What is the difference between a rejection letter and an appeal letter?
A rejection letter is the one sent by the journal editor to the corresponding author. It mentions the final status of the research manuscript. This letter primarily mentions the reason(s) for rejecting the manuscript. On the other hand, an appeal letter is a response to the editor’s rejection letter. It is sent by the corresponding author to the journal editor if the author has strong reasons to justify the publication of his/her research. An appeal letter includes some critical components to have an impact on the editor’s final decision. If an author’s work is rejected, it is a good idea to see if the journal has an appeal policy. This will provide specific guidelines for the appeal letter. Appealing the rejection of academic research is like appealing the rejection of most other things—if the author chooses to commit the time and is willing to risk reputation, then success is most likely to result from keeping emotions calm, being respectful, and sticking to the facts.
In case you need help with revising your manuscript and submitting it to a new journal, you can check with Enago’s Revised/ Rejected Paper Editing service which will be helpful to revise your manuscript according to the reviewer comments and submit to the same or new journal.