Should I reply to Editor of a journal after acceptance?

Question

One of my papers got accepted yesterday. We had received conflicting opinions from the reviewers even after three rounds of revisions. We also had written a rebuttal directly to the Editor in response to one of the reviewers' comments in the last revision.

I never reply to an Editor after receiving an acceptance letter. However, this time I am sure the Editor had to take a decent amount of time to review our responses and reviewers' comments and make an informed decision.

Is it common to thank the Editor after acceptance email?

Thank you for your comments!

Answer 1

Is it common to thank the Editor after acceptance email?

It is uncommon, but this review was also an uncommon one. From your description, it sounds like the Editor would have done a substantial amount of work considering the competing merits of conflicting reviews and your own rebuttal to a reviewer. That is work in excess of what would normally occur in a review process, and so it would not be out of place to email and thank the Editor for his/her work. It is nice to get thank-yous for doing your job well, so I would recommend you go with your instinct and send a thank-you email.

Answer 2

Is it common to thank the Editor after acceptance email?

It's uncommon. I've handled hundreds of papers and I think I've seen this only a few times.

Aside from that I agree with Buffy's answer - write a thank-you email or not, you are just fine. I generally just smiled and moved on to the next paper, after all.

Answer 3

I don't think it is essential unless there was something left unresolved in the last communication. Of course it is always polite to thank people. But to the editor it is a business decision, rather than a personal one. So, either way, writing or not, you are just fine. And congratulations on the acceptance.