Brilliant- rejection of a rejection

Rejection of rejection letter

[insert university emblem here]

Dear Professor [insert name of editor]

[Re: MS 2015_XXXX Insert title of ground-breaking study here]

Thank you for your rejection of the above manuscript.

Unfortunately we are not able to accept it at this time. As you are probably aware we receive many rejections each year and are simply not able to accept them all. In fact, with increasing pressure on citation rates and fiercely competitive funding structures we typically accept fewer than 30% of the rejections we receive. Please don’t take this as a reflection of your work. The standard of some of the rejections we receive is very high.

In terms of the specific factors influencing our decision the failure by Assessor 1 to realise the brilliance of the study was certainly one of them. Simply stating “this study is neither novel nor interesting and does not extend knowledge in this area” is not reason enough. This, coupled with the use of Latin quotes by Assessor 2, rendered an acceptance of your rejection extremely unlikely.

We do wish you and your editorial team every success with your rejections in the future and hope they find safe harbour elsewhere. To this end, may we suggest you send one to [insert name of rival research group] for consideration. They accept rejections from some very influential journals.

Please understand that our decision regarding your rejection is final. We have uploaded the final manuscript in its original form, along with the signed copyright transfer form.

We look forward to receiving the proofs and to working with you in the future.

Yours sincerely

Dr [insert name here]

[Insert research group acronym here]

[Insert university here]

[Insert country here—that is, Australia/New Zealand/small European Country/Canada]

 

 

from http://www.bmj.com/content/351/bmj.h6326

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karyotypes and rearrangements in Littorina fabalis and L. obtusata soon available.

A project with Juanjo Pasantes and Daniel Souto from the University of Vigo.

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Pacbio sequencing for the detection of rearrangements in Littorina fabalis and L. obtusata has started.

News on this topic soon!

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A project on reinforcement with Johan Hollander and Roger Butlin has started.

Preliminary results by the end of 2015.

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Happy Darwin Day!

“On the tendency of species to form varieties; and on the perpetuation of varieties and species by natural means of selection.”  

Galicia (2011)

Photos from Juan Hurtado

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Diana visit to the Natural History Museum of London with support from the SYNTHESYS program

Diana was awarded a grant from the SYNTHESYS program (Synthesis of systematic resources), through which I had the opportunity to meet Dr. David G. Reid, one of the most knowledgeable researchers on many aspects of the biology of littorinids, at the Natural History Museum of London. During this period, I had access to Dr. David Reid’s unique (and the world’s largest) collection of flat periwinkles, including several specimens from key geographic locations, crucial to complete our understanding of the evolutionary history of these two sister species, and to clarify an important standing debate about putative hybridization between them. It was great fun!

mhl

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2014’s awarded project by the Volkswagen Foundation has started

In 2014, Rui Faria was awarded a research project by the prestigious Volkswagen Foundation on Genomic architecture of speciation: the role of chromosomal rearrangements”.

This project aims to study the patterns of whole-genome divergence between flat periwinkles species and also between primate species in collaboration with Katja Nowick, University of Leipzig.

Within the framework of this project Graciela Sotelo was hired for 1,5 years as a postdoc.

Rui Faria’s comment to the award was: “No I don’t have a Volkswagen!”

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Santander Research Mobility Awards: Graciela’s visit to Sheffield

Santander Research Mobility Award to Graciela Sotelo

“The genetic architecture of adaptation in the intertidal realm: lessons from Littorina

Awarded by the Santander Foundation, during August 2014, I had the opportunity to visit the team of Roger Butlin at the Department of Animal and Plant Sciencies from the University of Sheffield (UK). This was done in the framework of a collaborative project, between Roger Butlin (UK) and Rui Faria (Portugal), that aims to unveil the mechanisms involved in parallel ecotype evolution using intertidal gastropods of the genus Littorina as model system. By comparing such mechanism across different species (the rough and flat periwinkles the focal taxa of each group, respectively), we hope to draw some general conclusions about the genomic architecture of adaptation. To do so, we are designing a genome-wide study based on capture sequencing.

sheffield_university_aw170410_5

More news about the results of this experiment during 2015!

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2014: the year of the master thesis for João and Andreia

The year that just finished was a very important year for Joao Carvalho and Andreia Reis who got their Master degree.

João, of whom I was the main supervisor, presented his thesis at the University of Lisbon on “Study on the diversification of flat periwinkles (Littorina fabalis and L. obtusata): insights from genetics and geometric morphometrics”

He was graded 19 (although he does not want us to say here)!

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Visit to the Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales – CSIC

It was a great pleasure to give a talk at Museo Nacional de Ciencias Naturales – CSIC about our work and to meet lots of interesting people working there.

I guess they will make it available at some point again.

museo-ciencias-naturales

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