Je ne résiste pas à vous copier intégralement une proposition 'Rejection of rejection' dans un article du BMJ de Noël 2015. Les auteurs devraient refuser les lettres de refus ! Cette lettre est proposée par des australiens qui doivent souffrir d'une hégémonie des 'British'.. Il y a des commentaires sur le site du BMJ, dont ceux d'experts français : BRAVO !
[insert university emblem here]
Dear Professor [insert name of editor]
[Re: MS 2015_XXXX Insert title of ground-breaking study here]
Thank you for your rejection of the above manuscript.
Unfortunately we are not able to accept it at this time. As you are probably aware we receive many rejections each year and are simply not able to accept them all. In fact, with increasing pressure on citation rates and fiercely competitive funding structures we typically accept fewer than 30% of the rejections we receive. Please don’t take this as a reflection of your work. The standard of some of the rejections we receive is very high.
In terms of the specific factors influencing our decision the failure by Assessor 1 to realise the brilliance of the study was certainly one of them. Simply stating “this study is neither novel nor interesting and does not extend knowledge in this area” is not reason enough. This, coupled with the use of Latin quotes by Assessor 2, rendered an acceptance of your rejection extremely unlikely.
We do wish you and your editorial team every success with your rejections in the future and hope they find safe harbour elsewhere. To this end, may we suggest you send one to [insert name of rival research group] for consideration. They accept rejections from some very influential journals.
Please understand that our decision regarding your rejection is final. We have uploaded the final manuscript in its original form, along with the signed copyright transfer form.
We look forward to receiving the proofs and to working with you in the future.
Yours sincerely
Dr [insert name here]
[Insert research group acronym here]
[Insert university here]
[Insert country here—that is, Australia/New Zealand/small European Country/Canada]
