How many times can a paper be rejected before you give up submitting it to journals?
.. a reader wonders.
We need data. How many times have you (re)submitted a (rejected) manuscript before you gave up on publishing the paper, at least in a form that mostly resembled that in which it was submitted?
Do you give up after the first rejection, particularly if the rejection is quite emphatic, or do you keep going no matter what?
Most likely, the results will vary, even for a particular author, depending on how you feel about a particular paper or project. The number may also vary for individuals at different career stages.
And of course 'giving up' is a nebulous concept. A particular paper might be shelved, but parts of it may be resurrected in another paper. That might be giving up on the paper in its original form, but some key elements of the paper may yet live.
You decide how to define the various relevant terms: rejection, giving up, paper, you etc.
What's your typical number? your highest number? Zero, 1, 2, 3, more than 3?
I have no problem revising and resubmitting a rejected manuscript to another journal. I will typically revise and resubmit until a paper is accepted somewhere, although it is rare for this to take more than 2 submissions. That doesn't mean I wouldn't re-submit more times. I think my max resubmits has been 3.
The variability in interpretation of the question renders the following poll entirely useless, but let's not let that stop us from getting data: