Bumpass Hell

Ok so the bubble has been burst.

I opened the editor's decision email referred to in yesterday's post. It was a rejection...

Editor's comment:

Thank you for allowing us to consider this work for (name of journal). At this point your paper has been reviewed by one expert reviewer only, who has presented us with a quite brief review. In order to avoid a delay I decided not to invite more reviewers. However, we have subjected your paper to a thorough editorial evaluation.

Reviewer #1: I enjoyed reading the paper which makes a worthy contribution to an under-researched area. Although the paper is well-structured, I have a number of minor suggestions to improve it...

Editor's comment:
Because of an increase in submissions, we can only publish a minority of the manuscripts we receive. Space constraints dictate that that to an increasing extent we may publish only those manuscripts providing significantly novel insights or new perspectives.

Sadly, this means that we are unable to publish many manuscripts of significant quality. I must regretfully inform you that based on the review and our editorial evaluation your paper did not reach a high enough priority to be further considered for publication.

Sob

Somewhat discouraged

Didn't post last Friday due to being (as we would put it in my native dialect) utterly fashed and teetotally scunnered.

Received an email in the afternoon that the research grant application Fang and I submitted earlier this year has been rejected (or more correctly not wanted for further development).

Hard not to take it personally given the work that went into it, but just have to find another way to get the work done.  Here's what the prospective funder said:

I write concerning your recent application to ..x.. This has been given careful consideration but I regret to inform you that, under the pressure of the competition for awards, your application has been seen as unlikely to secure a grant. Under the circumstances, I am afraid that I cannot encourage you to take the trouble to prepare a detailed application.


I appreciate that this will come as a disappointment to you. I regret also that there is no simple way in which the grounds for the decision can be satisfactorily imparted. Your proposal was reviewed alongside the many other calls upon the support of ..x.. and it is in this context that the decision has been made; any explanation would therefore require reference to the full array of proposals under consideration.


May I accordingly ask you to accept this response as an indicator of the many demands made upon ..x.. and as no reflection upon your courtesy in putting forward the bid.


Yours sincerely,Y

Spent weekend doing self-administered horticultural therapy - felt a bit sorry for a poor toad who I disturbed when cutting back the geraniums...Pic isn't mine as he was having a bad hair day and hopped away.