Surviving Rejection

Introduction

In academia, you are told that you need to have ‘thick skin’ to face the lows that come with the highs, one of these hurdles that we face are, journal paper rejections. Where ever you may be in your academic journey, a PhD, early-career, mid-career or advanced as professor, it is humbling to know that we all face rejection from time to time from journals. The mixture of feelings when faced with a desk rejection are mutual, such as failure, disappointment, or even imposter syndrome. With the ever-increasing demand for academics to publish within Higher Education, be that for promotion, research time allowance, and for recognition of their work, to name but a few. Along with the low percentage of acceptances published by journal editors, it is more important than ever for academics to have a safe space to speak about journal paper rejections and how we may overcome this, and navigate through this period.

Professor Dermot Breslin, Dean of the Peer Review College, acknowledged the need for academics across the British Academy of Management to come together in a safe space to speak about ‘surviving rejection’. The Early Career Academic Network, co-founded and led by Dr Sahar Bakr, Dr Rebecca Beech, and Dr Mollie Bryde-Evens, were invited to collaborate on a webinar to showcase what dealing with rejection is like for early careers and how we manage this. Along with, working together with senior academics to share experiences to deliver key sessions in the webinar. One of this, was ‘dealing with paper rejections’ led by the early career academic, Dr Rebecca Beech, and the senior academic, Dr Nisreen Ameen.

The session led by Rebecca and Nisreen provided five steps for the audience to consider when dealing with a paper rejection. These included, 1) Take some time to digest and reflect, 2) Identify the key weaknesses of the paper rejection, 3) Seek support from your network which are aligned with the weakness, 4) Speak with others around you – you’ll soon see, you’re not on your own! and 5) Find a new home.

Five steps to consider when dealing with rejection

Firstly, a familiar feeling when faced with a paper rejection is to put your head in the sand and look at it at a later date. As we all know, the paper sits in our folder untouched for some time. We suggest that if you face a rejection, after some reflection, to let the news settle in, to act proactively by carving a realistic amount of time into your calendar to review the feedback. Notably, it is important to not take the feedback to heart, but to view the feedback objectively, and with time now having reflected and having had time since submission. You can potentially see the comments from a different perspective now that you are not so close to the paper. It is imperative that you build resilience during this experience to form the building blocks to being resilient in the future, this can be done by applying a positive mindset. This may look like, reading and taking notes on the ‘wins’ as well as critically identifying the areas of development, both minor and major. Ultimately, viewing the rejection with a long-term perspective aids resilience. For instance, rather than a short-term perspective that ‘I am a failure…’, which restricts growth and potential professional development. A long-term perspective, entails a positive mindset, which is kind and assures oneself that ‘it is okay, so X, Y, Z, were not great. But what can I do today, tomorrow, next week, to improve this…’. The latter provides an optimistic perspective which is both realistic and manageable in setting actions, and minimises the negative mindset.

Secondly, once time has been carved into one’s calendar, the first task is to acknowledge the positive aspects from the reviewers, then critically identify the weakness. A tool that can be used to organise the weakness, be that minor or major, and setting action points for yourself and potentially your co-authors, is by creating a realistic and helpful table which corresponds with the reviewers’ comments.

Thirdly, as an academic it is important that we do not consider ourselves as ‘an island’ and a ‘solo traveller’, it is important that we reach out to our wider network and collaborate, especially when times get tough - an ‘academic critical friend’ is needed. We reflected upon our experiences when dealing with rejection, and a mutual occurrence was reaching out to our extended network amassed over time since our PhD, work places, and external activities. In order to build resilience in our academic journey, finding personal growth via our network is crucial. This may entail reaching out to a fellow early career or senior academic with expertise in the flaw of your paper and brainstorming on how to overcome the issue, and strengthen this section of your paper. In these experiences, it can be daunting to not be seen as weak, however you may find that we are all facing the same challenges and by being open and vulnerable you may find solace in another academic from their experiences and expertise. As well as, seeking a new perspective from another person’s lens, with the potential to learn from others and to develop in your professional development and mindset.

Fourthly, as a result of seeking support and then having the confidence to reach out and speak with another, this can enhance one’s own resilience by observing resilience in others and learning from their own struggles and hurdles. Importantly, learning from how they cope and over come struggles when faced with paper rejection. This is particularly vital for early careers, who may be less versed in dealing with rejection. Learning from others and be proactive in this continuous practice to communicate with others, ‘practice makes perfect’.

Lastly, we often forget when driven by our own personal drive and potentially institutional desires, that sometimes we should not put our ‘dream journal’ on a pedestal, but it is about contributing to the right conversation at the right journal. Once you have meandered the path discussed above, you may then face the question of where to resubmit your paper, this is when due diligence in researching the journal is vital. We suggest speaking with your co-authors and reflecting on where your paper sits in current conversations in journals, a hint may be looking into your reference list. Viewing the CABs list of journals, if you are a UK academic, may be a useful avenue. To understand what journals are in your discipline and then you can pursue research into these journal’s aims and scopes to determine which fits best with your paper. Often journals have special issue calls, which have a specific theme, you may wish to consider if a call fits with your paper. Finally, speak with trusted academic friends, for their guidance and experience on where to resubmit and whether your paper fits with the journal.