Rejection from a journal is no one’s cup of tea but then it’s a reality that a large number of the article gets rejected across different journals. Also, Journals mention the acceptance rate or the changes of the article getting rejected on their web page.
High impact or top journals routinely reject the majority of the articles. Few changes can improve the chances of successful publication.
- Non-accordance with the journal’s aim & scope
Very often while selecting a journal we feel that the aim and scope match our field of work; however, it’s not the case. We need to read the former a couple of times along with the recently published articles to be doubly sure regarding the scope of journals.
- Lack of proper language and presentation style
Language is an important medium for sharing scientific know-how. Grammatical and scientifically correct language and abiding by the journal formatting guild lines are mandated for avoiding desktop rejection.
- Plagiarism and simultaneous submission to more than one journal
Copying someone’s work as our own data is a violation of professional ethics. Always give due acknowledgment to someone else’s data while writing. Never submit your work to multiple journals at a time. The author should wait till the editorial process of one journal is over or they have got a clear cut no from the journal.
- Ambiguity in methodology
The process of the study or the research protocol is mentioned in the methodology. It should be clear and systematic. Any flaw in the methodology section represents non-clarity on how the study was conducted.
- Abide by journal’s formatting guidelines
Stick to the journal’s requirement for word count, font, line spacing, and margin. Also, be careful with the number of figures and tables allowed and their format for submission. The placement of the figure and table is also crucial that is, whether it should be at the end of the manuscript or within the text itself. Reference formatting both in text and in the list at the end of the manuscript needs lots of precession.
