Peer review should come before submission to another journal rather than an Elsevier one, which will trigger a frustrating administrative delay. But most manuscripts are stranded in editorial purgatory due to preventable formatting errors, as opposed to any scientific problem. These omissions raise questions, rewrite, and exchanges and introduce an extra few weeks or months of publication. Speed and promptness are lost in the competitive environment of academic publishing. The procedure of formatting is considered by Elsevier as a filter of efficiency, and this is why the help of professionals is needed. Fast Publications transforms a weak manuscript into a flawless submission of technical quality.
The Formatting Standards at Elsevier are Non-Negotiable
Elsevier is a large academic publisher in the world, and the company runs a huge and standardised system that is capable of handling thousands of manuscripts efficiently. Strict formatting regulations are not aesthetic requirements, but functional requirements to allow automated checks, ease editorial treatment, and production processes. All submissions that are non-compliant cannot be fixed manually by editors and technical staff. Therefore, any manuscript that does not follow the stipulated format means it is not ready to undergo processing, and a chain of inquiries ensues, putting the stall at a stop. The cost of entry is compliance with the minimum level of expectation, without which your research will not proceed.
Sample and Structure Faults that initiate on-the-fly queries
The frequent and most significant mistakes occur because of the incorrect use of templates. The templates that regulate every visual and structural aspect of the Elsevier journals are specific and even unique.
Delays that are guaranteed by errors include:
- Submission of a manuscript laid out under the format of Journal A to Journal B, or to the default system settings of the word processor.
- Changing templates: going into a document, tweaking margins, fonts, line spacing or column formatting, disturbing the standard document format.
- Improper heading hierarchy: failure to use built-in styles of the template as used headings, preventing automated table of contents and organisation of the manuscript.
- Page limit violations: The violation of page or word limits, commonly due to the use of bad formatting and not to overwriting.
Citation and Reference Style Problems
Elsevier journals impose particular styles of citation (e.g. Harvard, Vancouver, APA) with no tolerance of variation. Mistakes in this case are especially untenable in that they undermine the academic establishment.
Delaying errors include:
- Style dilemma: the use of multiple citation styles for the same reference, or failing to stick to the style format that the journal selected.
- Incomplete or absent data: the omission of DOIs, issue numbers, or ranges of entire pages, or references posted without checking their truth and accuracy.
- Text memory mismatch: in-text citation without an identical listing in the reference list and vice versa, which is automatically identified by the automated system.
Problems with Figures, Tables and Supplementary Material
Common causes of technical breakdown are visual data and other support materials. Elsevier has specific, uncompromising conditions in these components to provide quality publication on print and the internet.
Critical issues that make the processing stop:
- Low-resolution figures: The figures that are less than 300 DPI/halftones or 1000/line drawings face rejection.
- Improper file formats: uploading figures as.jpg (lossy compression) rather than.tiff or.eps, or uploading tabular data as pictures.
- Non-conformant auxiliary data: The submission of auxiliary data other than by a descriptive caption in the main text, or within proprietary programs (e.g., .mat, .sav) without freely available viewers.
- Figure captions that are above figures: These figures are misplaced. Table footnotes are done incorrectly.
Mistakes in the Structure of the Manuscript
Elsevier journals usually require certain structural elements that are not universal to the IMRaD format. Ignoring such journal-specific needs is a direct way to time wastage.
Typical building defects:
- Non-conformity in abstracts: Abstracts are more than the required word count or do not contain the necessary subheadings (e.g. Background, Methods, Results, Conclusion).
- No Highlights/Graphical Abstracts: Numerous journals at Elsevier now need such a visual summary. They can either be absent, or the situation could lead to a query.
- Keyword format: Either an excessive or inadequate number of keywords or keywords that are not specified by the journal or by the MeSH terms list.
How Fast Publications Avoids Formatting Delays
Such a complex environment of demands is a professional business, which takes up research time. This is the challenge that Fast Publications is solving. Our Elsevier-specific formatting service is an in-depth pre-submission audit that removes all possible delay causers before you hit submit.
The systematic service will provide:
- Journal-specific template conformity: we make your paper look exactly how your desired journal requires it to look, and everything is in place according to the rules of layout.
- Reference and citation standardisation: we carefully proofread your reference list to the necessary style, noting completeness, accuracy, and consistency.
- We proofread, format, and label all visuals and other materials, ensuring they are of the highest quality and standards that Elsevier accepts.
Conclusion
The most preventable reason for delay in the submission process of Elsevier is formatting errors. There are some failures to satisfy the simple operational procedure of the publisher, which cause unnecessary administrative loops. Perfect formatting does not only mean presentation, but it is also an investment in publication process. You can be sure that your manuscript will not face delays with the help of a professional service.
