Trying to publish before fellowship deadline

[Humulus_lupulus]

So...has anyone been in a situation where you're trying to get a publication in before some sort of major deadline, such as a HUGE national fellowship that regards publications like gold?

I completed a publication back in April of this year (granted, this was rather late with respect to when I finished the project) and I sent it out to the three other authors for review and edits. Since then, I've sent out reminders and I've even seen them in person to ask. I told them the gravity of getting this thing in before the fellowship deadline. Now, the deadline is coming up in a few days, and I've only received edits from one author earlier this week. Nothing at all from the other--not even a green light for submitting without his edits.

What do I do?? I need to get this in, and I'm unfamiliar with the submission process since this is my first submission ever.

[fuzzylogician]

Been there, done that. I'm afraid I don't have good news. If you're still waiting on comments from two co-authors several days out, unfortunately I don't think it will be feasible to finish and submit on time. I don't know the exact situation but if the situation is really this dire, one would hope that your advisor will be able to step in and help expedite the process. Is that the case? that's the only way I could see this happening -- can you decide together that you won't wait any longer? Then with some serious last-minute push, it might work out. This probably should have been done long ago (i.e. you send out an email that says "we have a hard deadline at TIME, I will wait for your comments until TIME - 1 MONTH, and then go ahead and make the changes and submit at that point").

That said, it may be worth adding that although I understand that you would rather have a submitted paper than a manuscript in preparation, the difference may not be as large as you think. This is especially true if your advisor writes a LOR for you and explains all you've done and where the project stands, and if your advisor isn't getting behind this last-minute push. I assume your advisor is indeed a LOR writer for you, and that he'll discuss this paper. If so, then it shouldn't make that big of a difference that the paper has been submitted. Submitting the paper means nothing for how it will look post-review and doesn't guarantee a publication. That said, I understand the frustration. Depending on people who disregard your deadlines can be extremely difficult. 

[TakeruK]

Yikes, I am sorry to hear about that. Finished since April??? I agree with fuzzy that there isn't much you can do now and your LOR should cover the fact that you are finished but are waiting for factors out of your control!

To add to fuzzy's suggestion for the future, when my group sends paper drafts, we always specify a timeline and say something like "no response will be interpreted as silent acceptance". I guess this is a difference between fields, because we usually give authors about 2 weeks for a response, depending on the paper's length and whether or not we have sent earlier drafts. We often send one draft when it is about 80% complete in case any coauthors want us to include/exclude certain data or to add/remove certain techniques. 

Edited to add a clarification: Along with the time limit, we also say that if anyone who wants to comment but would need more than 2 weeks, to please let us know so we can accommodate them. I'm happy to wait 3-4 weeks for some good comments, but don't want to wait not knowing if anything will actually come!

Edited October 23, 2015 by TakeruK

[Humulus_lupulus]

I appreciate the feedback, everyone! My PI is pushing the others (I didn't even do the work under my PI, this was at another university for undergrad) so MAYBE it will get in. The advice on deadlines is great, though, and it will be something to keep in mind for the future. Needless to say, this has been a learning process for me!