Of rejection and resubmission

Finally the day has come when I submitted my manuscript. It took me long. Since the project seemed viable, I, like any other fellow, started counting the days. Naturally, being completely naive, I thought it would take 6 more months to submit. In reality, it took 14 long months to make the project look submittable.

And then came the trail of rejections. Initially the editor seemed nice to give me a chance to revise. Revision one was submitted. Reviewers were not happy, so there was another round of revision-- then another round---and another. With each revision the paper started looking better and better, our hopes rose higher and higher. And then came the rejection. There was no proper reason given, the editor just refused to accept the paper. The rejection numbed me. I took a trip to the hills to soothe my mind.

Then again a trail of re-submissions and rejections---finally the manuscript got accepted.

This is a story so common to people like us. Everyone passes through it, everyone spends sleepless nights thinking about it. I have a junior of mine who went through 17 rejections before getting the chance to revise the manuscript. The uncertainty consumes an essential part of us, forever.

If we look carefully, uncertainty is an unavoidable part of our life. And science has its own stakes. From plotting a hypothesis to planning- doing the experiments, there are so many things that can go haywire. Publishing comes after that and it is not an easy task. There are unseen competitions and hidden journal policies. In the initial days of a Ph.D, when practicality is low and motivation is high, this uncertainty acts almost like a killer. But the training teaches to accept the unexpected. To plan pragmatically. The training teaches when to act stubborn and when to let go. It teaches to keep knocking at the door. You can switch the door but keep knocking unless one of them opens up. These become an essential lesson not only for science, but for life. Rejections are just the part of this training. That makes us stronger for life.