Q: What are the chances of acceptance of a review article that has not been requested by the editor?

Detailed Question -

We uploaded a review article to Taylor and Francis (T&F). It has been under review for a month. I have heard that if a review article clears the editorial check, there is a greater chance of acceptance. Is this true? We directly uploaded the review article; it was not an article requested by the editor. What are the acceptance chances of the article?

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

You have two questions, but you are basically asking the same thing: what are the chances of acceptance of an uncommissioned/unsolicited review article?

Straight away, you are right in your assessment that its chances may not be very high. This is because review articles are typically sought out by the journal – they approach authors they know or those who are experts in their field. Unrequested articles are not often published.

All the same, as you have already submitted it, you can wait for its outcome here. In case it doesn’t go through and you wish to submit it elsewhere, for later submissions, you may consider first sending those journals a presubmission inquiry to see how ‘warm’ (or ‘cold’) they may be to an unrequested piece.

Having said that too, there may be a silver lining. Due to the COVID-19 situation, most researchers have had to shift to secondary research, which means more review articles are being submitted (and therefore, being accepted – if of course they meet the mark). So, you may have reason to hope. Again, just wait it out a bit before figuring out your next steps.

And while at it, for help with developing review articles, you may find these resources helpful:

Hope that helps. All the best for whatever’s next!

Comment