The scholarly publishing world is growing, with an exponential increase in the number of researchers from non-English-speaking countries such as China, Japan, South Korea, and Brazil. However, with English established as the primary language for global academic writing and communication, authors from these countries often find it difficult to understand and navigate the journal submission process when trying to get their work published in top international English-language journals. This is where a manuscript submission readiness check can act as a great tool for researchers to minimize desk rejection and maximize the chance of publishing success.
How manuscript submission readiness checks can work for you
As an ESL (English-as-a-second-language) author, even if you have conducted groundbreaking research and been published in your first language, your work is unlikely to be recognized unless it is published in an international English-language journal. Top journal editors look for a well-written manuscript that follows ethics and publication best practices and suits the journal’s scope, all of which are challenging tasks for ESL authors. In fact, in a global survey, 76% of researchers found the manuscript preparation stage difficult, 60% had problems in selecting the right journal for their work, and 31% said they found it difficult to ensure compliance with ethical guidelines for academic publishing.1
A thorough pre-submission check then becomes an essential step to avoid rejection, which, a study on submissions from 18 countries revealed, can range from 22.6% to 73.4%.2 Evaluating your manuscript’s submission readiness with checks for language quality, references and citations, ethical compliance and declarations, accuracy, and completion allows you to eliminate flaws that could lead to desk rejection. It also helps you assess how well your scientific data is presented through visual elements, while checking for consistency in numbers, data, symbols, measurement units, and text and illustrations used in your manuscript.
Manuscript submission readiness checklist for smart researchers
There are several things to consider before submitting your manuscript, and impressing journal editors and reviewers can be a daunting task, especially for early career and ESL researchers. To make things easier, we’ve broken it all down into a quick list of checks to give you the highest chance of acceptance.3
- Manuscript format
Check and follow the key guidelines for the journal you are submitting your manuscript to.
- Manuscript structure
Ensure your manuscript is complete from title to structure, acknowledgements to footnotes.
- Language and flow
Focus on sentence structure, grammar, comprehension to deliver a well-written manuscript.
- Graphics
Present your scientific data effectively in clear, well-structured, detailed tables and figures.
- Facts and details
Do a thorough check to ensure accuracy and consistency in numbers, facts, data, and symbols.
- Author information
Include all relevant details about authors, their full names, contribution, and contact details.
- Attribution and acknowledgement
Be sure to mention all help received, including sources, references, permissions, and consent.
- Conflict of interest
Disclose any and all potential conflicts of interest when submitting your manuscript to a journal.
- Ethical compliance
Ensure your research study complies with all relevant ethical guidelines in your field of study.
- Cover letter
Remember to add a detailed, well-structured cover letter to create a winning submission package.
Identifying and fixing these ‘critical’ errors is crucial to ensure that your work is judged by its scientific merit, instead of avoidable mistakes in writing or submission. If this seems like a lot, or you’re unsure how to get it right, turn to R Pubsure, a full-suite AI-powered manuscript readiness check that can help you with optimizing manuscripts and accelerating the journal submission process.
What does R Pubsure do?
Designed to support and guide authors through the submission journey, R Pubsure is based on 18+ years of editorial intelligence and interactions with 500,000+ researchers across the world. Its cutting-edge AI algorithm assesses your academic writing across the key features most journal editors check for, and delivers a detailed R Pubsure Report with clear suggestions on optimizing manuscripts for submission. You also get journal recommendations for your paper, a lay summary to help you communicate your research, and, if your manuscript scores well, a shareable R Pubsure Certificate of submission readiness. Those looking to save time on corrections will benefit from R Pubsure Pro, which comes with a globally accepted plagiarism check, full access to language issues with corrections suggested in a downloadable WORD document in ‘Track Changes’ mode, so all authors need to do is accept or reject. With multiple checks for free, you can craft the best version of your manuscript until you are completely satisfied.
Worried about desk rejections or getting major revision requests by top journal peer reviewers? Check your manuscript’s submission readiness in three easy steps:
- Register and upload your manuscript for a comprehensive check
- Get your score in minutes, with a detailed R Pubsure Report
- Be submission ready with a shareable R Pubsure Certificate
Publishing a paper in an English-language journal helps ESL authors reach out to a wider, more global, research community; improve their chances of citation in other reputed journals; and establish their credibility and standing as researchers at an international level. Save time, reduce effort, and maximize your chance of success with R Pubsure’s secure, trusted and comprehensive manuscript submission readiness check, which can help you avoid desk rejection and streamline journal submission, so you can submit with confidence. With all the pre-submission checks needed to boost your chance of acceptance, R Pubsure can help you put your best foot forward; register now to get started.
REFERENCES
- Editage – Author Perspectives on Academic Publishing: Global Survey Report 2018. Available at https://campaign.editage.com/global_survey_report_2018/
- Ehara, K. Takahashi – Reasons for rejection of manuscripts submitted to AJR by international authors. AJR Am J Roentgenol, 2007. Retrieved from https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17242215/
- Rajagopalan, INFOGRAPHIC: 10 Things you must consider before submitting your manuscript. Editage Insights, 2015. Retrieved from https://www.editage.com/insights/10-things-you-must-consider-before-submitting-your-manuscript
