Dealing with unresponsive journals (again)?

In our newest "how can we help you?", a reader asks:

Here's a(nother) question about dealing with unresponsive journals:

I submitted a paper last summer (2021). It is with a good journal in my subfield and is one of my better papers. It initially received a 'revise and resubmit, no commitment to publishing' in November '21, and I resubmitted in December '21. The paper has been untouched since then (i.e., for about seven months). The editors have not responded to two emails asking whether the paper is still actively under review.

When do I pull out? At the nine-month mark? The one-year mark? I would of course like to publish with them, but continuing to wait could lead to problems for my career. Thanks in advance for any advice.

Good questions. We've discussed how to handle slow and unresponsive journals before, but the question seems to come up fairly often, so I think it's important to discuss. Personally, I think I'd send the editors one more email and pull the paper within a week or two if they don't respond. There are always other good journals out there, and if you got a revise-and-resubmit at this journal, chances are you'll get one (or perhaps even an acceptance) at another good journal. But these are just my thoughts. What are yours?

Comments

[Tam]

This is a hard one. Even if you get an R&R at the first journal you send it to after pulling the paper from this one, that'll probably take say three months, and the new reviewers will have new criticisms, which will take, say, a month to address. If you get (non-desk) rejected by the first journal, which it must be admitted isn't unlikely however good the paper is, that time could easily balloon 7 months--just to get back to where you are now.
On the other hand, it's possible that this journal isn't doing anything with the paper and so waiting is just wasting time.
I would consider (a) asking an advisor or mentor who may be better known to email the editors on your behalf, if such a thing is feasible, and (b) writing to the editors directly, at their academic email addresses, instead of through the journal, if you haven't done so.

[UK Postdoc]

I have to say that 7 months, while long, is unfortunately not uncommon in my experience. Given that the first round of reviews went fine, my best guess is just that the reviews are taking a bit longer this time around.

The unresponsiveness of the editors is a separate issue, but I wouldn't think that is a clear sign of your paper being in limbo - editors (again unfortunately) can be unresponsive. But if you have already sent multiple emails through 'official' channels and waited an appropriate amount of time for an answer, I think it is reasonable to try and email the editors directly as the previous commenter suggested, or even directly email the editor-in-chief.