1. Before you appeal, ask yourself:
Do you really want to publish in this journal?
Is appealing the decision worth your time?
Did the reviewer misunderstand your paper?
...and how can you stop that happening again?
Is the review factually incorrect?
...and how can you show that?
You can’t fix the reviews you got– you can only fix your paper
britishecologicalsociety.org
@BritishEcolSoc

2. Appeals The editor has more information about the review than you do.
Seen many other submissions to compare yours with
Seen confidential comments from the reviewers (often much more blunt!)
A successful appeal does not mean your paper will be accepted– only that it has another chance to go through review.
britishecologicalsociety.org
@BritishEcolSoc

3. Appeals You can’t fix reviews– you can only fix your paper Be polite.
Keep your appeal letter fairly short (<1 page).
Show evidence, not emotion.
Don’t play reviewers off against each other.
Say that you want them to reconsider their decision.
“We are sure we can deal with the reviewer comments to your satisfaction.” So? Say how!
“I have never had a paper rejected without review!” Really? Really?
“I am just writing to say that the handling editor was wrong about…” Okay. And?
britishecologicalsociety.org
@BritishEcolSoc

4. Appeals
Successful appeals give reasons why the decision should be reconsidered (rather than commenting on the decision itself)
“Reviewer 2 disagrees with our use of [method], but we have [reason].”
“Although the sample size is low, it is within...”
“We acknowledge Reviewer 2’s concern, but...”
“We can clarify...”
“Figure 2 does explain this, but we can give additional explanations...”
“We cannot [do X], but we can [do Y].”
Don’t respond immediately! Have a friend or colleague check your appeal letter before your send it!
britishecologicalsociety.org
@BritishEcolSoc

5. Appeals If you appeal is successful
Revise your paper (as if resubmission)
Write a response to decision
Re-submit your paper….
…and wait.
Paper will generally be re-reviewed by previous reviewers
Paper may be reviewed by new reviewers as well
Remember, a successful appeal is a second chance, not a guarantee of acceptance. You still have work to do!
britishecologicalsociety.org
@BritishEcolSoc