Hello; I'm currently moving toward the editing of the PhD, and have had two journal articles sent back to me as a revise and resubmit. I can't help feeling that this is a failure, but is this the case? Both were to peer reviewed journals, one was more scathing than the other, but both invited re-submission. Thanks

If they've asked you to revise and resubmit then that's a good thing as it means that they think that the subject of your paper is interesting and worth publishing but just needs some polishing. Don't be disheartened, it's rare that anyone gets a paper accepted straight away. If they've provided you with detailed comments do everything they've suggested and submit again.

According to my friend, it is possible to take more than 3 years to publish a paper...
It was initially "revise and resubmit" for a few times... Then, it became major revision for a few times... And later, minor revision... Finally, publish without revision.

hi happyclapper
please don't feel discouraged! Revise and resubmit is a good response!
It's true that it may take some time, so realistically you'll have to find ways to continue motivating yourself. Keep going. Don't lose heart.

love satchi

Hi everyone,

That's great, thank you, and I feel significantly encouraged! One is more marginal changes (extend the scope, reads like a PhD chapter-it does!-so place it in a broader context) and the other was much more critical, saying there was 'serious concerns' about some elements, which they have outlined and given me three months to put right. I'm very happy because I have great feedback, but I was not sure if this was a particularly bad outcome. I retrospectively checked, and both are INT1 journals, which perhaps I should have checked first! I am quite naïve with all this!

Sometimes, critical comments like 'serious concerns' may also mean your work is good, but the reviewer felt threatened or upset...
Some reviewers may believe that they are the 'authority' in this field, and you must adopt their terminologies or framework...

Current publication system should be improved.
However, there are also excellent reviewers. They should be recognized when your paper is published.

This. Basically very very few people get papers accepted (even with minor revisions) the first time around. I had one revise and resubmit and one rejection so far, and submitted my revisions. I think it means that it will be accepted, since the editor of the Journal really liked my piece and I acted as a reviewer to an article published in his Journal. So don't be disheartened (hard as it may be)- it's the most common outcome.

Revise and submit? Success - well done!

revise and submit is a positive response than rejected. Good luck with revising and resubmitting the article.