Q: What should I do if my revised manuscript is still under review and my thesis defense is getting closer?
I submitted my manuscript which was also the basis of my thesis in the beginning of June and it underwent peer review. While one of the reviewers recommended acceptance, another reviewer recommended Major Revision. I revised and resubmitted the manuscript within two weeks of receiving the reviewers’ comments. As the deadline of the thesis defense is getting closer, I asked my supervisor to check the status of my manuscript. The editor answered that “it is difficult to confirm as the manuscript is still in hand of the reviewer”. Now 3 weeks have passed after resubmission and I am nervous, since the deadline for the thesis defense is close. I know from the articles of Editage Insights that there are cases when it takes more than 1 month to receive a decision after resubmission. Should I again ask the editor again to confirm the status of my manuscript? But I am worried that it might make a bad impression, as I already confirmed with the chief editor once. My supervisor suggests me to withdraw the manuscript and submit to another journal. What should I do?
While I completely empathize with your situation and the reason for your anxiety, unfortunately, there is not much that you can do at this moment. As the editor-in-chief of the journal has already replied that the manuscript is under review, sending another reminder to the editor is not likely to expedite the review process. Withdrawing the manuscript from the current journal and resubmitting to another will only result in further delay as the manuscript will undergo another peer review process from scratch.
If the accepted manuscript is a requirement for your thesis, you may discuss with your supervisor about the possibility of informing the thesis review committee of your institute about your situation. Since one of the peer reviewers have already accepted the article and you have revised the manuscript as per the comments of the second reviewer, the manuscript has a good chance of being accepted. So you may request the thesis review committee to consider your case.
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This content belongs to the Journal submission & peer review Stage