Why Does a Manuscript Get Rejected and How to Avoid the Most Common Reasons for Rejection?

Most of the authors, if not all, have experienced manuscript rejection. Even sometimes, the editor decides that a paper is not fit for publication after numerous rounds of revisions and resubmissions to the same journal.

After communicating with many associate editors and editors-in-chief of international peer-reviewed journals to gain a better understanding of how manuscript decisions are made, we found out that the editorial decision to accept or reject a manuscript is most often based on the reviewers’ comments. The reviewers’ thoughts are mostly in agreement. When conflicting evaluations are received, the journal usually requests another review report.

Rejection can discourage, frustrate, and upset researchers at the beginning of their careers. Researchers ask why was my manuscript rejected? Actually, there are a variety of reasons why a manuscript gets rejected. Being familiar with these reasons will help researchers to increase the likelihood of getting their manuscripts accepted.

What Are the Most Common Reasons behind Manuscript Rejection?

A manuscript might be rejected for a variety of reasons. Some instances are as follows:

Scope

The subject areas and themes addressed by the journal are referred to as the journal’s scope. The paper will be rejected if its subject doesn’t fall within the scope of the journal. A manuscript on mobile apps and technology, for example, would not be appropriate for a mathematical journal, while manuscripts about social sciences would not be appropriate for biomedical journals.

Novelty

The novelty of a manuscript refers to how much new information it adds to the existing literature. The editor most probably will reject a submission if it is not original enough and does not provide new information to the literature.

Plagiarism

Most of the journals use similarity detection software. When plagiarism or a duplicate publication is detected, the submission is immediately rejected by the editorial office of the journal. Plagiarism and duplicate publications are unethical in the academic publishing industry.

Statistical Analysis

Most often, the associate editor or the reviewers reject the manuscript if the study was poorly conducted, has errors, has poorly documented processes or techniques, has inaccurate statistical analyses, or has a small sample size or low survey response rate.

Language Quality

Language problems in a manuscript imply that the authors did not proofread it before submitting it, which results in manuscript rejection.

To avoid misleading the Editor and reviewers, the document should be clearly written. If you are not a native English speaker and the language of your document is unclear, your submission may be rejected before it is sent out to reviewers. Reviewers are sometimes annoyed by the need to improve spelling and punctuation during the review process.

Journal Guidelines

Manuscripts are rejected if they are either incomplete, incoherent, or poorly written, or it does not fulfill the journal’s author requirements. You need to visit the author guidelines of your target journal while preparing your submission. These guidelines state the journal requirements regarding fonts, styles, references, and use of figures and tables.

What to Do When Your Manuscript Is Rejected?

A manuscript rejection does not imply that it will never be published. Most manuscripts that are originally rejected can later be published in a suitable journal. So, if your manuscript gets rejected, you simply need to 1) adequately address the reviewers’ requested revisions, 2) send your revised version highlighting the changes that you have made according to reviewers’ suggestions, and 3) send a detailed point-by-point reply to reviewers. These simple steps are important for the editor and positively interpreted as a serious try from the authors to improve their submission based on the reviewers’ comments.

How to Avoid Having Your Manuscript Rejected?

Prepare your submission in accordance with the criteria and instructions provided by your chosen journal.
Before submitting, spellchecking and proofreading is good idea to ensure that it is error-free and does not contain language mistakes. It is quite usual for authors who write in English as a second language to have language issues while publishing their papers in international journals. To address this issue, you can seek assistance from friends who speak English as a first language or contact an Editing Center. You have a number of options for reliable editing companies from which to select.
Submit your manuscript to a journal whose focus matches your submission.
Improve the paper in light of the reviewers’ suggestions and criticisms, then submit it to the journal that is the best fit for your work. Also, keep in mind that a reviewer for one publication could also be a reviewer for another. So, if you do not respond to the original reviewers’ remarks, you can get another rejection.
You have the right to appeal the journal’s decision. However, appeals are rarely successful unless the review process was not followed, the reviewers made a substantial error in judgment, or the decision was founded on a factual error.

In fact, we, at Rasayely, offer professional services which can help you avoid manuscript rejection such as language editing service, manuscript formatting service, paraphrasing service to reduce similarity index, and journal recommendations. For more information, please visit our website at: https://www.rasayely.com/

The editorial staff of a journal devotes a significant amount of time and effort to ensuring that submitted papers are reviewed thoroughly and accurately. Editorial decisions are made with care. Many variables come into consideration, including the quality of the article, the readership of the journal, and the need to balance recently accepted papers with incoming submissions. You may maximize your chances of getting your work published in a reasonable timeframe by taking in the required effort into writing your manuscript and finding the most relevant journal for your work.

So, here are the most common reasons for manuscript rejection and how to deal with manuscript rejection. What do you think about these reasons? Also, if you think that you have some tips to avoid manuscript rejection, please let us know in the comments section.