The 4-Step chaperone to publish your research articles

Performing a scientific work not only needs intellectual ability but demands time investment and dedication. After scarifying festive, family time, and a good night’s sleep, the hard-earned work is worth to be published.

  • Be aware of social spam 

One of the examples of misutilisation of technology is the speed of illegitimate and fake journal websites. They lure authors with fake promises of fast and hassle-free publication. We should be aware of fake emails and promotional emails of these fake websites. Rather should search individually by opting for authentic websites such as PubMed, SCOPUS, DOJA, or can even visit the particular journal website if You know the ISSN Number or website details.

Any basic and important query pertaining to APC, word count, review time, and type of article are mentioned with clarity within the reputed journals.

  • Search for high compatibility journals 

Aiming at the best-fit journals means having the utmost clarity not only regarding the objective of the research question but also on the AIM and SCOPE of the selected journal. Your work should sync with the domain of expertise of the journal. At the same time, you should maintain a realistic approach regarding the impact factor and quality of work. The best-fit journal is one that not only is par with your research interest but has less review time, is economical, guidelines are easy to comprehend, the submission process is straightforward and hassle-free, and lastly can positively assess and accommodate your generated work.

  • Clarity on the submission process 

You should have a list of the documents needed while the submission process such as cover letter, title page, highlights, supplementary data, patient consent, Copywrite form, etc. Also the format of submission such as its vial online or email ID based should be accessed before handed. An inventory of the needed document while summiting and password combination should be maintained.

Journals vary in reference formatting, along with a representation of figures and tables within text or as separate images. Journals can ask for American / British English containing manuscripts with a specific font, size, and margin of the doc or Latex file or can have specific template for formatting.

  • Appealing cover letter and Manuscript TITLE 

The cover letter should be written in a polite manner highlighting the gist of the paper. It should also clearly state regarding the authentication of the submitted work, non-submission in multiple journals, authors contribution along with mailing address of the corresponding author.

Similarly, the Title gives the 1st glimpse of the article therefore should be informative but not clumsy, compact, eye-catchy, and original in content.

Publications of Clinical trials in Scientific Journals – Mandatory

A large number of clinical trials are conducted every year however researchers get limited excess of these data.

  • What are clinical trials?

These are the study conducted on a large group of people to evaluate the efficacy of drugs in a particular disease or test a particular surgical procedure or even in behavior analysis. They are effective means by which scientists understand the pros and cons of any drug or treatment strategy.

United States Food and drug administration (FDA) initially gives the approval to begin the clinical trial. The texts are performed in the laboratory animals to get a preliminarily set of information pertaining to the study; subsequently, human trials are followed based on efficacy and safety.

Publishing Clinical trails

Conducting clinical trials is aimed to get the needed scientific intervention within a requisite time period to acquire sufficient scientific evidence which can shape our scientific understanding. Clinical trials are published in medical journals or are part of clinical trial registries.

However, as per reports around 50 % of trials remain unpublished post-completion.

  • Clinical trials on kids and young subjects to evaluate a drug should not just remain as a piece of data in gov. It is due to the potential value of the information that cannot be accessed by the general public until it gets published. Also, the due repotting of clinical data in the context of kids can be lifesaving also.
  • The publishing of Clinical trials should be a mandate, as the scientist by delaying or not publishing the data are predisposing the life of many innocent people especially if a drug is investigated for studies for its potentially dangerous side effects.
  • Also, companies conduct clinical trials to hype up their products. If the company product is not performing well then most likely they keep hanging around.
  • Clinical trials not getting published as the researchers don’t find the results very interesting to be part of a peer-reviewed journal. Results having novelty or not should be a part of a publication.

How to Publish Research Papers in Highly Indexed Journals?

Most students and researchers struggle to publish their research work in a suitable and highly indexed journal. Lack of knowledge in organizing the paper, selecting a journal, formatting as per guidelines, and revising as per reviewer’s instruction are the reasons for such struggle. Getting published in prestigious, high-impact academic journals is a highly competitive proposition. However, these challenges can be avoided by following the below instructions:

Writing a research paper

Choosing the appropriate topic is the primary step of writing a research paper. A good and relevant topic must be selected with a narrow and interesting focus area, and yet wide enough to find sufficient data. Prepare an outline, note down all the information or ideas that must have come to mind while going through the literature review. Prepare a draft, organize the information collected. A rough draft must be prepared where the ideas are written in an unfinished form. This helps organize ideas and determines the final format of the paper. The draft must be revised as many times as possible to create a final product. The final document thus created is the first draft of the research paper.

Selecting a journal

Verify the scope of the target journal; even a remarkable, novel research work is likely to face rejection if the research topic doesn’t align with the scope of the journal. The quality of any journal is assessed based on the number of abstracting and indexing services. It is recommended to adopt a balanced and realistic approach while choosing the best journal.

Formatting

A research paper must be formatted so that it complies with the guidelines of a journal or style manual. Prepare your submission according to the specifications set out in the Author Guidelines of your chosen journal. Ensure that the word count falls within this range, not above or below it. The author’s information must be provided with a brief abstract and keywords. Further, the text must be arranged in headings Introduction, Methodology, Results, Discussions, and conclusion. Cite the references in the text as per the guidelines and list them after the conclusion. All the other necessary information regarding ethics, conflict of interest, funding, the acknowledgment must be provided on the title page.

Submission

Before submitting the research paper the author must have all the mandatory information required for submission. Kindly read the checklist provided on the journal site and prepare the documents accordingly. Once the information is collected, proceed with the registration step and complete the submission carefully.

Cover letter and Abstract

The abstract should be prepared carefully and encompass the aim and scope of the study; the key problem to be addressed and theory; the method used; the data set; key findings; limitations; and implications for theory and practice. A cover letter speaks about the uniqueness of the research work that has been carried out, what makes the findings of the research study of deep significance to the future of the discipline, and why the research methodologies employed to carry out the research are extraordinary and profound.

Conclusion

All the above criteria must be considered if aiming to publish a research paper in a highly indexed journal. High-impact and highly indexed journals accept less than 10% of the research papers submitted to them, hence, proper attention, planning, and careful implementation are required to improve the likelihood of getting their work published.

Importance of quality content in SCOPUS

Publication in a reputed, high-impact indexed journal is the primary metric for a researcher. However, selecting the right journal can be a complex task. Researchers need to optimize between different criteria before reaching a decision. The journal selection process involves different factors: identifying the scope of the journal, impact factor, the reputation of the journal, specific indexing, issue release periodicity, and open access fee/publication fee.

SCOPUS indexing and content curation

SCOPUS indexing SCOPUS is one of the largest indexing databases for journals and books in the medical and life sciences field. Advantages of publication in SCOPUS indexed journals include: increase in the visibility of your publication(s), peer-review process, reaches global audiences.

SCOPUS is the most recommended database as the researchers can effortlessly find relevant and trusted research and access data that can help them to select the most appropriate journal for their research paper.

The research publication industry has seen a signification growth and almost everyday new journal is being launched. Hence, there is a necessity to identify and eliminate poor-performing and predatory journals from the list while selecting the right journal for publication.

SCOPUS is a database of journals that includes only the reputed, good performing, high-impact, and peer-reviewed journals.

The journals or publishers added to the SCOPUS list undergo a rigorous evaluation process by the subject experts of the Content Selection and Advisory Board (CSAB). The board determines the eligibility of the title and removes poor-performing and predatory journals.  The board along with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) decides whether to include a new journal, discontinue an indexed journal, or continue with a journal.

SCOPUS and the CSAB ensure that the users get the best possible evidence for their work and only reliable journals and their content is available to the researchers.

Re-evaluation criteria

In addition to the selection criteria, there is continuous monitoring and re-evaluation process which ensures that the quality of the indexed journals should be maintained.

There are 4 criteria that are considered for re-evaluation of an indexed journal:

  1. Poor performance
  2. Doubt about peer-review process or publication standards
  3. Data curation
  4. Data metrics (periodicity, number of original articles, diversity, novelty, etc.)

Poor performance of the journals

The underperformance of a journal is determined by analyzing three metrics:

  1. Self-citation rate (Higher self-citations)
  2. Total citation rate (Fewer citations)
  3. CiteScore (Lower CiteScore compared to other peer-reviewed journals)

In conclusion, the information or data provided by the SCOPUS are highly recommended and hence, there is a necessity from this indexing end to provide reliable content, include reputed journals (exclude predatorily), and update the database regularly.

What are the most popular reasons editors usually reject your paper for?

Rejection hurts! Especially if it involved rigorous hard work for a long period of time with many author’s contributions. There can be several reasons for rejection of the manuscript, such as overlooking of journal’s scope, understanding the communications made by the editor can ascertain the reason for failure.

The technical reason for journal Rejection!

  • Plagiarized content in the manuscript

Copying other’s work as own is ethically incorrect. Nowadays, publishing houses are very stringent about the authenticity of the work and take advanced measures to keep it checked prior to the publication of the article.

  • Lack of Authenticity

The editor can reject your article if you have exactly reproduced the work already published. As it shall be boring for the authors and hence not the “cup of tea” for the journal.

  • Inessential Publication

In case you try to publish what u have already published or the majority of work the article quotes your previous work then very likely the editor will reject the paper.

  • Lack of Worldwide significance of the content

The majority of the journal specifies in their aim and scope, regarding the global audience base. Hence, the article should be well framed keeping in mind the worldwide perspective.

  • Multiple submission of the manuscript to different journals

The author should make sure after getting a clear NO from one journal shall opt for other as multiple submission is a potential danger to your reputation and career. Furthermore, is a wastage of the reviewer’s time, also you have delayed someone else’s chances of manuscript assessment.

  • The core component of manuscripts such as materials and methods or results are missing

Each section is equally important as all cords joined can only make a sensible story.

  • Figures and Table are blurred

The data is the evidence of the stated hypothesis.

Hence, following the needed journal’s guidelines in the content of figure, table, graph, chart formatting is crucial for the audience’s clarity.

  • Non-accordance with the journal Guild lines

Journal has guidelines stating the format in which the manuscript should be arranged, be it the font, line and page numbering, or Vancouver style for reference citation. Sometimes, Highlights or graphical abstract is demanded by the journal to accomplish publication. The author should be well aware of the Journal specification and shall abide by it.

  • Manuscript Length

Poor fit with journal guidelines for manuscript length in terms of the type of paper can reject the article. For instance, a research article that should be no more than 5000 words including abstract, main text, and reference should be stringently followed to avoid rejection.

Topic lacks accordance with Journal’s audience

The content in the manuscript does not suit the audience or reader of the journal can lead to journal rejection.

Manuscript interpretation is difficult

Sometimes the author wants to convey his study but lacks the ability to put forward the results or the theme in an appropriate way. Also, the author loses the flow or consistency during the course of execution of research as result the interpretation and correlation among the results to build a story gets distorted.

Lack of concrete hypothesis in the “introduction” of the manuscript

The hypothesis or question behind the work is missing. Very often, the hypothesis doesn’t fit with the content of the paper or is poorly formulated.

Inaccurate data interpretation and result analysis

There can be flaws in the methods and material or the sampling. Significance value and statistical analysis calculation can be incorrect.

Flaws in language, and writing style

Grammatical correct and scientifically appropriate words are critical and important aspects of scientific writing. The idea or theme of the paper along with the results should be presented incorrect language. Peer review by friends, family, and colleagues can contribute in an effective way towards scientific writing. Editing services can be a great help by providing writing assistance. For, instance “Reseapro” a well know client service provider can give a new refreshing look to the manuscript by providing assistance in terms of substantive editing, copy editing, and even rewriting the manuscript. Also,  the decision-making in terms of “what type of correction can make an article get published” is also addressed by taking insights from experienced editors.

Inappropriate referencing style

Formatting of text citation and bibliography of the manuscript needs the following styling guide with a precision of on the dot.

The discussion and conclusion should justify the objectivity of the work

The discussion is the climax of the manuscript. It should justify the objective of the paper by giving a valid and in-context explanation of the results.  Furthermore, should render scope for further research. Conclusion, on the other hand, represents summary in a compact way with specific and context-appropriate information of the manuscript.

Journal is highly selective with plenty of good ones piled up

Sometimes journal already has plenty of good copies lined up and may reject a not so-so work if it has a more promising one on a similar topic. Sometimes, the research submitted is a very common topic and has already been published extensively in recent issues and hence may not be prioritized.

Ethical dispute

Ethical clearance is a must for successful publication. Patient consent forms or documents supporting ethical committee clearance while conducting experiments on animals are highly valued pieces of evidence that speak about the authenticity of the work.

Conclusion: Manuscript Rejection table is governed by multiple factors. A careful and thorough assessment of the editorial communication can render insights toward the needed measures to be taken for attainting authorship.

How to publish your research paper in a journal indexed under SCOPUS database?

Founded in 2004, SCOPUS is one of the largest indexing databases for journals and books in the medical and life sciences field. Over 25,000 journals and 200,000 books are indexed under the SCOPUS database. Publications are the primary metric for success in the research field. Publication in a high-impact and peer-reviewed scholarly journal is the ultimate aim of a researcher to demonstrate his/her credibility. Popular and reputed databases such as SCOPUS indexes the journals by considering several factors; regularity (issue release frequency), type of review process (peer-reviewed or not), and reputation of the journal. Hence, publication in a SCOPUS indexed journal can be challenging. The following section describes a step-by-step process that will help you to publish your research paper in a suitable journal indexed under the SCOPUS database.

Performing search in the SCOPUS database

It is effortless to search for SCOPUS indexed journals under a specific category or with a keyword on the homepage (https://www.scopus.com/sources.uri). One can search for a specific journal just by providing simple details such as –

  • The specific subject of interest,
  • Title or Keyword of the specific journal/publication,
  • Name of the publisher, and
  • ISSN code

However, if one is not sure of these details, he/she can perform a broader search by selecting the specific subject area of the research.

Identifying the target journal

Check for the aim and scope of the journal, examine the nature of the journal, and ensure its peer-review process. Research about the journal performance and understand the review and publication timelines. Confirm whether your target journal is indexed in SCOPUS by performing a search in the database, as mentioned in the above section. Keep ease, quality, reach and impact at the forefront of your mind and look for the appropriate publishing models (Open Access or Subscription-Based).

Preparing the research paper based on journal guidelines

Author guidelines are made available by the author in the author’s information or about the journal section. Follow the guidelines provide while formatting your paper and attach a cover letter (must) and mention the reason if any of the given instruction is not followed. Always limit the number of tables and figures and remove additional information to concise the data. Prepare figures and tables carefully and format exactly as mentioned in the guidelines. The length of the manuscript must be considered while formatting. An ideal length for a manuscript is 25 to 40 pages, double spaced, including essential data only. Write a concise and straight-to-point conclusion. Do not just repeat the abstract; the conclusion should explain the novelty of the research and the future aspects.

Submitting Your Paper

The final step is to submit the final formatted paper to the target journal via the submission portal. A good and complete understanding of the journal’s terms and conditions is required while submitting your paper. One should be aware of where to submit a paper, submission deadlines, submission fee, or open access fee, and any other procedural necessities to follow before submission.

In conclusion, having a research paper published in a Scopus indexed journal is of great importance for researchers. Researchers require carefully preparing and understanding all the requirements for formatting and submission. The requirements for scientific publication in a SCOPUS indexed journal are very high, and every researcher must understand this before submitting their work for review.

ManuscriptEdit helps authors and researchers at every step of their publication journey by offering dynamic and customizable editorial services including Proofreading, Formatting, and Journal Recommendations and Submission.

Should I reply to an editor after a paper has been rejected?

Communicating with journal Editor

It is crucial to develop and maintain a professional understanding with the editor. Although, it’s true that the author generally is hesitant to communicate in the context of the manuscript status. Clear professional discussion on the other hand can be the best way to restrict overthinking by the author and also gives a clear view regarding the fate of the manuscript.

Accepting the unexpected “Manuscript Rejection”

Although, manuscript rejection sets in a sense of failure, and for some time the author goes through a period of “trans” where the acceptance of manuscript rejection is deliberately denied or in some cases is not completely accepted. This is very much normal if its continues for a small period of time. However, a mind full reply to the editor is a must.

Steps to assimilate rejection and “Move on” by replying to the editor

  • Although how depressing or heart-wrenching it may seem, making oneself prepared or the mere thought of writing back to editor post rejection is the 1st step to recovery.
  • The author by deciding to write back to the editor makes up his mind to also read and re-read the loopholes of his work. The latter is the deciding act which in due course of time makes the researcher scholar an “Author”.
  • Once the pitfall or gaps of the paper is ascertained, next crucial aspect is to frame right, affirmative, context-appropriate answers or viewpoint in a polite and elaborate manner to the editor.
  • The author must gracefully accept the rejection and take the comments or query as the “stepping stone to success”.

 

Why replying to the editor is important to post rejection:

  • It’s an important step to become a successful author as it evolves collecting and introspecting the critics.
  • Rejection always does not mean “END OF THE WORLD”, generally the editor recommends the work to other related journals wherein the focus and aims gels better most appropriately with the content.
  • A rejection email by the editor also clarifies the line of undertaking the researcher should take in the future. A free and frank discussion can go long way not only to accomplish your desire to publish but also reboots the positive spirit.

 

Conclusion: It’s always better to reciprocate than to regret. A frank, free, detailed discussion with the editor regarding manuscript rejection can shatter the clouds of disappointment and manifest new zeal and confidence warranted to become a successful author of a peer-reviewed article.

How Open Access Publication is sustainable?

The desire of scientists and academics to report the results of their study in academic journals is an ancient practice. For the sake of investigation and education, articles are published without charge. The internet is the latest technology. Reporting practice and publishing technology is useful for future purposes.

 What is Open Access?

Open Access is the free availability of Research Articles on the public internet, allowing anyone to read, download, print, scan, and use without any difficulties. OA journals are expected to become more prevalent in the academic market in terms of both articles published and journal titles, as the scholarly community around the world accepts OA publication formats.

What are the benefits of open access with Global Sustainability?

  • Articles are immediately available online after they are published, offering them the opportunity for increased exposure and dissemination. Gold open access permits anyone with an internet connection anywhere in the globe to view published research without having to pay a subscription fee.
  • A high-quality scholarly journal can be published at a low cost to the scientific community. Not only is all of the material on the website open to view, but the broad range of media, multilingual content, and unlimited existence of the journal’s copyright license allows for the free flow of scientific communication, which is ultimately beneficial.
  • All contributions will be peer-reviewed by Editorial Board before acceptance. Scientific journal publishers, especially medical publishers, have a duty to ensure that the material they publish is as rigorously peer-reviewed as possible and as easily shareable as possible for scientists and society as a whole.

 

Seeking Sustainability in OA

  • Varied firms have different aspects, but the majority agree that you must pay for validation, suitable copyediting, presentation, sustainability, and functionality. Publishers are dedicated to ensuring that their material is widely distributed and accessible. Any long-term access options that protect the scholarly record’s integrity and permanence should be supported. They collaborate closely with funders, universities, and governments to make this possible. A subscription-based journal, hybrid publishing choices are examples of such choices.
  • Payment for open access publishing is made upfront via article processing charges (APCs). APCs might be considered as a more equitable payment mechanism if the charges are based on costs that reflect the services delivered.
  • Gold open access is one strategy for achieving our common aim of increasing access to peer-reviewed scientific works and maximizing the value and reuse of scientific research findings. Institutions and donors play an important role in ensuring that public access regulations enable the funding of peer-reviewed publications and service offerings in any journal that an author chooses. Publishers are eager to collaborate with organizations to achieve this goal and enhance scholarly communication.

 

Conclusion

The researchers, the users, and the funders are all involved in the publication of research. Publishing is a competitive industry. Authors fight for journal space, publishers compete for articles, and library budgets compete with one another. For authors who want to bring the decisions about where to publish and how to pay closer together, Open Access and APCs are a viable option.

Market Trends in Open Access Publishing

Define Open Access (OA) publishing?

Open access is a scholarly communication publishing strategy that makes research articles freely available to readers, as opposed to the traditional subscription model, which requires readers to pay a fee to access academic information. This is a concept adopted by researchers, scholars, and libraries.

 What is Article Processing Charge (APC)?

An article-processing charge (APC), sometimes known as a publication fee, is a price levied to writers to make their work open access in either open access or hybrid journal. The author, the author’s institution, or the author’s research funder may be responsible for this cost.

APC includes providing editors and authors with online tools, article production and hosting, coordinating with abstracting and indexing services, and providing customer service.

Papers should be published as rapidly as possible, subject to proper quality controls, and broadly disseminated, regardless of the publishing model chosen by the author.

The following criteria are used to determine APC rates for open access articles only:

  • Journal quality
  • The journal’s editorial and technical processes
  • Competitive considerations
  • Market conditions
  • Other revenue streams associated with the journal

Researchers and scientists of scholarly articles operate as consumers in the market for article processing charges (APC).

What are the current trends in the Open Access Market?

 OA faces significant competition as Researchers continue to aspire to publish in top-tier academic journals owing to their high impact factors and reputation for publishing high-quality research papers. The major publishers continue to dominate the marketplace, and successful ventures into the open-access market are uncommon. The peer-review process has been criticized in the OA market due to the obvious conflict to publish as many papers as possible to generate revenue that gives priority over quality control. Although growth is decreasing, it is still in double digits and much ahead of the underlying journal market. Articles in fully open access journals are showing signals of long-term growth, whilst hybrid journals appear to be flattening. This could be attributable in part to the way revenue is distributed in mixed-model arrangements. According to current trends, the open-access industry will continue to grow at a faster rate than the underlying market for scholarly journals. Hybrid revenue per paper published is higher than revenue per paper published in fully open access journals. The growth curves in both volume and value of OA appear to be flattening out to a stable state. Open access is becoming a far more widely understood and accepted model of publishing in general. The views of open access journals are improving, and they are becoming more recognized as a standard model. This is good for open access journals’ long-term viability, particularly if they maintain high-quality standards.

Conclusion

The majority of research papers are written to influence other scholars, either in the same field or in a different field. Scientists have more investigation outlets such as Open Access, which increases their chances of providing original and up-to-date work. Although the proportion of money spent on open access remains below that of output, it is improving. It is generally driven by higher output levels, while price tactics may help some businesses generate income. Open Access to Science is critical in low-income countries. Institutions, academics, scientists, and healthcare providers lack the financial resources to access academic literature. Providing Open Access to high-quality research papers ensures their intellectual equality among their peers in high-income countries.

The Expectation of Journal Editors

 

The editor may send the paper out for review or may reject it without review. Some scientific journals send out for review less than half of the papers submitted. Journal editors must make a swift decision on a paper’s suitability. It is important to understand what journal editors look for when deciding to send a submission to an academic journal.

What do Journal Editors do?

  • Analyze all manuscripts submitted to their journal.
  • Choose those they believe are appropriate for the journal has enough impact.
  • Send them out for peer review, and take peer reviewer’s recommendations into account when making a final decision on what gets written.
  • Look at the manuscript, the cover letter, abstract, conclusion, and references in deciding to send your manuscript out for review. Pay close attention to these components and understand why they are important will improve the chances of publishing.
  • Weigh the novelty and relevance of a paper against the readership’s perceptions and the journal’s effect.

What Checklists do the  Journal Editors have?

Most important factors that Journal editors consider. Journal editors want to publish high-quality research that their readers would find interesting. It will be readily accepted if it has the following things:

Originality

The need for something unique, something that looks at things differently and asks questions that haven’t been asked before, came up repeatedly in the interviews.

Consistency in research

  • The methods used should be sufficient
  • The conclusions drawn are justified and valid
  • The study should be systematic, well-planned, and well-executed.
  • All works cited should be correctly and carefully referenced.
  • The analysis should be focused on a theoretical context with a discussion of relevant literature.

 

Practice-based relevance

Some papers include a detailed explanation of a specific situation as a case study. Some publications enable practitioners to apply studies, perhaps in collaboration with an educator, to provide complementary perspectives.

Form and argument clarity

There is a certain form of academic writing that isn’t known for its clarity, but many editors value clarity and readability. Clarity and readability are divided into two categories: the language and  the paper’s structure

What are the questions asked by the Journal Editors?

  • Does the Manuscript fall within the scope of the journal?
  • If the Case Report has Ethics Approval?
  • Whether the Study is noble whether its methodology is better than the existing literature?
  • Is the paper carefully prepared and formatted?
  • Is the paper unique and represents cutting-edge research in the area?
  • If the paper Contributes to a thriving science sector?
  • Is the paper meticulously prepared and formatted and contains all of the required sections?
  • If the paper Uses vocabulary that is descriptive and succinct?
  • If the paper Maintains high ethical standards of the Research Process?
  • Does your cover letter provide a persuasive explanation of why the journal should publish your paper?
  • Whether the language used is clear for the readers?

 

Conclusion

The above author guidelines are a piece of general advice but the subject matter and general philosophy of the journal are important.