To having a paper accepted by one of the big 3 with summary comments from two reviews like:
Publish and minor revisions. I think the revisions would be pretty modest and should be easily manageable.
…and…
I think this is a very good and interesting contribution to the literature on social policy in Latin America and the developing world more broadly. I suggest that the author be given the chance to revise and resubmit based on the aforementioned suggestions.
Only to be derailed by reviewer #3. What did I ever do to him or her?
UPDATE 2/15, 2:15pm: I’ve already made the revisions suggested by and addressed the concerns of the reviewers and sent the manuscript on to another journal.
Ouch. Been there, done that… I think the strategic voting paper I sent to APR came back like that too, but I’m too lazy to check the envelope with the reviews at present.
Bummer, but that should mean it can be quickly turned around and still accepted by a good journal.
Yes, a bummer. But comments were super easy to address and it will be back out the door today. It especially sucks when the only negative review seems to be from someone who doesn’t necessarily know your case well.
Been there doing that I feel your pain!