The Silent Majority: Manuscript Rejection and Its Impact on Scholars

Given high rejection rates at most journals, many academics receive rejections. For some scholars, rejections may be emotionally difficult and lead to decrements in creativity, productivity, and professional satisfaction. Academic institutions often fail to address these emotional responses to, and consequences of, rejections. Using social identity and rejection sensitivity theories, I explain why negative emotional responses to rejection are normal and predictable, and suggest ways both the individual and the broader academic system can address the issue. Academe should assist scholars to understand and respond effectively to rejection and reconsider its own culture and priorities.