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When to withdraw from a journal?

In our new “how can we help you?” thread, a reader writes:

When should you withdraw a paper from consideration at a journal? I submitted a paper in early April of 2025 and it’s still “Under Review” 10 months later. I followed up with the editor after about 6 months but have had no reply. This is a good journal in my subfield but not tippy tippy top. I am tenured but still have yearly performance reviews so I do need the publication. On one hand there’s a sunk cost problem here – i have already invested almost a year waiting for this journal and I’ll have to start over at another journal. On the other hand, I may need to anyway if it’s rejected. Essentially my question is – how long should an author wait if there is no communication forthcoming from the journal?

What do readers think?

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5 responses to “When to withdraw from a journal?”

  1. Anonymous

    That’s way too long. I’d try one more time to get in touch with the editor before pulling it, though. In the past I’ve had a paper at a journal for a long time that simply got lost because the area editor had to resign for medical reasons – but I only found that out because I emailed the chief editor directly.

    Reply
  2. Anonymous

    A coauthor and I had a situation like this one. We went for an aggressive option. We told the journal that we wanted a verdict by the year mark, or we’d withdrawal the manuscript. And they got us a verdict by the year mark.

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      Seems right. I had a situation like OP’s: I wrote to the editor twice, and heard nothing.

      Finally, I wrote a third time, something like: ‘If I do not receive a reply by date X [with X being one month later], I will assume that the manuscript has been rejected and that I am free to submit to an alternate venue.’ They never wrote back, so I moved on.

      My biggest mistake was waiting 21 months to send the final ultimatum e-mail. A year or so sounds about right, especially if it’s not a super-top journal and there are suitable alternate venues.

      Reply
  3. AGT

    You should not wait so long. I’d say after two months you can very much start complaining, asking questions. After three or four months, you can definitely ‘threaten’ or simply withdraw. Whatever it is the journal thinks, it is absurd to wait for many months for them to find you a reviewer. It might even be that it is not their fault, so perhaps we shouldn’t hold it against them, but you have your own interests to protect and sticking to a journal for ages hardly serves your interests. Of course, if they do get in touch, in response or otherwise, and explain what is happening, you can give them the benefit of the doubt and wait a bit. That is really your call.

    Reply
    1. Anonymous

      2 months is too soon to start complaining. Threatening to withdraw after 3 or 4 months seems dramatic. I wouldn’t have a single publication if I did that.

      Reply

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