My article is in journal purgatory

[booksnlooks]

Hi all!

 

I have a little problem and was hoping for some advice. I submitted an article to a journal last October. After not hearing anything since then, I sent a polite email at the beginning of this month just asking for a status update. I still haven't heard back from the editor, who had promptly replied to the original submission email. Any suggestions on how to proceed? I think this journal is a good fit for my paper but I don't want it stuck there forever.

[fuzzylogician]

Yeah, it sucks when this happens. Email again, maybe your email just got lost in the shuffle. If it doesn't help, usually my next move is to find an advisor who knows the editor in question and is willing to either email or call. Sometimes (unfortunately) it helps if the email comes from someone more recognizable than a young student.

[booksnlooks]

Thanks for the advice! 

[serenade]

I don't really have any solutions, but just wanted to say that I can commiserate. I have 4 articles that I've gotten revise and resubmit requests, and after I submitted them, a few have entered the dreaded "article purgatory" as well. It sucks because at least they could acknowledge that they got your email and will get back to you soon rather than just totally ignoring it.

[booksnlooks]

^ Right? I know they're all busy people but at least they could let me know what's going on.

[KathleenLivesay]

Did you check your spam folder? I have the same case; rejecting, not replying at all. It is like you are wasting your time. What topic is your article?  

 

Mostly, they receive hundreds of journals every day and sometimes, they have no time checking it one by one. Is your article catchy? Written in a correct word count as their regulatory submission? Is it promotional? These are the guidelines frequently ask. And there are a lot of questions that comes into your mind. I’m not an expert, but you can submit the same article to a different journal submission site/company. 

Edited July 13, 2015 by TakeruK
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[serenade]

Oh boy, do I have a story regarding journal purgatory. I submitted an article to a grad journal in June 2014, got a revise and resubmit request November 2014 with a request to resubmit the revised version by Dec 2014...did it. Silence for six months (although I sent monthly emails inquiring the status of my revised manuscript). Finally, in June 2015, I contacted the department where the journal is based and asked to get in touch with the editor (I had been sending emails to the journal email address, not the editor's institutional address). Finally heard back that said editor was no longer editing the journal and the department had 'not gotten around' to appointing another editor to replace the former one. So basically the journal ceased to exist, unbeknownst to me, and I wasted an entire year with my article in journal purgatory. Awesome. 

 

Moral of the story: if you're getting silence for several months from a grad journal, contact the editor personally to inquire the status (and make sure the journal is still in existence).