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I want to respectfully ask the editor to finish the review of my paper in the shortest time possible, because I got an early deadline to defend my thesis.

Here are some details on the review process of the submitted paper:

  • Field: Computer science
  • The 1st review took 6 months, then I received the comments of the reviewers with "major revision"
  • After revising the paper, it was re-submitted, and now it is 3 months since that without any feedback.

What do you think about my essay:

Dear Editor,

Our paper intitled [XX] has been submitted to the [XXX] journal in [DATE1], after 6 months we received the reviewers' remarks that were taken into consideration while revising the paper. In [DATE2] (3 months ago), we re-submitted the revised version and we answered all the reviewers' comments in separated letter.

Currently, I have a time constraint to defend my thesis that requires a published journal paper, for this reason I am wondering if there is a possibility to have the results of reviewing our revised paper in the best short time please?

Thank you

Best Regards,

[MyName]

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  • You are assuming that the second review will be positive. On which basis?
    – EarlGrey
    Commented Oct 4, 2022 at 10:10
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    Of course I am not, but due to necessity to defend the thesis that took more additional years I said that, and I based on the average review time in the recent published papers in that journal.
    – Xiao Wangzi
    Commented Oct 4, 2022 at 17:38
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    Please consider we live in a free world and you are free to retire the submission and submit to a journal guaranteeing a quicker review.
    – EarlGrey
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 6:41

3 Answers 3

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It will probably have no effect. The reviewers are independent and have their own careers. And after a major revision, the paper needs to be looked at carefully.

It isn't wrong to send and is polite enough, but don't expect to see much action.

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5

When I review papers, I try to speed things along if I know that the authors are under some constraint. I'd recommend keeping it brief, and saying when your deadline actually is:

Dear Editor,

I write concerning our paper X, which we submitted on Y, and for which we submitted a revised version on Z.

My university informs me that, to defend my thesis, I should have a paper accepted for publication by Date A. I know that my university's rules are not your problem, and I apologize for this, but could I please ask if it would be possible to finish the review process by then?

So, an actual date rather than "the shortest time possible".

Also, make sure first that you understand your university's rules. Does the paper have to be published or just accepted? In my field (not computer science), there is typically quite a long lag between the two.

And, finally, as other commenters have said, be prepared to take no for an answer.

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  • Thank you. The paper must be published, not just accepted
    – Xiao Wangzi
    Commented Oct 4, 2022 at 17:21
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    Yikes: actual literal publication will often/usually take at least a few months more than an acceptance decision! This looks like an impossible constraint to meet...
    – paul garrett
    Commented Oct 4, 2022 at 17:31
  • @paulgarrett In my field, an accepted manuscript usually is published within a few days. Of course, it takes much longer until the article is assigned issue and page numbers but nowadays that matters little.
    – user9482
    Commented Oct 5, 2022 at 6:33
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You better put your effort in postponing the deadline of your thesis, because that one is the deadline on which you have control, i.e. it depends on you having a paper published by that date, not on the (at least) three external people: potential positive reviews and the acceptance from the editor.

Think about how to spend in a meaningful way the time between the early deadline and the next deadline for your defense.

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