Common mistakes to avoid when submitting an article for publication

The publish or perish imperative is keenly felt in the academic environment and scores of manuscripts are submitted to journals every day. Ultimately, the vast majority of these are rejected. Why is that? We look below at some of the most common mistakes that contribute to publisher rejections.

Submitting to the wrong journal – many rejections occur because authors haven't taken time to understand the scope, aims and guidelines of the publication to which they are submitting. Be sure to understand the values of the journal and ensure that the focus and methodologies of your paper are a good fit. Be systematic and thorough: research the editorial board, consider what type of articles and conversations the journal is hosting and ensure that your article aligns with those expectations. Where possible, cite some articles that they have published.
Not following the article template, required referencing and citation style – ensure that you have read the guidelines to authors and prepared your article using the journal’s template, that your referencing is consistent and accurate throughout and that you adhere to the guidelines set out by the journal for all content aspects (inclusive of figures, graphs and tables).
Submitting an inadequate cover letter – your cover letter and abstract should be compact but informative and impactful. Provide a short summary which includes background and context, objectives of the research, methodology used and the most important results achieved. This will give editors and reviewers a quick insight into your paper and should accurately convey what they can expect. (For more on importance of the cover letter and abstract, read our article here.)

But the most important mistake is without doubt this last one:

Lack of original research, flaws in methodology, faulty rationale – the editorial and reviewer feedback may be that the paper simply lacks academic impact for reasons which will be outlined at length. Carefully review any constructive criticism and work to correct the areas highlighted. Ask questions and communicate clearly so that you understand the concerns that have been raised. This will not be a quick nor easy process and may require significant additional work and extensive revision of the article, but more essentially, the project itself.

These are just some of the common reasons for rejection but there are also many others. Don’t take rejection personally but accept that there are established criteria against which your paper is being evaluated. Review the constructive criticism and do your best to address the areas that have been highlighted. Once you are satisfied, re-submit. If you are unsuccessful again, keep at it, and submit to other journals but always keep improving your paper.

Thank you for reading. We'd like to invite you to connect with our growing community on LinkedIn where we share insights and discuss ideas related to a range of topics relevant to researchers and academics at different stages of their careers.

Connect with us on LinkedIn here.