I submitted an article to a journal in June and was wondering if I should contact them to see if they have accepted it or not. Is it too early to do so now, and if so what is the “right” amount of time you should wait before doing so?

I think it's definitely too early.

I know the editor of a well-known journal in my field, and he told me that they usually take 5 months to respond to authors and to confirm that the paper hasn't been rejected and will now be forwarded to peer reviewers (which would usually take another 5 months to hear back)

Thanks. Wow, that's a long time. At that rate I'll be lucky if I get enough articles published to get a job within 8 years.

Hi orian,

I think that the process often takes several months. It depends though on the field. I have spoken to the editor of the British Medical Journal at a conference who assured me that they would let me know in two weeks time that the paper was rejected! (I am not sure whether that was a good sign

Regards

Rick

Thanks Rick.