Managing review comments

Academic manuscripts are like boomerangs. They are sent out and then return. Sometimes one, two and three times. They are typically accompanied by a bunch of comments from reviewers and editors. In this post, I want to reflect upon how to best address these. 

My point of departure is my own experiences, both as a writer and editor. In fact, I had my first experiences of the review process as an editor. At the end of my PhD studies, I became involved in the journal Scandia. That meant that already from an early stage, I got a “behind the scenes” perspective. Over time, this has proved valuable. 

What I learned from my editorial work was that there are certain things editors truly appreciate from the people submitting texts. This can be summed up as: speedy, specific and no prestige. 

Speedy means that the editor wants to see that the authors take immediate action with regard to the proposed measures. This means that the editor can finish the next issue of the journal and move on with his or her own life as an academic. This is in the interest of both the editor and the author. However, it is very common that revisions drag on, sometimes indefinitely. Hence, it is extra pleasing when someone works speedily or at least answers an email and specifies a date when he or she will submit his or her text (and then does so!). 

Specific means that the editor likes to hear from the author what he or she has done. No editor wants to print out two texts and compare these with each other to identify what has changed. It may be months since the last time you read the text and reading other people’s manuscripts is not that exhilarating. Hence, editors appreciate authors who submit a list of bullet points of their changes: “1) in line with the suggestion of reviewer 2 to extend the discussion Y, two new paragraphs have been added on page 5. Here, I discuss the book by academic Z as suggested by reviewer 1.” This offers the editors a good basis for making a quick decision. (Hint: quick decisions are often positive). 

No prestige means that you as an author seek to communicate with the editors in a calm and friendly fashion. This is particularly important if you are annoyed by the comments made by the reviewers and/or the editors. As an author, it is easy to forget that editorial work, as well as anonymous reviews, represents unpaid and invisible work. It’s a service provided to academics by the scholarly community. Careful, critical readings may feel heavy. In the short term, they also result in additional work. In the longer term, however, the subsequent comments almost always improve the texts. This benefits everyone involved. In particular the authors and their future readers. 

A general piece of advice in terms of responding without prestige is to digest the comments before actually responding. In other words, read them one day. Sleep on it. If necessary, discuss the response you want to communicate to the editors with a close colleague. Then you will hopefully answer in a civilized manner. Not sure if the editors actually want to publish your text? Ask straight out if this is the case. Tell them that you’re unsure, but that you may consider making changes X, Y and Z provided that they want such a manuscript. 

Another technique, which I have learned from my colleague Martin Ericsson, is to sometimes simply not read the comments. This may be a good idea when you already find yourself in a heavy work period and don’t have the time or energy to sink your teeth into your manuscript. In such a case, quickly reply to the editors and tell them about your situation. Tell them that you will get back to them in a week or two when you have the time to work on this. 

This, however, is an exception. The general principle Martin and I use is to always prioritize reviewer comments. The chances of having your work published increase if you interact with the editors in a way that simplifies their work. This is done by working speedily, specifically and without prestige.

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Back to writing the book

It has now been four working weeks since I completed chapter 2. The same number of weeks have passed since I wrote a single sentence in my manuscript. This interruption was not unplanned. But it turned out to be quite a bit longer than I intended. 

The reasons for this, however, are good, if not very good. I have been in Uppsala and made my debut as an external examiner of Pär Wikman’s interesting thesis Kulturgeografin tar plats i välfärdsstaten. In addition, my Bank of Sweden Tercentenary Foundation application made it to the second round. In addition to this, supervision, editorial work, sick children, review comments and all those other things making up life have required my attention. 

Regardless of these reasons, however, a certain amount of concern has started to creep up on me. This is commonly the case when I don’t write on my main project at the time. I feel as if time is slipping through my fingers and that I’m not making any real progress. Even though I know at heart that I have made the right priorities. 

What complicates everything is that the near future is not exactly an empty page. As always, April and May are patchy. They are filled with public holidays. In addition, there are conferences, shorter writing assignments, various editorial assignments, student papers that are about to be completed… 

How did things turn out like this? Wasn’t this the year when I would entirely focus on writing my book? How did I prioritize things? Why did I say yes to doing all of this? 

The answer is because I wanted to. What energizes me as an academic is taking part in what’s happening around me. I need conversations, colleagues and seminars. The importance of a social and intellectual context, which I have discussed in a previous blog post, should not be taken lightly. I like being part of building a long-term research environment. And I want to be part of larger scholarly communities. Locally, nationally and internationally. This involves many different kinds of work and a frequently very shattered existence, but I think it’s worth it. 

The question, however, is whether my “type of academic” writes any books? Do they do so when they have small children at home? Well, this is what this year-long blogging and writing project is meant to answer. So far, I would say that I’m on the right track. But I don’t have oceans of buffer time. I wouldn’t mind if the kids stay healthy in the future. And that time in June. The time at this point seemingly so open and inviting. I should probably be vigilant about it. 

As for the fall. The fall so completely still and calm in January. Well, it too has begun to take on a different form. I have two edited volume projects I need to finish. A workshop to organize. A couple of conferences here, some new fun project there. And then I have promised to write… 

No, enough about that. Now is the time to start working on chapter 3. Nothing tends to be more reassuring than actually spending time writing on what matters the most. Maybe this time my writing will immediately flow like a charm? Two pages a day. Bam, bam, bam. 

We’ll see after lunch. When this morning’s editorial meeting is finished.

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What academics can learn from players

For as long as I can remember, I have enjoyed playing games. I have definitely spent the most amount of time on the strategy card game Magic: The Gathering. I discovered this game in the mid-1990s at the age of twelve and I have never really stopped playing. The most intense period of playing occurred during my undergraduate years and in my first years as a PhD student. At that time, I was sufficiently good to travel around the world and compete in so-called Pro Tours. These days, my game is so-so. In this post, I’m going to discuss some concepts and attitudes that these types of games help people develop.

Magic is a game requiring skill but where chance also plays a significant role. Games are played between two players. The better player often wins, but far from always. This distinguishes Magic from games such as chess, which don’t include any element of chance. This also sets Magic apart from games of pure chance, such as many children’s games where the only thing that matters is being lucky when rolling a dice, drawing a card or the like. 

The best Magic players in the world win 65–70 percent of their games. Even if they do everything right. Players talk about this in terms of variance. This means that the outcomes vary. In the short term, variance may strike hard. Luck can be more decisive than skill. In the long term, the opposite is true. In order to be successful in playing Magic, it’s necessary to learn how to manage this. 

The key is to focus on playing well. That is, making decisions that offer you the best chances of winning. If a given move gives you a 60 percent chance of winning while the alternative gives you 40 percent, the choice is simple. Regardless, the outcome will frequently not favor you even when you play correctly. Most players find it difficult to handle this. People easily become result-oriented and evaluate their games based on the outcome – rather than on whether or not they made the right decisions. 

Successful players adopt a different perspective. They focus on their own decision-making process and their own actions. The goal is to play as well as possible. In this perspective, the outcomes don’t matter. The player knows that short-term results are influenced by variance, while they are due to skill in the long term. Paradoxically, someone who really cares about achieving certain results should not concern him- or herself with these. It is better to focus on the process. In time, results will also materialize. 

This approach is applicable far beyond Magic. For academics, perhaps the clearest example concerns different forms of applications. In such cases, it’s extremely easy to just focus on the outcome. When things go well, it is easy to believe that this is the result of your own efforts. When things don’t go so well, it’s more common to talk about these things in terms of a lottery. As far as I’m concerned, I look upon these things more like Magic. Skill matters, but the level of variance is great. Hence, it’s important not to focus on the outcome but to focus your efforts on what you are able to influence. 

You can control when you start working on your applications. You can control how much time you spend on writing and revising them. You can control how many colleagues you ask to read your drafts and to what extent you take their comments into account. You can control how many funding bodies and foundations you submit applications to. You can control how well you read the instructions and then adapt your texts to these. 

A seasoned player pays attention to all of the above. But he or she is more indifferent when it comes to the outcome. The player is aware that the result depends on his or her own efforts but also on many other factors. You take responsibility and strive to improve the things you are able to influence. You ignore the rest. 

Who, then, tend to adopt this approach? Well, here is one last twist. It is clear that those who become strong players are typically extremely competitive. Since they care so much about winning, and if they really want to reach the top, however, they have to learn to evaluate their efforts based on parameters other than their immediate results. This is difficult. But focusing on what you can influence and accepting the element of variance is incredibly powerful, not least in academia.

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Model texts

Academic writing is not one thing but many. It consists of a plethora of genres and subgenres, from papers and written exams during the early years as a student to writing major program applications and expert opinions. Few, if any, master all these genres. Hence, active writers need to get the tools – and the self-confidence – to repeatedly do what they have not done before. 

My own way of managing this is to look for model texts. In other words, before I start writing in a genre with which I’m unfamiliar, I study what others have done. When reading these texts, however, I don’t focus on the contents. What I’m trying to achieve is to get an idea of how a specific type of text may be structured. What does a functioning skeleton look like? 

My experience is that this approach is more helpful the more specific you are. In other words, I mainly study subgenres. As far as journal articles are concerned, I commonly try to find a text about the same time period that uses a similar source material. The text should also originate from the journal to which I intend to submit my manuscript. This enables me to ensure that my text is not completely out of place in terms of genre and subject matter. 

A concrete example is my first peer-reviewed article “Framtidskunskap i cirkulation” (2015). It concerns how questions related to the environment and the future were discussed in the Swedish press and radio/television in the early 1970s. My model text for this was Marie Cronqvist’s article “Utrymning i folkhemmet” (2008) on Swedish civil defense culture in the early 1960s. What these two articles have in common is that they seek to shed light on a larger theme by looking at a more specific historical example. They concern very short periods of time and are mainly based on press material. 

My study of Marie’s text was carried out at the same time as I collected source material, read research literature and started prewriting. Assisted by the model text, I created a rough synopsis indicating the number of pages for the different parts of the article. This synopsis then guided my continued gathering of material, reading and processing. By having a model text upon which to base my work, I got a better understanding of what was expected of me. I could thus set limits on how much source material and previous research were meaningful for me to go through. This reading was thus a key and integral part of the research and writing process. 

This type of work can be done with both high and low intensity. During this semester, for instance, I have carefully studied successful applications to the Swedish Research Council, blog posts and external examiners’ thesis reviews. But the low-intensity part is just as important. This means that in my continuous reading of various texts, I make sure to remember the ones I find really good. At the time of reading, there is not always time to analyze why I find it so good or how the writer has succeeded in this. But collecting good model texts is always a good idea. They tend to become useful sooner or later.

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