After finally finding the perfect idea, years of research and maybe other several months of carefully writing, correcting and revising a manuscript, it is at least disheartening to know that your paper has been rejected by your target journal.
But that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the road. In fact, the first thing you need to know is that rejection is part of the process; even Nobel laureate authors have experienced rejection at some point, accepting the fact that their paper actually needed improvements, eventually leading to a better article in the end.
Thinking of Publishing a Paper
If you are thinking of publishing a paper and want to avoid rejection by your target journal, consider the checklist of items below. These are decisive items that reviewers pay attention to before recommending a paper’s acceptance.
- Technical screening
- Make sure that the paper doesn’t contain any plagiarized or unauthorized elements. Also, do not republish articles or submit them to more that one journal at the same time.
- The article must be complete. It should not lack key elements such as title, authors, affiliations, keywords, main text, references, tables, and figures. References, especially, should always be complete and never too old.
- Consider professional writing services for your paper. The English must sufficient for the peer-review process. If you feel yourself struggling with the language, consider professional writing and/or translation services to make sure your text is perfectly understandable.
- Make sure that images and figures are complete and clear enough to be fully understood.
- Adjust your article to meet the Guide for Authors for the journal it will be submitted to. If you are not sure what this means, or if you simply prefer to focus on your work rather than technicalities, the Language Editing Plus service, provided by Elsevier, might be the answer for your problems.
- Aim, scope and relevance
- The paper should focus on a specific scientific field, relevant for the target journal, rather that gravitate around it.
- Ensure that your end product is relevant and adequate for your target journal and readers.
- A scientific text doesn’t need to be boring. Maintaining the reader’s interest throughout the article is just as important as it’s content. If you are not sure about the quality of your text, consider Elsevier’s language editing services, in which professionals fully committed to enhancing the written quality of your work.
- Scientific accuracy
- Make sure your product is a full study rather than just mere observations.
- Procedures and data analysis must comply with recognized methodologies (clear control groups and other comparison metrics, statistically valid analysis, old data, etc…)
- Keep your article well structured in order to maintain scientific information clear and fully understandable. Finnish with a strong conclusion based on the findings on the rest of the paper. Elsevier provides language editing by native speakers guaranteeing both scientific and correct English.
Even with a carefully made decisions throughout the submitting process, you might see your paper being rejected by a journal. If that is the case, don’t give up. There are several options after rejection:
Appeal the rejection
Appealing a rejection is a right that you have as an author. Not only you can clarify errors or misunderstandings, but also comments and other concerns sent by the reviewers can be precious information to improve the article and resubmit it if you choose to.
Choose another journal
Our advise is to consider the rejection remarks from the first journal, make the necessary adjustments, and resubmit the paper to a new journal. Maybe the new reviewers find your article better fitted for this particular publication.
Ask for professional writing services
Don’t let all your effort go down the drain just because of poor language. Even small grammar mistakes can often lead to huge misunderstandings and result in multiple rejections.
Consider a native English editor
If the target language is not your native language, translation services with native language editors and reviewers might play a decisive role in the article’s acceptance. Even for fluent English speakers, professional language editing is recommended to achieve high proficiency in written text. Within a vast number of language editing services available there will be certainly one that meets your needs:
Language Editing Services by Elsevier Author Services:
- Language Editing Standard: takes a maximum of 7 business days and ensures that your work is written in a correct English (American or British, according to your preferences); it is edited by native speakers and we offer a free re-edit or your money back if the manuscript is rejected due to language errors.
Find more about Language Editing Standard - Language Editing Plus: it is done within 5 working days; it includes unlimited rounds of language review, a manuscript formatting to meet the requirements of the journal of your choice, Customised Cover Letter and an Assessment Report on your document, among other tasks.
Find more about Language Editing Plus - Language Editing Express: it can take up to 96 business hours according to the length of the document and here you get the same high quality but faster.
Find more about Language Editing Express - Language Editing Ph.D. Thesis: ensure that your Ph.D. thesis is written in correct English before you submit it.
Find more about Language Editing PhD Thesis - Language Editing LaTeX: make sure your LaTeX manuscript is edited by native speakers in (scientific) American or British English and written in correct English before you submit.
Find more about Language Editing LaTeX
