system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
Advisor has taken two years to read my paper

Long story short, my advisor told me to work on a project, I worked on the project, finished it, wrote a paper, got other collaborators to contribute comments, but my advisor still has not read or commented on it in the past two years.  This is the only hurdle to submission.

He says he wants to do a really deep dive into the background literature first, as he claims he is very worried it will be submitted but a reviewer might claim the background is incomplete or the paper irrelevant.  I have told him that I am 100 times more concerned with being scooped than with a reviewer objecting, but he doesn't budge.

That would be fine if he \*\*were\*\* doing the background search, but he isn't.  He is instead working on other projects for other students, some of whom started later than me.

Whenever I raise the issue, of when is he going to read my paper, he accuses me of being disrespectful, and implies we might not be working together in the future.

I presented the research and preliminary results publicly three years ago, saying I'd have results out soon.  I did, but I haven't published them.  I have been turned down in grant proposals, the reviewer mentioning my lack of publication in the notes.  I have to every semester submit submit a progress report to the graduate chair to prove I'm not lazing around, and every semester write that I \*\*still\*\* haven't submitted the paper.  It's even hurting when I apply to jobs.

It's been two years, and it's beyond typical absent-minded professor stuff,  to  the level of being deliberately rude and insulting.

What do I do?  Is there someone higher up in my university I can report this to, without reprisal?  I just want to publish, graduate, and get a job.

What options do I have?

PS. Field is physics, if that helps.
gpt
So sorry to hear this, how frustrating.
Have you talked to your other committee members or the chair of your department about this? It could be beneficial to have them “on your side” or even have them address the issue with your advisor themselves since your individual efforts haven’t been successful…