Responding to Reviewer and Editor Comments

What is it about?

Like it or not, many aspects of our lives involve a review process. In college, your professors were reviewers who evaluated and graded your work. When you apply for a loan, the bank uses appraisers and accountants to review your application. When a US senator writes a new piece of legislation, there are many other reviewers who will want to change the document. When a company wants to apply for a patent, an army of attorneys reviews the application to find any reason to decline the request. So it should be no surprise to anyone who submits a scientific paper for publication that the editor and several reviewers will nearly always find problems or want to see changes in the paper. It is a normal part of the path to publication. You cannot control what the reviewers say. But you can control how you respond to their comments. So here are my Top 10 Tips to help you navigate through the response process.

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Why is it important?

There is an old adage, “less is more.” In many cases that is good advice to follow; however, when responding to reviewer and editor comments, more is definitely better. More time is better than less to gather your thoughts before you respond. More consideration of how the reviewers' and editor's suggestions might improve the paper is better than less. More thought about the final goal, which is an accepted paper, can help you choose your battles wisely. More detail in your written responses is better than less detail. And perhaps most important of all, expressing more humility and gratitude is wiser than what you might really want to say.