How to survive peer review

Wager E, Godlee F, Jefferson T.

(Excerpt)

If a reviewer has completely misunderstood your work, or
overlooked a crucial feature, you can discuss this with the
editor and request another review. If your paper has been
rejected after in-house review you could request external
review, but this may be a waste of time if the editor is
convinced that your work is not suited to the journal.
If you have not had a response for several months, check
whether the journal publishes target response times. If you
haven’t heard within the target period, contact the journal
office and ask what is happening.

Editors usually remove stinging criticism or personal
invective before reviews are sent to authors. If you receive a
discourteous review, you should inform the editor. This may
not affect the decision on your article but may alert the
journal to avoid this reviewer in future or to tell him or her
that such personal attacks are unacceptable.
If the review process is open and you know that the
reviewer has failed to declare an important conflict of interest
that may have affected the journal’s decision, let the editor
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