Q: Should I withdraw my manuscript if the journal editor recommends it to be submitted after minor revisions? What if I don't resubmit?

Thank you for writing to us, please allow us to address your concerns below:

Should I withdraw my manuscript if the journal editor recommends it to be submitted after minor revisions?
We understand that you have received a decision from the journal to resubmit after making minor revisions (assuming these are revisions requested by the reviewers). Ideally the handling editor goes through the peer reviewers’ comments and decides to send it back to the authors for major or minor revisions if there is merit in publishing the manuscript after addressing the reviewer comments. Which is why we would not recommend withdrawing the manuscript at this point in time. Yes, the peer review may take up few months, but the 1st round of the peer review has already been completed. Since the revisions are minor, the 2nd round of the peer review should be completed quickly.

What if I don't resubmit?
Now if you do not resubmit the manuscript, the journal will send you reminder email to complete the submission closer to the resubmission deadline and once the resubmission deadline passes you will not be able to complete submission as the resubmission link will expire (assuming it was done via an online submission system). Some submission system also provide option to decline the revisions within the submission portal, clicking on this option will result in an immediate withdrawal of the manuscript from the journal.

Can I submit to any other journal?
If you submit the manuscript to a new journal the entire peer review process needs to be completed from square one. This will increase the publication time of your manuscript.

We have also answered a few similar queries before.

• Should I withdraw my paper if the journal is taking unusually long to process?
• Should I withdraw my paper if the status remains unchanged for over a month?

Hope that helps. All the best for your paper!