Reviewer comments are sitting in your inbox. Here's what to do with them.
A revise and resubmit isn't a rejection. It's a reviewer telling you the paper is almost there, in language specifically designed not to sound like that. This is the workshop for reading the letter once, correctly, whether you've done this before or never.
Yes, decode my decision letterYou've read it three times and understood less each time.
Some comments read like instructions. Some read like suggestions. Some are two reviewers arguing with each other, and you're the one who has to decide who's right. Guess wrong about which comments are negotiable and the consequences are real, so the letter sits open in a tab that's been open for six weeks, and every week it stays open, the reviewer's actual meaning gets harder to remember.
It's hard not to take it personally.
A rejection after months of work reads like a verdict on you, not the argument, even when it isn't. And if there's no co-author or advisor checking in on this paper, there's no one around to say so, which is how a stalled R&R quietly turns into wondering if you should have submitted at all. The comments don't help: they're written by people who know exactly what they mean and rarely say it plainly, especially if English is your second, third, or fourth language and the reviewer never had to think about that once.
What's inside
Decode any comment on sight.
The eight ways reviewer feedback goes sideways, vague, contradictory, or dressed up as a suggestion, and how to read past the phrasing to what's actually being asked.
One table, not forty scattered notes.
A tracking system organized by reviewer and section, so you can work through comments one row at a time instead of rereading the email.
A real answer for contradicting reviewers.
When Reviewer A wants X and Reviewer B wants the opposite (they will), three legitimate paths forward and how to choose between them.
The response letter, without the blank page.
How to address each reviewer, when to push back and how to do it without sounding defensive, and how to make the editor's job easy.
The Watering Hole
A community of researchers working through their own R&Rs in real time. I show up in it too.
Go at your pace.
Self-paced video tutorials, roughly 35 minutes total. Fifteen minutes today, two hours this weekend, whatever fits.
Hello! I'm Jessica...
I've reviewed manuscripts for 40+ journals. I've also had my own paper rejected twice in a row, been told by a third editor to go read a book about how journal papers actually work, and rewritten the whole thing. It came back from the next journal as a revise and resubmit, and I got it right. I haven't lost a paper to structure or a missing argument since. Now when I peer review, I send back some version of the same comment on the vast majority of the R&Rs I see: the argument isn't as clear on the page as it is in your head. That's what this workshop teaches you to fix.
Revise & Resubmit It!
Workshop
Self-paced * Access anytime
27 USD
You have a decision letter, not a clear next step. This workshop walks you through both: read what reviewers actually meant, organize your response, and get the paper back out the door.
Yes, decode my decision letter
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I believe that academic publication is rarely a smooth journey for anyone, particularly for beginners from non-English-speaking countries. With her support, my work was able to be successfully published.
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Huibo Xu, PhD Candidate, Harbin Institute of Technology
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Before reading these texts, I found it challenging to fully grasp feedback, but afterward, I was able to identify many issues on my own.
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Li Wenpei, PhD Candidate, National University of Singapore
Will this get my paper published?
Is this useful if I'm not sure whether my English is actually the problem?
I haven't submitted yet. Is this still useful?
Is this specific to a particular field or discipline?
How long do I have access?
Not there yet?
If you're still waiting on a decision, or juggling more than one submission at once, this workshop isn't what you need right now. Two free resources that are: a short video on what actually happens at each stage after you submit, and the Journal Submission Timeline Tracker, for knowing what's normal, what's a red flag, and how to keep more than one paper straight at a time — grab it here.
Bookmark this page. You'll be back.
You come in with a decision letter you've read three times and understood less each time.
You leave with a system for reading it once, correctly.
Yes, decode my decision letter
