Submission Process

Q: Can I submit my manuscript to another journal after selecting "Decline to Revise"?

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I have revised my manuscript several times during the manuscript submission, but it is difficult to perfectly meet the requirements/suggestions of the peer reviewer. In fact, due to the revisions, my manuscript's direction is becoming different from what I originally intended. Accordingly I am thinking of declining the revision this time. I could select “Declines to Revise” in the Author menu of the system, but is it possible to submit my manuscript to another journal after this operation? (After this operation, “Reinstate submission” can be still selected.)

Asked on 08 May, 2017

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If you select "Declines to revise," there should be no problem in submitting to another journal, However, if you submit to a second journal, the review process will begin from scratch once again, and a lot of time will be wasted. Rather than directly selecting "Declines to revise," I would suggest you write to the editor explaining that the direction of the research is changing completely due to the reviewers' suggestions. Provide a point-by-point rebuttal letter explaining how it is different from your original intent and why you do not agree with each suggestion. If the editor responds saying that your paper will not be accepted if you do not make the suggested changes, you can choose the "Declines to revise" option and then submit it to a new journal. However, if the editor is convinced with your rebuttal letter, the paper might still be published in this journal.