Accepted, Accepted with Revisions, Revise and Resubmit, Reject, Desk Reject

Since starting my doctoral work, I've learned a few short-hand phrases about publishing in the academy. Most notable of these is "R&R" or "revise and resubmit." Basically what happens when one submits a manuscript for publication is one of several things:

Accepted: this rarely happens. I don't even know why this is a category, because I don't know anyone who has ever gotten a manuscript accepted with hardly any necessary revisions. And while I don't know everyone in academia, those I do know also say this rarely happens.

Accepted with Revisions: This is like the editor of a journal saying "We have reviewed your work, we like it, just make these changes and we'll publish" this is very good!

Revise and Resubmit: This is the most likely of all outcomes. This is when the email from the editor says "There is some good work here, but also some concerns from the reviewers. How about you take another shot, and if you can make the changes, we will likely publish."

Reject: The worst of all. Getting a reject is the worst because it usually takes 3-4 months for a journal to respond with a decision, and during that time you can't shop your manuscript around to anyone. Then when the reject comes, it's terrible because you think, "there went 4 months of possible revisions for a journal that would consider this."

Desk Reject: My advisor says this is one of the best things that can happen because within 2 weeks you know if the journal wants it or not. I'm glad he said that because I got a desk reject a couple of months ago and thought, "Oh well, I can shop this around somewhere else now." No hurt feelings.

The reason I go into all of this is because I recently heard back from a journal and got an "accepted with revisions" !! This is great news of course! The revisions are minor. (and I have to admit, they should be because I spent HOURS on this manuscript). I rewrote large chunks from an original paper my friend Meg and I wrote, submitted it with her blessing, and ta-da! Accepted with revisions. She and I are now working furiously to make changes and get it sent back. Needless to say, I'm very excited! And when I get this one turned back in, then I can focus on the other "revise and resubmit" manuscript I co-wrote. There were, er, a lot of things we needed to address. But those revisions will happen, I am sure.

Sleepy Hollow

After we came back from our backpacking trip in August, Kevin and I decided we wanted to try to do some "quick overnighters" if we could closer to Lansing. He learned about a state park called Sleepy Hollow, and it is literally a 25 minute drive from our house. Given the beautiful fall weather we are having here in Michigan, we picked a weekend to do one of these quick overnighters. I planned ahead and tried to get all of my school work done-ish for the week so I could enjoy the weekend. We also had to plan a weekend that didn't interfere with the state park's annual Halloween trick-or-treat camping, because how awful would it be to have to spend the evening at our campsite passing out candy. I reserve passing out candy only on Halloween night. We went this past weekend, and it's a good thing because it was the last last weekend before the park closed its campground. It was great to get outside, do some birding (Redhead, GBH, Downy, etc.), and hiking around in the crunchy autumn leaves. One thing, however I will never really understand, is why people bring TVs with them on camping trips. In the evening I was walking to the restroom, and the campers in the area had TVs outside, with people sitting around talking, Christmas lights on, music on, whatever. It baffles me. Most campers were pretty quiet, but I think next time we do a quick overnighter we might try to find a campground that has walk-in sites. These are guaranteed to keep TVs and stereos at bay from our tiny tent and also give us a little privacy.

I'm Sorry Blog

Earlier this year, all the cardboard

I realized it has been almost a month since I last posted. I'm sorry blog. I try not to let so much time pass, but I've been procrastinating on writing a post because "I've been very busy." That's what I say when people ask me how I'm doing. "I'm doing well. I've been very busy." Busy is something I say when I don't know what else to say. It seems to answer the question of how am I without making it sound like I'm just bored and that's why I don't return emails or texts. I could take the time to write a post, but I just haven't because I've been busy.... and lazy. And out of routine. It's amazing how important routine is. And when I'm out of it, gathering the energy to do something I built a habit doing just seems so hard! Alas, I'm here, I'm writing. And so.

One of the busy things that's happened is there is now no more cardboard in the backyard!! You may recall that very early this year we covered up a section of our backyard lawn with cardboard to kill the grass. We wanted to landscape it a bit and give it more pizzazz. Well, enough time had passed for the grass to die, and we finally got around to attending to the cardboard ruins. Kevin mostly did it, I will happily admit. (Because I'm very busy). He got top soil, covered it all up, and provided a path through it. We had a large amount of rocks in the front yard from the previous owner who used them to landscape, so we took those rocks and filled in where the path was planned. Then we put slate pieces over the top (slate was free from Kevin's work). Voila! A path! We transplanted some Hostas, and lily of the valley that was given to us from our neighbor, bought some hardy mums that were extremely on sale, along with a few other plants (end of season sales are the best!) and now we have a much better backyard area. I can't wait for next spring to see all the dandelion bulbs we planted pop, and also when we can put a few more things in.

We also have a lot of that awful scalloped red edging, and we are trying to upcycle some of it. So we put it against the last bottom step of our deck. The wood there was rotten, and Kevin replaced it but had to dig a tiny trench there so the soil wouldn't sit up against it. And, again, Voila! Another remedy that doesn't look too shabby. We're hoping to use some of the rest of the red scallop stuff on its side and make a path through the grass from the carport to the shed. Yard work can be done in the autumn.