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Dear PhD students with a submission to @NeurIPSConf, soon ~20% of you will receive a desk reject. Here some suggestions to deal with it in a healthy way.
First, this is not personal: a paper written by you was rejected, not you. Keep your self-worth unlinked from your work. 1/5
First, this is not personal: a paper written by you was rejected, not you. Keep your self-worth unlinked from your work. 1/5
Second, don't let your supervisor blame you for this: he/she shares at least 50% of the blame, if not more.
Third, I know that you were at least hoping for a detailed review, to improve your work.
However a desk-rejection can be a very informative signal too. 2/5
Third, I know that you were at least hoping for a detailed review, to improve your work.
However a desk-rejection can be a very informative signal too. 2/5
It says that you should thoroughly re-valuate your research: maybe the paper was not ready or maybe the idea itself is not really worth being researched. Better to realize this early than late.
It might be also the case that the AC and SAC were wrong, but it is less likely. 3/5
It might be also the case that the AC and SAC were wrong, but it is less likely. 3/5
If you plan to stay in the academic world in USA, get used to this kind of blunt feedback: you can get a reject-without-reviews response even for an NSF proposal.
4/5
4/5
Finally, don't get discouraged: a PhD is a marathon not a sprint. And despite what you might think reading science on social medias, there is more than one way to win this marathon.
5/5
5/5
