Manuscripts are most frequently rejected by journals because of scope mismatch, non-adherence to journal guidelines, plagiarism, ethical issues, lack of novelty, poor design and analysis, and poor writing. We’ll look at the main reasons for manuscript rejection in this article, and how a 2-day check by Editage’s Desk Rejection Shield service can eliminate some of the common reasons for manuscript rejection.
Top 8 reasons for manuscript rejection
| Reason for Rejection | Example | Preventive Measure |
| Poor fit with journal scope | A molecular biology paper submitted to a cardiology journal | Carefully review the journal’s aims, scope, and recently published articles before submission |
| Not adhering to journal requirements | Manuscript does not meet formatting or word limits set by the journal | Follow author guidelines strictly, including formatting, references, figures, and submission documents |
| Plagiarism | Significant portions of text duplicate other published papers | Run a plagiarism check, add citations for any insights taken from previous studies, and describe previous research in your own words always |
| Weak novelty or lack of originality | A study linking refined sugar intake with risk of Type 2 diabetes, with no new insights | Clearly highlight the research gap and explain the study’s unique contribution |
| Poor study design | Examining whether heavy metal exposure increases abdominal adiposity, using a cross-sectional design and a sample of just 20 adult men | Plan methodology carefully, justify sample size, and consult a biostatistician if needed |
| Poor writing and unclear presentation | Multiple grammatical errors in the text, figures, and tables | Revise thoroughly for clarity, logical flow, and professional academic language |
| Incomplete or weak data analysis | Running an ANOVA on data that is not normally distributed | Use appropriate analytical methods and verify results before submission |
| Ethical issues | Missing ethics approval for human participant research | Obtain ethics committee approval and clearly report ethical compliance |
How Editage’s Desk Rejection Shield Can Reduce Your Chances of Rejection
Editage’s Desk Rejection Shield can significantly reduce your chances of rejection by
- Assessing your paper’s match with journal scope and article requirements
- Completely formatting your paper per journal guidelines, including citations, references, figures, and tables
- Verifying that all ethical declarations and disclosures required by the journal have been included
- Screening for plagiarism using iThenticate, and identifying instances of accidental plagiarism that authors need to address
All this is done in just 2 working days, enabling authors to submit with confidence.
Every month, 10,000 papers handled by Editage get accepted for publication, while around 1 million papers globally get rejected even before peer review. Getting your manuscript professionally assessed prior to submission can significantly speed up your publication journey.
Frequently Asked Questions
1. What is desk rejection?
Desk rejection is when a manuscript is rejected or returned by a journal soon after it is submitted, without undergoing peer review.
2. What are the main reasons for desk rejection?
The top reasons for desk rejection are mismatch with the journal’s aims and scope, non-adherence to journal guidelines (e.g., formatting, word limit, article type), and obvious ethical issues like plagiarism or missing IRB approval for a study using human subjects.
3. What do I do if I get a high score from a plagiarism checker?
If you get a high score from a plagiarism checker you need to review the highlighted text carefully to check whether you’ve accidentally plagiarized text from other research papers. Make sure you add citations whenever you discuss ideas or insights contributed by other research. Don’t copy-paste text directly from another paper but summarize and rewrite it in your own words.
4. Why are formatting guidelines important?
Journals set formatting guidelines for authors so that it is easier for them to process manuscripts, assess their scientific quality, and extract all necessary information about the authors and study (e.g., whether the study has received ethical approval). If you don’t bother to follow journal guidelines, there’s a higher likelihood that the journal will reject your paper prior to peer review, because journals receive thousands of submissions and prioritize those where the author has taken the trouble to follow the journal’s instructions.
