Aaargh, it's back on my desk!

When I was a postdoc, I did a big project that was not a very good idea. I spent years on it. I wrote a manuscript which was harshly rejected and required many more months of lab work to revise. I submitted the new manuscript to a different journal a few months ago, and for awhile was in that blissful state of “in review,” where you don’t have to think about a paper and it’s on your CV and all is well with the world.

It got rejected, which is not too surprising. And now I am going to try to turn it around with minimal revisions and send it to a lower-ranking journal in about a week.

But it is SO disheartening to have to think about this paper again. Especially since more people have published stuff while this manuscript was being reviewed, stuff that I need to read and cite before resubmitting.

It makes me cranky. I want to spend my precious research time on things I like, not this stupid paper.