Rescind a Decision

Editors can rescind (undo) a decision on a submission. Rescinding a decision may be necessary if a decision term was submitted by mistake or if Editors change their minds.

An Editor can rescind a self-made decision from folders in the Submissions with Decisions section of the Editor Main Menu. Submissions with a final disposition of Accept, Accepted on Submission, Transfer, or Withdrawn cannot have the decision rescinded.

When a decision is rescinded, the submission's document status changes briefly to "Decision Rescinded" in order to capture the event in Status History. Then status reverts back to the previous status, i.e., before the Editor's decision was submitted.

Final decision

The final decision belongs to the highest Editor in the chain who can make a decision.

To rescind a final decision you made:

Click the submission's Rescind Decision link.
On the Rescind Editor Decision page select an option:
- Send Custom Letter: Opens the Customize Letter page. Edit letter as needed and click Send. Submission moves to the Submissions with Rescinded Decision folder.
- Send Default Letter: Sends letter and moves submission to the Submissions with Rescinded Decision folder.
- Rescind without Sending Letter: Moves submission to the Submissions with Rescinded Decision folder.

Once you have rescinded the decision, take action as appropriate on the submission: assign Editor, invite Reviewers, or submit new decision.

Editorial office staff or an Editor can rescind another Editor's decision using the same steps as above. Access the submission from the following folders:

All Submissions with Decision
Search Submissions
Submissions out for Revision
All Submissions with Final Disposition (and its sub-folder, Reject)

The Final Decision Date is set to null when the rescind process is complete.

Interim decision

An interim decision (one made by a lower-level Editor in the chain) can be rescinded if no further action has been taken on the submission since the decision was submitted. "Further action" includes:

One or more Reviewers are invited
Editor is assigned/invited
Another (higher-level Editor) decision is made

As a lower-level Editor, to rescind an interim decision you made:

Access the submission in My Assignments with Decision folder (or via Search Submissions).
Click the submission's Rescind Decision link.
On the Rescind Editor Decision page, click Rescind without Sending Letter. This moves the submission to the Submissions with Rescinded Decision folder.

Editorial office staff or an Editor can rescind another Editor's interim decision. Use Search Submissions to find the submission and follow the steps above.

Rescind multiple decisions

Multiple decisions on a submission can be rescinded in succession if no further action has been taken on the submission (i.e., the same conditions as listed above).

To rescind multiple decisions:

Access the submission via Search Submissions.
Click Rescind Decision link to undo the most recent decision.
On the Rescind Editor Decision page, click Rescind without Sending Letter.
On confirmation page, click Return to Search Results.
Click Rescind Decision link to undo the next decision.

The Rescind Decision link persists as long as there is another Editor's submitted decision remaining.

You may also access the submission from My Submissions with Decisions folder if the first decision to be rescinded is your own. After rescinding the most recent decision, the submission moves to Submissions with Rescinded Decisions folder.

Note: For submissions with no reviews, rescinding all decisions returns the submission to a status as though no decisions were submitted.

Author notification

If the Author has already been notified of the decision being rescinded, the Author notification letter remains in the submission's History with the label "Decision Rescinded." The letter is visible to for Editors, but it is not available to the Author via Correspondence History. At the time the decision is rescinded, a notification letter (if configured) can go to the Author.

If a draft decision letter (associated with the submission's current revision) has been saved and the decision is rescinded before Author is notified, the user performing the action to rescind the decision is given the opportunity to pass the draft decision letter back to the Editor whose assignment is being reopened.