During the process of my wait for a proper review for 16 months, I exchanged a number of emails with the Journals Editorial Office (JEO) Assistant. He had informed me that my emails were forwarded to the Journal Editors, but they had difficulty finding reviewers. I have not received one single email from the journal Editors. The reviews were in and the decision was pending in the 9th month, as the journal system indicated, but the Editors could not make up their minds for 7 months and I simply gave up hope. At the time of this process, Cheri J. Shapiro and Anne F. Farrell were the Editors-in-Chief.
I emailed Springer Nature to inquire about my rights as an author and ask about the proper way to express my formal complaints about the lengthy review process. I also added that I wished to retract my work and asked to be informed about the withdrawing process. That correspondence also took another 6 weeks until I received a proper email indicating that I "successfully" retracted my paper.
Editorial misconduct includes the inaction of the editorial agents in a timely manner. I did not see the reviewers' comments and the journal stole not only my time but also at least two other scholars.
