Responding, Restructuring, and Relief: Getting Accepted

…after a few formatting hiccups and a lot of deep breaths.

There’s nothing quite like the feeling of finally hitting “submit” on a set of major revisions. I had carefully crafted a detailed table—every reviewer comment addressed, every change explained with page numbers and quotes. I genuinely thought: this is the most organised thing I’ve ever done. It was clear. It was structured. It took me well over a day to pull together.

So, when the response from the editor came through asking me to re-do the whole thing in a different format, I won’t lie—I had to walk away from my laptop for a moment. It felt I could not get anything right at this time and that this article was heading towards a rejection.

It wasn’t the content of the major revisions that was the issue—it was the presentation of how I had addressed them. They wanted it in a specific layout for clarity, and requested an account of how I had addressed each concern. Fair enough. But after the hours (and hours) I’d already spent… it stung a bit. However, I had the information, it just needed a re-jig and a shuffle for the editors.

Still, I took a breath, poured a coffee, and did what needed to be done.

Then Something Surprising Happened…

Less than 48 hours after I sent off the restructured response and manuscript, I got the news:

'Accepted' for publication. No more rounds of peer review. No more changes. Just… done.

And to really seal the deal, the editor had attached the publishing agreement to the email. That was the moment it properly hit me—this is actually happening. It’s going to print. Relief, happiness and the need for a well earned beer!

What Now?

Honestly? I have no idea what happens next. I assume there’ll be copy-editing,

“proofs,” and possibly a mysterious world of DOIs and metadata. But for now, I’m just soaking in the joy.

This article has been through a journey—initial rejection, full rework, and now, acceptance. It’s been shaped by critique, collaboration, and persistence. And it’s about to go out into the world.

If you're navigating the academic writing process, know this: even when it feels like the admin will never end, keep going. Because there’s something really special about seeing your ideas find a home. My supervisor congratulated on finding my tribe where my voice has value, this is a nice feeling as writing at times about some polemic issues can get a bit lonely.

I’ll be sharing what happens next—because I’m learning all of this as I go. Stay tuned for the next steps in this publishing adventure.