are easiest and most relevant. For the rest, you argue your way out of it. The phrase commonly used is something like, "While reviewer #2 recommended experiments XYZ, we feel that these fall outside the scope of this paper." What this really means is that you know there is no way you can do it in 2 months. In essence, you have to say to the reviewers (and the journal), "look, we have to draw a line in the sand somewhere, and this is where we draw it." Otherwise, there is no end to the list of experiments that can be done.
What about the ones that you agree to do? Well, the two months after I got reviews back on my first paper were probably the most busy and most productive of my graduate career. Since I knew exactly what was wanted, I was able to focus completely on just those tasks.
Right now, I can enjoy the calm before the storm. I'm sort of hoping that the reviews come back while I'm on vacation later this month, or just after I return so that I'll be fully rested and ready for a couple of serious months of work. At the same time, if we get good reviews back right before I leave, I won't complain about that, either.
Now, it's in the hands of the reviewers. In another 2 weeks, I'll (hopefully) hear back from the journal. From my own experience and from what I've seen of others in the lab, I can only expect that the reviewers will want additional experiments, additional controls, and certain past published work discussed or at least cited. It's pretty rare to submit something and just have it fly through.
So, I'm enjoying these few weeks with fewer hours at my computer, fewer hours arguing with my advisor, and more hours at the bench. At the same time, I'm bracing myself for the storm that will hit when the reviews come back. With my first paper, the reviewers requested a number of additional experiments. Of course, you can't do them all since the journal wants the re-submitted manuscript within 2 months, so you pick the ones that are easiest and most relevant. For the rest, you argue your way out of it. The phrase commonly used is something like, "While reviewer #2 recommended experiments XYZ, we feel that these fall outside the scope of this paper." What this really means is that you know there is no way you can do it in 2 months. In essence, you have to say to the reviewers (and the journal), "look, we have to draw a line in the sand somewhere, and this is where we draw it." Otherwise, there is no end to the list of experiments that can be done.
What about the ones that you agree to do? Well, the two months after I got reviews back on my first paper were probably the most busy and most productive of my graduate career. Since I knew exactly what was wanted, I was able to focus completely on just those tasks.
Right now, I can enjoy the calm before the storm. I'm sort of hoping that the reviews come back while I'm on vacation later this month, or just after I return so that I'll be fully rested and ready for a couple of serious months of work. At the same time, if we get good reviews back right before I leave, I won't complain about that, either.
posted by pro_blogger at 10:15 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home