One of the normal, though frustrating, experiences of the research process is getting a rejection letter. The most innovative research projects are usually rejected by the journal of their first choice. There is a difference between having a stalled career and a prolific career and that is the rate at which you change.
The second or third option is not something to pick by a mere chance. It requires a strategized methodology. This guide is an overview of how to analyze a rejection and apply expert Journal Selection Advice to get your next publication.
Analyze the Rejection Type
You need to know why the first one closed the doors before you seek another house to put your manuscript. Generally, rejections can be divided into two categories:
- The Desk Rejection
A desk rejection occurs when the editorial feels that the paper is not fit to send to the reviewers. This typically translates to the fact that your paper did not fit into the range of the journal or it was not in the general formatting guidelines.
- Rejection After Peer Review
When the paper you have submitted to the review then was rejected, you have a goldmine of information. The gaps in your logic, methodology or data have been identified by the reviewers. Feedback Use this feedback to improve the manuscript next time.
Step 1: Evaluate the “Scope Gap”
The most popular cause of rejection is the lack of compatibility in scope. Maybe your work was too narrow to be published in a wide-read journal, or too wide-ranging to be published in a very narrow specialized journal.
In case of a new Journal Selection Advice, be careful in the page of Aims and Scope of the potential candidates. Do they release such methodologies? Do they refer to the authors that you have referred to? In case it is not, continue searching. Another desk rejection is quickest achieved through misaligned scope.
Step 2: Data-Driven Selection tools
Never use memory to locate a new journal. A number of online applications can assist you in expanding your horizons. Such websites as Jane (Journal/Author Name Estimator) or the Elsevier Journal Finder can be used to enter your abstract to get a match.
However, software has limits. It is not able to assess the prestige or the community feel of a journal. A combination of these aids and a type of human-based Journal Selection Advice provides you with the ability to target reachable and respected journals within your specific field.
Step 3: Evaluate the Impact/ Probability
It is the dream of every researcher to be published in Nature or The Lancet. Once you have been rejected, then you have to reconcile between your ambitions and reality.
- Tier 1 Journals: not only high impact, but also very high rejection rates (usually more than 90%).
- Tier 2 Journals: Good impact factors and good reputation in a certain sub-discipline.
- Tier 3 Journals: The newly published journals or specialized articles that have quicker publication dates.
In case the initial rejection was in a Tier 1 journal, look at a high quality Tier 2 journal. This step tends to lead to quicker review and more likelihood of being accepted and at the same time gaining a lot of career value.
Step 4: Monitor Publication Speed and Frequency
Speed: if your research is time-sensitive, like the one on an ongoing health crisis, or a quickly developing technology, speed is your focus. Find journals that are monthly as opposed to quarterly.
Browse the “Article History” of the publications made recently. The majority of journals mention the date of reception of the manuscript, the date of revision and acceptance of the manuscript. When there is a six-month gap between the “Received” and the “Accepted” and you are in a hurry, go elsewhere.
Step 5: Take into Account Open Access Alternatives
Open Access (OA) journals tend to be less specific and more expedited since they do not restrict themselves by the volume of pages in a hard copy print run. Moreover, researchers are more likely to cite OA articles because they are not behind the paywall.
When choosing the Journal, as part of the Journal Selection Advice, consider the trade-off between the price of Article Processing Charges (APCs) against the convenience of instant access to the global market. Various institutions do fund OA fees, so you may need to inquire with your library before eliminating this option.
The Fast Publications Accelerated Plan to Your Success
It is tiresome to go through these steps on your own. We make the post-rejection phase at Fast Publications a smooth working process. In our Journal Selection Advice service, we’re able to offer you a shortlist of 3-5 journals that seem to us to be the most suitable for the current strength of your manuscript.
We transfer your rejection feedback, make the content changes needed, and take care of the formality of the new submission. On day one we ensure that your manuscript conforms to the new journal’s specifications of “Instructions to Authors” doing away with the Return to Author delays.
The Transfer Alternative: An Incidental Shortcut
A few large publishing companies, such as Springer Nature or Wiley, provide so-called portable peer review. In case they cannot accept you in their highest-ranking journal, they may accept to forward your work together with the already prepared reviews to a sister journal.
These deals are to be taken seriously. They greatly reduced the time, which is spent in the peer-review cycle because the new editor already knows what the feedback is to make a decision.
Conclusion
A rejection is not an end but a deviation. With feedback analysis, scope re-evaluation and professional Journal Selection Advice you turn a no to a strategic yes elsewhere.
Do not put your hard work in a drawer. Your work needs to be read and the appropriate journal is waiting to be submitted by you. Allow Fast Publications to locate it.
