Want to know how to get your research article published? I share my editorial and reviewer experience on the common mistakes in research papers.
Publishing your research can be a nerve-wracking experience, especially at the very beginning of your academic career. It is because of the pressure that you may experience from your supervisor, peers and even yourself to publish your work in top journals.
Although most of us actively work towards more productive and supportive work environment, the “publish or perish” culture is still there. A change for the better needs time. I’m sure you’ll play an important role in it. In the meantime, you still need to disseminate your research to build your academic profile.
As you could read in the ebook that Magda and I put together, the opportunities to share your research are endless – mostly limited by your imagination. However, publishing your research in the form of a research article is still recognised as the most viable way of sharing your work.
It is mostly because your research will be:
- peer-reviewed by experts in your field before it’s published
- associated with a recognised journal in your field, gaining additional quality recognition
- shared with the existing research community, gaining immediate visibility
These are just a few reasons why papers are still perceived as the best outlet for your research. And, of course, the quality of your research articles and the rank of the journals will help you become an internationally recognised expert in your research field.
However, with the pressure to deliver your project on time and publish high-quality research articles in prestigious journals, small mistakes may creep into your writing. It may result in your paper being rejected. It’s something that we all want to avoid – believe me, I know how difficult it’s to see your work being rejected.
But what if I told you that there’re some common mistakes in writing research articles that are fairly easy to avoid?
Having reviewed more than 150 manuscripts as the peer reviewer at Nature, Elsevier and American Chemical Society, and Editor at Wiley, I observed that there are 7 common mistakes that result in a rejection or a major revision if you’re lucky.
I thought I’d share these with you so that you can avoid these common issues, improve the quality of your writing, and get your research articles accepted in top journals!
Table of Contents
#1 Literature review is not sufficiently thorough, confusing or outdated
A literature review is a crucial part of a research article. It provides the context for your work and helps the reader understand the state-of-the-art in your research area. It should explicitly specify the rationale for your work.
So what seems to be the most common issues with a literature review?
Well, in my experience, I can tell that the most common issue is that the literature review is too vague. It means that it