Editor

Letters for Research Journal Submissions1

Examples below are authentic. Both represent a revise and resubmit (R&R) decision for a paper submission to a research journal. Identifying information has
been removed. Accounting Journal and Marketing Journal are pseudonyms rather than titles of actual publications.
Move
1

Expressing
gratitude

Stating
publication
decision

Subordinate Steps

Thank you very much for submitting your manuscript entitled

"Performance " to Marketing Journal.

2a

Describing basis of decision

2b

Referring to referee comments

Please see the corresponding attachments for their reports.

Stating decision

My assessment of the review reports along with my own

evaluation is that the manuscript is subject to significant
concerns that prevent me from reaching a favorable
publication decision.

2c

3a

Marketing Journal Example

Thank you for submitting the above-referenced manuscript to

Accounting Journal.
I have now received two careful reviews from experts in the
field of your research. Please see the corresponding
attachments for their reports. I also read the paper
independently.

2d

Justifying
decision

Accounting Journal Example

Clarifying the level of

uncertainty about publication
status
Acknowledging positive
feedback

3b

Summarizing negative quality

issue(s)

3d

Explaining required response

to negative quality issue

The nature of these concerns leaves me genuinely unsure

whether even a diligent revision could address them
effectively.
Both reviewers and I found the topic of the research quite
interesting and important.
The most critical concerns relate to the manipulated variable
(that is, the construct is not sufficiently well defined and so it is
unclear whether the manipulation is appropriate), whether the
study allows generalization to the population and setting of
interest, and the extent to which the study supports
conclusions about email format, given design issues. The
reviewers also mention other concerns, as detailed in their
reports.
Regarding the manipulation, both reviewers raise concerns
about the theoretical development, and Reviewer B has
additional concerns . . .

This table appears in a discussion of reviews for journal submissions on ProsWrite.com.

The reviews of your manuscript are now in. . . Your manuscript

was reviewed by a panel of two knowledgeable reviewers.
The comments of the reviewers are included at the bottom of
this letter.
The reviewers note several concerns that need to be
addressed satisfactorily in order for the paper to be
publishable in Marketing Journal. .. Based on the reviewers'
comments and my own reading of the paper, I invite you to
address the reviewers' concerns in a revision, and resubmit the
manuscript for further consideration.
While the revision is risky given the nature of the concerns
raised, I believe a properly revised manuscript could make a
useful contribution to the literature.
The reviewers find the general idea developed in the paper
interesting . . .

If you decide to accept my invitation to revise and resubmit,

please concentrate on the following in the revision:

First, I recommend to improve the conceptual section of your

paper in terms of the elaboration of the relevance and thus
contribution of your work, especially to practitioners . . .

4a

Providing
directions
for
responding

Maintaining
goodwill

Warning about uncertainty of

status

These are big issues, but, as I noted, the reviewers and I found
the general topic very interesting, justifying giving you an
option to revise and resubmit if you believe these issues can be
resolved.

If you do revise, please also attend to other concerns in the
review reports, revising as you feel is most appropriate. Along
with your revision, please submit a response memorandum
that indicates how your revision addresses the points raised in
the review reports We are keeping the file open pending your
decision. After you have had an opportunity to reflect on the
concerns, please send an e-mail to let us know whether or not
you intend to revise and resubmit. If you decide to revise,
please submit that revision on a timely basis, not to exceed one
year from the date of this letter. Our standard policy is to close
the file due to the risk of obsolescence if we do not receive
your revision within a year.

4b

Explaining response
procedures

4c

Explaining future review

procedures

The plan would be to send both the revision and response

memorandum to the same reviewers, requesting their
evaluation of how effectively your revision addresses their
concerns.

Although I am sorry to be unable to communicate more

definitive guidance, I thank you for your support of Accounting
Journal as a potential publication outlet for your research. The
concerns with this manuscript imply considerable outcome
risk, but on behalf of the current and incoming editorial
regimes, we will do our best to ensure a fair and balanced
consideration of any revision effort if you choose to resubmit.

NA

please provide a set of Revision Notes explaining how and

where in the revised manuscript (page number) you respond to
each of the reviewers and my comments.
Please reproduce the comments in the Revision Notes, and
limit your own responses to a few pages per reviewer if
possible. You do not have to do everything they ask, but please
consider and respond to each point.

To revise your manuscript, log into and enter your Author
Center, where you will find your manuscript title listed under
"Manuscripts with Decisions."

Because we are trying to facilitate timely publication , your
revised manuscript should be submitted by 05-Apr-20XX.
Please let me know as soon as possible whether you intend to
revise the paper, and, if so, whether you can submit your
revision by this date.

Once again, thank you for submitting your manuscript to

Marketing Journal and I look forward to receiving your revision.