最近投往某重要期刊的稿件接受，这个稿件审稿经历不一般，主要是因为有一位审稿人只审了第一次，此后编辑就找不到他了（没有接受后续审稿请求），而编辑又不愿意新找他人，所以整个审稿过程拖的十分长。事实上就内容而言，两位审稿人的意见都十分有用，对我们论文质量提升很有帮助，我们修改后第二位审稿人很爽快地表示支持，而且我们对自己的工作很有信心。

我在这个过程中给编辑写了几次信，感觉起到了作用，缩短了流程，尽管前后仍然长达13个月，但如果没有适当的催促，还不知道会拖到什么时间。

首先声明，我没有责怪编辑的意思。事实上我们的通信过程中，我发现编辑是十分负责、耐心和专业的态度（下面我也会适当描述编辑的回信）。我们的经历只是一个特例。我仍然十分愿意把以后的工作继续投往该期刊，甚至有阵子我在想是不是该期刊冻土方面的专家不多，导致处理太慢，我都愿意给人做编辑。当然我也没有真地提出这个请求，主要还是有点懒，因为做编辑意味着责任。

下面我的信大概保持原样，主要是考虑到没准对其他有需要的同事们有参考价值，但编辑回信我只能大概描述，就不能把原文放上了。

Round 1, 我们在major修改回去后，后台一起处在等待一位审稿人接收审稿请求的状态，这种状态已经保持了很长时间，因此：

Dear Prof. 【editor-name】,

I hope this message finds you well. I am writing to follow up on the status of my paper titled “【manuscript-title】” (#【manuscript-no】), which is currently under review. I appreciate all the efforts made by the reviewers and yourself to ensure a thorough evaluation of my manuscript. The comments and suggestion we have received are invaluable in improving our manuscript.

I noticed we have been waiting for a reviewer’s acceptance for quite some time now (Nominated Feb 1). I just wonder if there is anything I can do to expedite this process. I know that this may not always be possible, but I would appreciate it if you could kindly consider sending a follow-up email to the reviewer.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Best regards,

【my-name】

编辑回信说她正在美国开会，承诺说会进一步联系这个审稿人，并答应稍后会检查这个稿件的状态。

Round 2，上次的信大概是3月份的事，但到了5月份，我们发现仍然没有进展，因此我再次写信：

Dear Prof. 【editor-name】,

How are you going. As you might recall, I wrote you two months ago to inquire the status of this submission. Thank you very much for your efforts in kindly contacting the assigned referee to expedite the review process. But it seems no luck for me to secure their acceptance of the invitation.

I know in the journal side there might be a mechanism in place to regularly remind the referees of the status. But, please forgive me for requesting this again, I would appreciate it if you could send another reminder to the referee. I also want to be advised from you if there is any other solution if we encounter such a situation where the referee does not respond to the invitation. As authors, we are ready to assist in any way possible to expedite this process and move it towards a final decision from you.

Thank you for your time and consideration, and please accept my apologies for any inconvenience caused.

Best regards,

【my-name】

编辑很快回信说，她决定停止联系第二个审稿人，并要求我们按第一位审稿人的意见修改，给了一个我们minor的decision。这时候是5月中旬。

Round 3, Minor修改稿回去后，我们继续等待了两个月，后台一直处在waiting for topic editor’s decision。因此：

Dear 【editor-name】,

I hope this letter finds you well amidst your busy schedule. I apologize for any inconvenience caused by reaching out to you. I would like to express my sincere gratitude for providing us with a minor revision decision for our manuscript 【manuscript-no】, titled “【manuscript-title】”

We returned the revised manuscript approximately two months ago, and since then, it appears to have been awaiting the topic editor’s decision. I understand that you have numerous responsibilities, but please forgive me for bothering you once more.  I would greatly appreciate it if you could kindly check the status of our manuscript for us.

Once again, I want to express my gratitude for your time and support throughout this process. Your expertise and guidance have been invaluable to us.

Best regards,

【my-name】

编辑一周后回信，先是解释了一下原因，因为她还在联系那一位没联系上的审稿人，因为她感觉有必要让那位审稿人再看看我们的修改稿。她当前正在开欧洲地球物理的会议，她决定在会后，如果还没能联系上那位审稿人，她决定自己来读读我们的稿件，来做出最后的决定。

最终Accept的决定在10天后做出。这时候离我们的投稿日期13个月。我在某天早上醒来，打开手机看到躺在邮箱里的一个新邮件，于是这封接受信让我高兴了一天，马上发了一个朋友圈分享我的好心情。