Interlude: Getting Stung, Responding to Reviewers, and Finding Macro Tools
Earlier this week, my dog got stung by a bee. It was the first time he'd been stung since I adopted him earlier this year. And although a bee sting might not seem like a big deal, when you’re only 7 pounds and you get stung in the face, it can quickly become a big deal.
I've also had a dog who was allergic to bee stings. So the moment I realized what happened, I panicked. I scooped him up and ran home to remove the stinger and monitor him.
Once I was home, I caught myself. My panicking wasn't helping the situation. So I paused, took a deep breath, assessed the situation, and figured out what to do next. After getting the stinger out and a precautionary trip to the vet, he was fine.
Why am I telling you this story?
When I reflected on the situation later, I realized my panic wasn't really a response to what was happening, but rather a result of my past experience with a different dog and different situation years earlier. My past experience was bleeding into my present one, even though the situations were different.
I think that same thing can happen when we get "stung" by a reviewer. A curt comment, a rejection, or a rude tone can strike a nerve. And then suddenly we're not just reacting to this review, but to the weight of every harsh comment or rejection that came before.
So the next time a review stings, give yourself a moment—or a day—to step away before responding. When you come back to it, focus on what the feedback says rather than how it makes you feel. Then you can get a clearer view of what you need to do next.
Now onto this week's round-up...
Round-up
Featured
Recommendations for Responding to Reviewer Comments for Manuscript Resubmissions
I'm thrilled to share my latest publication in the AMWA Journal! In this article, I share an approach for how to respond to reviewer comments when you are resubmitting a manuscript to a journal. I describe how to format the response clearly by gathering and categorizing the comments. I also share how to craft thoughtful responses that express gratitude and use a diplomatic and respectful tone—especially when your disagree with the reviewers.
Reading
The data transparency crisis in research: Lessons from systematic reviews and meta-analyses
"The persistent gap between data-sharing policies and their implementation continues to limit the reproducibility and interpretability of research findings. . . scientific claims are still often disseminated without access to the underlying data and code needed to evaluate them. . . Greater coordination across journals, funders, regulators, and institutions can help make data and code availability standard practice, fostering a research culture in which transparency and reproducibility are embedded in everyday scientific work.”
Cross-publisher agreement on the defining principles of plain language summaries of publications (PLSPs)
”The aim of this cross-publisher agreement is to establish the foundation necessary for the standardization and recognition of PLSPs as a distinct article type in research databases (e.g. PubMed) and an acceptable secondary publication format, which will ultimately encourage their development and improve their discoverability.”
Watching
Never Show Anyone Your First Draft
"Remember this, no one is going to see it. . . The one rule you cannot break is you don't show anybody your s***** first draft. It's for nobody's eyes. And so you go in knowing that, and you write with that freedom."
Tools
Word Macro Tools by Paul Beverley
Do you use (or want to use) macros for editing? I recently attended an excellent webinar on macros, and one of the speakers created a library with more than 1300 macros that you can download for free. He also has tutorials and other guides to help you get acquainted with macros.
Thank you so much for reading.
Warmly,
Crystal
