Improving Your Journal Submissions: 5 Key strategies for enhancing your manuscripts for publication
The submission process for academic journals is facing challenges, with editorial offices finding it difficult to process manuscripts in a timely manner. This has resulted in more desk rejections and valid research not making it through to peer review.
For researchers, particularly those from countries where English is not the first language, this can be a significant hurdle. Non-adherence to technical standards and language issues often lead to desk rejections. To improve the submission experience, it's essential to avoid leaving writing to the last minute. Rushed work can affect the clarity and accuracy of the writing, making it harder for the manuscript to be accepted.
Becoming familiar with academic writing style is crucial for successful journal submissions. Effective strategies to improve the quality of manuscript submissions include careful adherence to journal-specific guidelines, structured and clear writing, and seeking expert support during preparation.
Key Steps for Successful Submissions
- Understanding and Following Journal Guidelines: Tailor the manuscript to the target journal’s requirements, including format, structured abstracts, and clear statements of study significance.
- Clear and Structured Writing: Use a logical structure with concise, precise language. For original articles and reviews, structured abstracts and well-defined sections improve clarity and facilitate peer review.
- Use of Professional Editing Services: Non-native English speakers benefit significantly from professional language editing or journal submission support services. Organizations like Pubrica offer assistance with formatting, grammar, and adherence to academic standards.
- Peer and Expert Review Before Submission: Having colleagues or mentors, ideally with publishing experience in the target field, review the manuscript helps identify clarity issues and improve scientific rigor.
- Responding to Reviewer Comments Thoughtfully: Engaging constructively with reviewers’ suggestions during the revision process enhances manuscript quality and acceptance likelihood.
- Leveraging Quality Improvement and Research Resources: Utilizing resources such as library guides to quality improvement literature and appropriate search strategies ensures the manuscript is grounded in relevant and up-to-date evidence.
In addition to these steps, the use of AI-powered services can be beneficial. These tools can check manuscripts for technical requirements and language, making suggestions that improve writing instantly. Our platform, tailored for academic writing across all disciplines, is one such service. Other AI-powered services in the market can also be used for proofreading research manuscripts for grammar and language.
The growth of research in STEM disciplines, further accelerated by COVID-19, has led to journals being swamped with increasing volumes of research. Researchers should be aware of the journals' formatting and submission requirements to avoid having to reformat a manuscript just before submission. Seeking peer feedback can help in identifying errors and improvements in research paper writing. It is also beneficial to ask more experienced peers in the lab or department for feedback, especially for authors from non-native English-speaking countries.
By following these strategies, researchers can significantly improve the quality of their manuscripts, making them more likely to be accepted by academic journals.
- To increase the chances of a research paper being accepted by academic journals, particularly those who are non-native English speakers, it is beneficial to utilize professional editing services before submission, such as those offered by organizations like Pubrica.
- For successful journal submissions, careful adherence to journal-specific guidelines is crucial, along with clear and structured writing, which can help improve the clarity and accuracy of the manuscript.
- In addition to the traditional peer and expert review process, AI-powered services can be utilized to check manuscripts for technical requirements and language, making suggestions that instantly improve writing quality.
