Before submitting a manuscript, look at the scope and types of papers received by the journal.
For example, some magazines have made it clear that they do not accept case reports. If you submit a case report to someone else's magazine, of course, you will refuse it appropriately. For example, some magazines are obviously liver disease magazines. What happened when you sent your brain research to others?
So, dear friends, please read the description of the magazine before submitting! When you receive a paper that doesn't meet the theme of the journal, people just refuse it every second!
1.2 abstraction is not attractive enough.
When receiving the paper, the editor's first glance is "where is the current research in this field and where is your paper's contribution to this field". When you don't give clear answers to these questions, your paper is likely to be passed.
Think about it, how much money editors charge every day, especially for magazines with high impact factors, how can they have time to seriously find out what is the highlight of your article?
If your article doesn't impress the editor, or "Wow, this research looks interesting", then your paper may be finished.
Therefore, the author suggests that every author should carefully write an abstract before submitting a manuscript to accurately and clearly express the core content of your paper. See our previous article: How to write the abstract of graduation thesis.
1.3 The contribution of paper is not great enough.
Some papers are well written and interesting. However, the contribution of this paper to this field is not direct.
For example, some students often write: "There is very little research in this field, so I have to do this research" and "My research is different from others', so I have to do this research".
This writing only describes the innovation of my thesis, but does not explain why my innovation is so important in this field. However, editors attach great importance to the importance of this research innovation.
The author also believes that every paper has its importance. If you don't know, your boss must know, so please show it clearly and intuitively, ok?
The first study of 1.4 X countries
If the main innovation of a paper is that it is the first of its kind in a specific country, then it is impossible to arouse the interest of readers in other countries.
Some international journals may reject manuscripts for this reason.
Of course, it doesn't mean doing transnational research, but that some cultures may be confined to one country and cannot be extended to other countries.
For example, if you study the relationship between playing mahjong and the incidence of cardiovascular events, because mahjong is actually quite China, foreign readers may feel that it has little to do with them (just for example, the author has been trying very hard to think of examples), so international journals may reject the manuscript.
If your thesis really focuses on a topic that is particularly relevant to a country, it is very important to link it with international development. Otherwise, it is best to put such papers in pure national journals.
Therefore, before determining the research topic, it is best to know whether the topic is suitable for international journals. If the research is over, it is better to find out other innovations of the article, otherwise, only the innovations of this kind of research in specific countries are difficult to be published in international journals.
1.5 Defects of the article itself
(1) There is something wrong with the research design.
For example, there is a lack of control group, the sample size is too small and the sample selectivity is too strong …
Studying design problems will make it impossible for the author to draw reliable conclusions.
(2) Submit the pre-experiment
Pre-experiment is the basis of formal experiment. After the pre-experiment, the experimental design is usually improved, the sample size is increased, and the research is more credible. The results of pre-experiments submitted directly to journals are usually rejected, because pre-experiments can only provide relevant directions and references for formal experiments, and cannot be regarded as scientific and rigorous research.
The defects of the article itself are sometimes difficult to solve. Therefore, I suggest that you discuss with your tutor, communicate with your brothers and sisters, and look at the method design of the literature in the research and design stage, so as to be aware of it, scientific and rigorous, and try to prevent mistakes in research methods.
1.6 article format problem
Generally speaking, magazines will not reject articles because of their format problems, but only let you modify them.
But if you have other problems, it happens to be the format of the article, such as the wrong quotation format, the wrong font, line spacing and line number of the article, and the lack of some necessary sentences. The magazine may think that you are not serious and could have given you a chance, but now you may be rejected directly.
Therefore, please read the submission instructions of the magazine carefully and adjust the format before submitting.
2. Peer review has been rejected so many times that it can finally enter peer review. However, peer review is more rigorous than editorial review. Let's take a look at the common reasons for rejection in peer review.
2. 1 Language problems
Many researchers' research is very innovative and their papers are good, but their English level is really flattering. Many commentators attach great importance to English proficiency.
One of the author's teachers said in class that once he found more than three grammatical mistakes when reviewing the manuscript, he would stop reading and type it back directly until his English improved.
Therefore, for non-native English speakers, it is best to find a classmate or colleague with good English to polish it before submitting the manuscript, and if necessary, you can find a polishing company to polish it.
2.2 Problems in Paper Writing
There are too many terms in the paper, and there is a lack of explanations for the terms, which makes the reviewers see them in a fog.
The author's tutor commented on a paper before, saying that the abbreviations in it were not marked and it was too difficult to read. I wanted people to change it, but I couldn't stand it anymore, so I just refused.
There are also some contributors whose overall writing is illogical, scattered and unclear.
The description of the research background is not clear enough, and the limitations of previous research are not clearly explained, which will not make readers feel "Wow, this research is very meaningful" or "Wow, this research is very novel". Even if such a paper is submitted to the editor for review before, it will still be rejected in peer review.
Therefore, I suggest that you sort out the context of the article before submitting it, and let the tutor and the students in the lab help you read it to see if the article is easy to understand and the logic is clear.
2.3 The details of the study are not clear
The research of the paper must contain the necessary details so that readers can repeat the experiment and convince them. If the research lacks some details, the magazine is more likely to choose to reject the manuscript instead of asking the author to revise it.
Therefore, I suggest that when you write the method part, you should try to cover important research details, especially new technologies, which need to be described in detail. At the same time, after writing the method part, you can compare it with similar literature to see if there is any important information missing.
2.4 The conclusion is too exaggerated
The authors hope that their research is of great significance to this field. However, exaggerating conclusions may be rejected.
For example, if you find that there is a certain correlation between obesity and cancer, you can't just say that obesity causes cancer. This behavior of obviously exaggerating the conclusion is very undesirable for editors and reviewers, and it is likely to lead to direct rejection.
Therefore, the author suggests that everyone should draw conclusions appropriately, rigorously and accurately in the paper.
Well, the above are six reasons for rejecting manuscripts before submission and four reasons for rejecting manuscripts after submission summarized by senior magazine editors. I hope the students will take a warning and don't step on these pits.
Finally, I wish all my friends a smooth and profitable article. When you meet a kind reviewer, it is easy to exceed the manuscript and there are many papers.