Reviewers and Citations: an update

A few weeks ago, I asked whether reviewers should be required to cite sources in their summary statements for submitted journal articles.

I heart citations (source)

I was frustrated about my paper reviews (not an uncommon sentiment) because one reviewer made some serious claims against my basic assumptions, but did not include any citations to back these claims up. A few people in the comments suggested that I write to the editor.

So I did. I wrote a nice polite letter saying that citations from the reviewer would be helpful. The editors wrote to the reviewer and then wrote back to me with the reviewers reply. I was actually surprised at this because I had a feeling that once the editor puts the paper on the 'will not consider for publication' list, that they might not even respond. But I got some citations from the reviewer, so I could find out where I got lost in my own literature search. And much to my delight, after scouring the papers the reviewer cited, I still feel that I am right and that my paper has a sound foundation. I have now re-submitted this paper (to another journal), and feel pretty confident about it. 

Though of course I always feel more confident about a submitted paper than I should.

Submitting a beautifully written paper for review (what should we call grad school)

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