20d • General discussion
One publishing hurdle down with Elsevier
Hello All,
Super excited to be making my first post in the community. I've been disease modifying therapy and symptom-free from RRMS for 8 years and counting now. In July, I had an opportunity to meet with my gastric surgeon, Dr. Charles Procter Jr. to share with him that I had found the cause and cure for my type of M.S.
He has always treated me as a peer even though I'm not a doctor yet. He was happy for me and asked me if I had done my paper yet. I told him I was working on it, but hadn't prioritized it over making the web series. He said I needed to get my paper done and then start thinking about a speaking circuit.
I took his advice and for two solid months worked on getting my research paper completed and published. My first peer-review by the managing editor was eye opening. My paper was super prideful and didn't account for every detail that my 25 year Internal Audit background had prepared me for.
Denzel Washington said it best in the movie Training Day, "It's not what you know, it's what you can prove." I went back to the drawing board and had Chat GPT validate each of my conclusions as I reached them.
Second time around, I got the same managing editor and was psyched because it was like getting to the boss at the end of video games.
Submitted my revamped super-paper on November 5th and got feedback November 17th at 9:40 A.M. This time, I got a whole different kind of response that let me know I was on to something. Take a look at the email from the journal below:
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Email 1:
Ms. Ref. No.: MSARD-D-25-01351
Title: Novel Therapeutic Pathways in Multiple Sclerosis: Evidence for a Peripheral Nervous System–Led Model of Disease Initiation
Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders
Dear Mr. Dhata R Harris,
Thank you for submitting your manuscript to Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.
I regret to say that we are not persuaded that your findings fit well with the mission of Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders.
In making this decision we do not intend a criticism of the work but feel the manuscript is better suited for a more specialized journal.
While you may be disappointed by this decision, we hope that you will continue to consider Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders for publication of future manuscripts.
Email 2:
Dear Mr. Harris,
We're sorry your submission was recently rejected. We have suggested some journals that may be a good fit for your manuscript.
If you decide to transfer, then we'll send your files to your chosen journal, where you can still make revisions before completing your submission.
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Sometimes rejection is what fuels you to pivot, but never stop. My military training taught me "No retreat, no surrender."
I submitted to one of the journals they suggested under the Elsevier umbrella and should hear back in about 10 days if I've been selected for publishing. Of course, I'll keep you guys posted.
The prideful part of me really wanted to wait to start this community until formal publishing had occurred, but there is a fallacy in waiting. The doctor who reviewed my work didn't find any fault with it, just recommended another journal within the same company.
Some of you reading this are in need of right-now answers that can't wait for a fancy journal publishing date. I heard you and that is why I'm going to war with the army I have not the army I want.
I will commit to bringing you guys at least one new episode a day until we get to the sweet spot of 125 episodes chronicling my journey back to normal.
I really hope you enjoy your time here and can benefit from my 20 and growing years of research on this funky little disease we call MS, and that you too will one day be able to say "I used to have MS."
Be sure to introduce yourselves.
Hi,
My name is Dhata Harris, and I "used" to have MS.
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One publishing hurdle down with Elsevier
