Appeals and rebuttals

If you believe that your article has been rejected unfairly please submit an appeal (rebuttal) letter via your Author Center on the journal’s online submission system. Do not try to submit a revised version of your article at this stage. Appeals must be submitted within 30 days of the rejection decision.

Appeals will only be considered if all specific points of the reviewers’ and editors’ comments are addressed in the rebuttal letter, and decisions will only be reversed if the editors are convinced that the decision was a serious mistake, or if the reviewers made errors of fact or showed evidence of bias. Appeals against editorial fit or the journal not being the right journal for the article are unlikely to be considered. If it is thought that the appeal is warranted, the article, reviewers’ comments, and author’s response will be reviewed internally by the editorial team. The editor will decide whether to invite a resubmission, send it to another external reviewer, or uphold the original decision. In all cases, the editor’s decision is final.

Can I appeal a decision on my manuscript and also transfer it to another journal?

No, you can either appeal your decision or transfer your manuscript. You cannot do both as we do not allow papers to be under simultaneous consideration at more than one journal.

If you do wish to appeal the original decision, however, and your appeal is rejected, we do not accept multiple requests to appeal so you may wish to consider transferring your manuscript to another journal after the appeal rejection.