THREAD: On the full-fledged process of responding to a Revise-And-Resubmit (R&R).

I have written pieces of the process, but I hadn't actually written a thread or a blog post showcasing how all my blog posts fit with one another. I teach this process when I give workshops.

So here's what I do (now), and let me share a lesson from my past lives:

DO NOT SIT ON R&Rs.

I know, they're painful and scary and sometimes we don't know if our paper will get rejected in the end.

But remember, an R&R means an OPPORTUNITY to get your paper published.
Sitting on R&Rs, leaving them for later, and not prioritizing them has gotten me fewer publications. I know this for a fact. I am not ashamed of admitting that I have sometimes felt that I will not be capable of responding to multiple (often conflicting) comments.

HOWEVER...
Sustained, frequent advice from professors who are senior to me (though I am senior myself now too) is always the same and on-point:

The goal is the R&R.

You're not getting a desk rejection.

You are getting your work read, reviewed carefully, thought about, responded to.
What do I do now (and have been doing for the past few years, with success)

When I get the R&R (the "decision letter"), I make sure to calm down, because I am always afraid I'm going to get nasty comments. These have been (luckily) very rarely present in my latest submissions.
Some people ask dear friends or collaborators to read the comments and deliver a kinder, gentler critique. I think this is great to soften the blow, but in the end, we are going to have to read the Letter of Response from Editors, so we might as well soldier on.

(I ask my Mom)
My Mom has a PhD in political science, is a full professor, and has been a Dean of Social Sciences, and she loves me, so it's easier for her to see the good comments in the reviewers' responses and just tell me "the tone on X comment might grate you but it's a good one".
Here is where all my processes articulate with one another:

Once I read the Editor's Decision Letter, which include the comments, I pay a lot of attention to what the editor is telling me in the letter. Which reviewers' comments do they recommend I pay particular attention to?
In my experience (and as an Editor, I do this), editors will chart you a path forward: "we believe this paper holds promise, we suggest you might want to go down this path. Alternatively, there's this other path. Or this other one"

Editors have been incredible generous to me.
Using the editors' and reviewers' comments, I fill my Drafts Review Matrix (DRM) https://t.co/kjfJikTGqR

As you can see in this tweet, I do both digital and paper versions. I need to be able to SEE how the changes fit with one another, holistically. https://t.co/pMvc95K99z
Ok, so now you have mapped out everything reviewers and editors have suggested. You have charted a response route. It's time to use my post on Writing a Response-to-Reviewers-And-Editors. https://t.co/7D4YYpaPid

Some people have sent my DRM directly to editors. I know this.
Most editorial teams will already have a process for how they want the response to look like (redlined version, clean version, point-by-point letter). Some may accept my DRM as is, but I do recommend writing the letter.

You probably are thinking "but how I do I plan the R&R"
I use backcasting to plan how I'm going to spend my days and weeks working on the R&R https://t.co/HrGNtMINhk

(in re-reading my post on the Response to Editors and Reviewers Letter, I realized I did have a thread that links everything together. But now it will work as a post)
Backcasting allows you (me) to think which days you are going to be working on the R&R and in which pieces. I drop those deadlines into my Everything Notebook, as everyone might realize I do.

https://t.co/9O6tG2AHP7

Doing this helps me chart my activities moving forward.
After all is said and done, and you resend the R&R revision, you probably want to take a couple of days off, and reward yourself in some way.

Hope this articulation of my blog posts and my processes are helpful to those of you in the throes of R&R revisions!

NEW BLOG POST: Tackling an R&R (Revise-And-Resubmit) - a full-fledged process https://t.co/FEWdZV9N27

This Twitter thread in handy blog post form so you can reshare with the social buttons, email or copy-and-paste.

More from For later read

Humans inherently like the act of solidarity. We are social beings. We like to huddle up and be together.
They used this against us.
They convinced us that it was an act of solidarity to flatten the curve, to wear a mask for others, to take the vaccines for others,


and to reach #covidzero for others. They convinced us that this was for the greater good of society.
In reality, this couldn't be further away from the truth. They have divided us and broken the core structure of our society. They have dehumanized us with their masks.

They set us against each other into clans on opposite sides of a spectrum. They have turned us into aggressive beings fighting for our survival. Some of us fear harm from the virus, others fear harm from the vaccine, and yet others fear harm from the attack on our civilization.

We are all on a flight or fight mode. We are all operating under the influence of fear. We must collect ourselves and reflect on what has happened over the last year.
How is this for the greater good of society?

They used a tactical warfare strategy against us.
'Divide and conquer'.
We fell for it.
Now we must become aware of it and fight back.
We must reunite. We must find true solidarity to save our world. To free ourselves. To regain our autonomy.

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The chorus of this song uses the shlokas taken from Sundarkand of Ramayana.

It is a series of Sanskrit shlokas recited by Jambavant to Hanuman to remind Him of his true potential.

1. धीवर प्रसार शौर्य भरा: The brave persevering one, your bravery is taking you forward.


2. उतसारा स्थिरा घम्भीरा: The one who is leaping higher and higher, who is firm and stable and seriously determined.

3. ुग्रामा असामा शौर्या भावा: He is strong, and without an equal in the ability/mentality to fight

4. रौद्रमा नवा भीतिर्मा: His anger will cause new fears in his foes.

5.विजिटरीपुरु धीरधारा, कलोथरा शिखरा कठोरा: This is a complex expression seen only in Indic language poetry. The poet is stating that Shivudu is experiencing the intensity of climbing a tough peak, and likening

it to the feeling in a hard battle, when you see your enemy defeated, and blood flowing like a rivulet. This is classical Veera rasa.

6.कुलकु थारथिलीथा गम्भीरा, जाया विराट वीरा: His rough body itself is like a sharp weapon (because he is determined to win). Hail this complete

hero of the world.

7.विलयगागनथाला भिकारा, गरज्जद्धरा गारा: The hero is destructive in the air/sky as well (because he can leap at an enemy from a great height). He can defeat the enemy (simply) with his fearsome roar of war.