Follow-up article submission

[article]

Is it okay to follow-up on article submission after three months?

[no]

No--three months is completely reasonable. Wait at least five or six months. If the journal is AJS, wait around 7 years first.

[depends]

If the journal lists a general timeframe for turnaround, and it's under 3 months, then do ahead and send a poke. If they don't, then I'd sit tight for another month or two.

[tnrd]

It is completely fine to send a "gentle inquiry" after three months. Just don't be demanding and remain polite in all communication.

[unclekarl]

I would not rush editors. Its easier to reject a ms than to wait around. As I've gotten more experienced in publishing, I've tried very hard to work on next ms instead of worrying about anything I have under review. That being said, if its been 6 months, I would probably just check up on the ms with the managing editor [and not the editor!]

[nothing wrong with asking]

Jan 9, 2012 21:49:20 GMT -5 unclekarl said:

I would not rush editors. Its easier to reject a ms than to wait around. As I've gotten more experienced in publishing, I've tried very hard to work on next ms instead of worrying about anything I have under review. That being said, if its been 6 months, I would probably just check up on the ms with the managing editor [and not the editor!]

It isn't "rushing" the editors to inquire about the status of a manuscript after 3 months, and I would also say that it is advisable. There should be no negative repercussions for an inquiry, and I have never heard of such a thing as an editor getting mad and rejecting a manuscript because someone dared to ask how things were going after some time had passed. I have good working relationships with the last two groups of co-editors for ASR, and they are all cool people -- all editors are, after all, just scholars, and there is no reason to have this fear of them.