Reasons of rejection
Paolo Russo
Università di Napoli Federico II
Dipartimento di Fisica
Napoli, Italy
8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
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Accept
Revise
Reject
Associate Editor
Editor-in-Chief
Outright rejection
Accept
Revise
Reject
Reviewer(s)
submission assignment
Accept
Revise
Reject
assignment
decision
recommendation
suggestions
Peer-review process
Authors
8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
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P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Why rejection of a paper is of concern?
For Authors
For Journals’ reviewers and editors
For the scientific community
Paper acceptance is a key to success?
Paper rejection is a failure for a scientist???
N.B. material submitted to a Journal is confidential
“A loss of internal energy, a source of entropy, but …
beware of the limitations of the peer-review process”
8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
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P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Reasons of rejection /1
Outright rejection
Usually decided after the recommendation of the Ass. Ed.
who performs a personal evaluation of the paper.
Sometimes decided by Publisher’s officers.
- Topic out of Journals’ scope
- Evident overall low scientific quality
- Evident lack of relevance in the field
- Bad English
- Too lengthy in text/figures/tables
- Evidence of plagiarism or multiple submission
- Format not matching the Journal’s style
- Unprofessional care in the manuscript preparation
8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
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P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Reasons of rejection /2
Good content, weak form
Usually determined by inexperience
of the writing authors. Revise??
Good form, weak content
Usually determined by weak selection
of the scientific goal of the work. Revise??
Weak content, weak form
“Weak” : presence of flaws in the study or in data interpretation
- not of particular interest presently in the specific field
- of low overall relevance
- demonstration not fully convincing
- material presented in an unclear way
- small sample …
8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
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P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Reasons of rejection /3
Weak content:
Lack of originality
Lack of practical relevance
Weaknesses in the methodological aspects
Just a confimation of well-known results
In many cases, drawbacks in the manuscript content
are related to the selection of the purpose of the study
8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
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P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Editor’s decision
Accept
A “strong” paper
Revise
A “weak” paper
Reject
- The Editor’s decision levels vary among Journals, Editors, editorial policy
- Hint: Self-evaluation by the authors (ie please try to review your own paper
with the journal’s published criteria. SUBMIT YOUR PAPER ONLY WHEN YOU THINK
THERE IS NOTHING TO IMPROVE ANYMORE IN IT.
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8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Reasons of rejection /4
An Editor’s personal viewpoint
Often, the really critical decision is between REJECT or REVISE
e.g.: In EJMP, just one major and one minor revision are normally
granted to a paper (but there are exceptions!)
A scientific journal (reviewers, editors) is NOT intended
to provide the scientific/technical contribution for arriving at
an “above threshold” manuscript after many reiterations
of the revision process.
If the paper needs too much authors’ revision work,
better to reject it (in few cases a re-submission is granted, based on
the reviewers’ and editors’ comments)
8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
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P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Reasons of rejection /5
Is it really a weak paper?
It is the authors’ responsibility to submit a scientific
report which is able to convince a few experts
(peers) in the field
(1-2 reviewers, the Associate Editor, the Editor)
If Reviewers and Editors are not convinced, they will
suggest rejection (or major revision), independently of
the otherwise positive aspects of the work, and of the
strength of their negative evaluation report.
8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
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P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Hints
- Please read the Journal’s Guide for Authors
- Please read the Journal’s Guide for Reviewers
- Please give due relevance to the quality of the English
- Please submit your manuscript only when you think
it cannot be further improved (i.e. it fully convinces you)
- Please write a short but convincing submission letter
-Please continue acting as a reviewer (as long as
you are an author)
8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014
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P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Conclusions/1
Publishing in a well-reputed scientific Journal is a
competition for the acquisition of the (limited)
journal space
The goal is consensus in the Journal's audience, and
hence in the corresponding scientific community, toward
the work carried out in the specific study.
Lack of convincing strength of a manuscript  for one or
more formal or content reasons  invariably leads to
paper rejection.
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P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection
Conclusions/2
Rejection is not a failure!
But it can be converted to good, if its reasons are
well considered.
Reaching the best practice in scientific writing and
evaluation, will hopefully produce a reduced
Journals' rejection rate, and most importantly, an
improved efficacy of the research work, for the
benefit of the scientific and social progess.
Thank you.
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