Q: What can I do if the review of my paper that I need for graduation is delayed?

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I have submitted a paper to an English journal more than 100 days ago, but the first decision by peer review has not been made yet. This paper is a base of my doctoral thesis, thus the paper must be accepted within this school year (i.e., by the end of March). I have already informed the editorial office of my situation and asked them to make a decision soon, but it still takes time. Is there any good idea to make progress this situation? I heard that one peer review was already done, and another peer review is still in progress.

Asked on 28 Feb, 2017

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Unfortunately, journal processes are quite slow and peer review can take anywhere between 2-4 months or even more. In general, the entire process from submission to first decision can take 6-8 months. You should have actually submitted your paper earlier. I don't think you can do much at this stage to hasten the process apart from sending reminders to the editor from time to time. You should write to the journal every 2 weeks asking about the progress.

Another option you can consider is withdrawing the paper from this journal and submitting it to a rapid publication journal. You can check the rapid publication journals in your field which have a really short review time. You can send a pre-submission inquiry explaining by when you need the decision and asking whether they would be able to give the decision within that time. If the journal agrees, you can consider submitting your paper. However, make sure that you have a confirmation of withdrawal from the previous journal before you submit to the other journal.