Hey guys,
So submitted a publication about 6 months ago and was asked for minor revisions the first time. Now I received feedback and apparently while one reviewer is happy the editor sent it to another reviewer who has had several substantial comments. Suffice to say it's very frustrating but how long does this tit-for-tat between the reviewers and myself generally last?? Starting to feel discouraged even though the editor is pleased and assured me it's close to publication.

Well, as far as I think, reviewers job is only to provide some sort of feedback to the editor. It is finally the editor who may agree or disagree to the reviewers comments and decide to what extent these comments are applicable or useful. IF the editor has assured you of the publication, then that should be it and just keep your cool and don't be impatient. Six months is a normal period for many journals and I have heard that it may be upto an year for some good quality journal. The time span also depends upon your subject area.

Hope this helps.

Just a guess... Perhaps you had increased citations of someone during the previous revision.
This person is your new reviewer.

Thanks UKPhDStudent and MeaninginLife….the old reviewer was happy and had no comments- I'm thinking the increased citations (yes there were) referred to publications in which he was involved (all of them were et al. and involved the same names so not sure which one it is).
I think the fact that the editor assured me it's close to publication then it's a good sign- I'm 80% there with the new revisions so fingers crossed. It is one of the top journals in my field. Has any of you gone through something similar?

It is possible that "minor revision" may initially lead to "major revision", and "major revision" may finally result in "rejection".

There was an editor who praised my paper during a conference initially. However, it was reviewed by four reviewers... Then the editor "pointed a finger" to the reviewers. Anyway, the four reviewers' comments include "accept", "reject", "neutral"... Sometimes, it is a matter of luck...