Got into a strange situation where an article was sent out for peer review to 5 reviewers. Editor rejected the article without referring to reviewers comments, novelty etc. While seeing reviewers comments (3 reviewers) which were attached in the email, I was surprised that all three reviewers commented positively with minor comments without any change in structure/major change. One of them actually just suggested a minor title change, while other stated that "following minor changes must be incorporated before publication".
As I don't think that an appeal against the decision is going to do any positive change and is time consuming too. I submitted article to another journal. But just wanted to know if the editor entitled to act in his discretion against these comments?
In principle it is always the decision of the handling editor. Reasons can be manifold.
It is very critical question to answer it.
If the manuscripts were reviewed by 5 reviewers of which 3 of them positive means that majority have supported the quality of the manuscript.
Of course, the final decision will be taken by the Editor of the particular Journal but there are many criteria to which the manuscript could be accepted for Publishing.
The Editor could have justified the reason for not being published because the the authors have received positive comments from the Reviewers as well.
In many cases, the Editor used to reply to the Authors who have contacted the Journal for publication that the manuscript will not line with our Journal at the beginning itself.
It is just to know the reason to check the pulse of the Editor on what basis the manuscript was rejected after the Reviewers comments.
Here, the matter is that the authors have to wait for more than 6 months or even a year that they have to wait if it is Scopus Indexed Journals.
The Editor could justify the reason for not accepting the manuscript in publishing.
There are thousands of Journals in the world to publish but the time matters to think about more.
None has the right to spoil others time. The compromise must be reasonable or acceptable but the Academic Community.
As long as that does not amount to breaching any extant "contractual agreement", a publisher is not bound by reviewers' favourable comments or "recommendations" to publish an article recommended for publication; but refund of prepaid fees can be sought for. Remember, with a reasonable notice, an author can equally withdraw an article "before" publication.
Hello Prem Pankaj
In my experience, the answer is, unfortunately, yes. It has happened to me that the reviewers said "accept pending revisions", the editor agreed with that, then I made the revisions suggested, both reviewers said that I had done everything ok for then, then the editor still rejected it. I was very disappointed, obviously.
Senapathy Marisennayya Sir, if the article is not in line with scopes of journal then why would the editor sent it out for peer review.
Yes.
Did the editor offer justification? Editor owes you that.
5 reviewers indicates th editor had trouble getting folks to review. Reviewers can be superficial, comments on one or two editorial elements typically indicates they've not invested much effort. Editor may feel authors' efforts deserve input by review even if they've determined rejection. In this case, I suspect the editor found no useful reviews. He/she may have seen issues he expected the reviews would address - they did not and editor had to decide.
The editor has a responsibility to the journal, science and authors for valid technical review and, if accepted, editorial development to a readable (and citable) article.
Phil Geis Sir, it was a one line rejection after review and it says "Regrettably, the submission has been rejected".
If the editor found some issue, it could have been sent under "Editor's comment" section.
The editor may have decided early on that your article would not proceed but wanted to give you reviewer comments for your personal and scientific growth. That can be problematic if reviewers are not serious - offering superficial reviews and casual acceptance. Review offering nothing but minor editorial comments is a sign of a superficial review. The editor still has the decision - but even in the above case, he/she owed you justification.
How's it going with your current submission?
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