It is reasonable to assume that many of you have encountered this problem in your respective careers. However, the purpose of this query is to request advice. In the month of December 2023, I submitted a manuscript to a reputable journal. In August 2024, comments from reviewers were received concerning the manuscript, and a prompt reply was submitted, followed by the resubmission of the manuscript. Since September 2024, the manuscript has remained under consideration. In December 2024, I initiated an inquiry regarding the manuscript, and received responses indicating that my inquiry "would be sent to the responsible party." Subsequent to that point, there was no response. Since March of this year, I have submitted a series of inquiries with regular intervals, each accompanied by the assurance that my inquiry "would be sent to the responsible party." Subsequently, no response was received. Given the substantial investment of time and effort into the manuscript and the inquiries from the reviewer, I am reluctant to withdraw. However, I do not perceive a significant possibility for advancement at this rate. It is reasonable to assume that the manuscript in question has been overlooked; nevertheless, this issue could be resolved by issuing a statement confirming either its rejection or its acceptance. In addition, I am uncertain about the process for retraction, as I am unable to reach anyone at the journal. What course of action would any of you advocate in this situation?
Thank you in advance
It is a Springer Nature Open Access journal titled NPJ Microgravity,
Dear Michael Nordine
It is somewhat atypical for an open access journal. Since they tend to be faster than subscription-based journals. However looking at https://www.nature.com/npjmgrav/journal-impact they say that the median is 208 days between submission and acceptance.
When looking at the Scopus content coverage https://www.scopus.com/sourceid/21100870853#tabs=2 it is clear that they publish the last two years (and in particular in 2024) roughly two times more than the average of the years before that.
Though 115 papers does not seem excessive they apparently have a small team to manage all the submissions (and processing the accepted manuscripts). I suspect that they have a serious backlog in handling submissions, final decisions, processing accepted papers and editing and publishing papers (I do not think that your manuscript is ‘forgotten’ and/or disappeared somewhere in their system).
It is extremely frustrating that it all takes such a long time but personally I would wait and ‘just move on’ with your current work and projects.
Best regards.
PS. ‘Normally’ you have a handling editor for direct contact. If you decide that you are considering withdrawal (and accept the posibility that you have to go through the whole shebang with another journal) you could make a strong message telling them that you request a quick reply within let say two weeks or otherwise you consider the submission as withdrawn.
First, try and take a look at the recent issues to see what are their typical receive-to-publication time. If yours already severely surpass it, it's recommended that you switch to another journal. For me, the idea of "sunk cost" comes in. Just because you already spent a lot of time on it, doesn't mean its worth it to wait it out. Especially when they are unresponsive, and you have no idea what other stages of waiting you need to go through. You may just send an email to the editors to retract it. Then, in subsequent submissions to other journals, just note your story in the "comments to the editor". Anyway, I believe that your current journal wouldn't publish it without your final approval of the proof.
Thank you for all of your insightful comments. As it turns out, within a month of posting this, my manuscript has been accepted. Most likely due to backlog. Hopefully this question will help others in similar situations.
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