Writing is the most important aspect of scientific research. There is no doubt about it. But, do not think that your goal is accomplished after you are done with this onerous task. In fact, you have to cross yet another important hurdle. After writing, you need to think of how to get your research published in some journal in order to share your research ideas and results with the scientific community. Your scientific achievement is measured in terms of the articles you have published. Most of the researchers falter in this step and end up in making some wrong decisions. Here are a few tips on how to get your research published, which might help in making things easier for you.
Tips on How to Get Your Research Published
- Most of the researchers think about where to publish their paper after writing it. But, it is always better to first decide the journal in which you want your paper to be published, and then start writing. It saves a lot of time in terms of post-writing formatting.
- When choosing a journal, do not choose the one with a very high impact factor unless you are fully confident about the quality of your paper. High-impact factor journals have high rejection rates.
- Check whether your research topic comes under the aims and scope of the chosen journal. After putting in all the hard work, you would never want your paper to be rejected only because you chose the wrong journal.
- Publishers are always impressed if you have cited articles of the chosen journal in your paper.
- Do not submit your article simultaneously to various journals, which is unethical. Wait till you get a proper response from one particular journal before proceeding on to another.
- Ensure that all the formatting guidelines specified by the target journal have been properly followed.
- The cover letter is the first thing that the journal editor goes through. Address it to the Journal’s Editor/Editor-in-Chief. Keep the tone informal. Give a short gist of your work. And, include your contact details at the end.
- Last, but not the least, do not get discouraged if your paper gets rejected. Many of the best research papers had to deal with initial rejection. If the journal has sent reviews, ponder them carefully and make the necessary changes in your paper before resubmitting. Write a proper response letter highlighting the reviewer’s comments and your responses. The original content and the revised content should be clearly distinguishable so that the reviewer can easily see what changes you have made to your paper. And, ensure that you re-submit within the stipulated time frame. If the journal has rejected your paper outrightly, then consider submitting to another journal.
The above tips on how to get your research published will surely be handy for you. But, remember that following these tips alone will not get your paper published. Your research should be well written and your ideas should have been strongly presented. If you are still unsure of how to proceed, there are professionals out there who will be happy to help you. So, go ahead, Research, Get Published, and Get Read…