Publishing an article is an essential part of a researcher’s professional success. But publishing an article in influential and reputable journals can be a challenge. All authors feel frustrated when reputable journals reject their articles. However, if this happens to you, you should know that you are not alone. Influential journals, like Elsevier, are infamous for their high rejection rates. You may think you have delivered quality work to Elsevier, but you may realize that the journal did not even submit your article for peer review. In this article, we will look at the top 10 reasons why Elsevier journal rejects a manuscript, and discuss how to ensure the acceptance of the articles you submit.
The importance of publishing in Elsevier
Elsevier is a leading publisher of world-renowned scientific journals. Therefore, an article published in Elsevier will have a large audience. For this reason, Elsevier journals are a smart choice for authors of scientific texts. Elsevier journals also have a high journal impact factor which means that publishing an article in these journals will get your article more cited. With the proliferation of predatory and hijacked journals, every researcher should be careful when submitting their article.
Therefore, Elsevier journals have strict standards for publication to maintain their strong reputation. Even seemingly small problems in an article can lead to its rapid rejection without even peer review. Content-related problems may cause the article to be rejected during peer review. If you have written an article that has been rejected, what could be the reason? Let us take a look at the main reasons for rejecting articles.
Why my article could not post technical screening?
The immediate rejection of your article could be because your article has a flaw that failed to pass the technical screening process. Some common problems that can lead to such scenarios are:
- Suspicion of plagiarism
Thanks to technology, there are a number of plagiarism checkers. These plagiarism search engines can examine a manuscript and compare it with the text of published articles. BibMe, Turnitin, and Grammarly are just a few online tools for detecting plagiarism. You can pre-review your submitted article to prevent it from being rejected for this reason. Make sure you cite your sources correctly and completely.
- Your manuscript is incomplete
Articles that lack key elements, such as authors, keywords, tables, figures, or even the main text are rejected as incomplete articles.
- The English does not have enough coherence for the peer review process
Ask a native English speaker to check the readability and flow of your manuscript as soon as possible to avoid this problem (even if you are an English speaker).
- References are insufficient or very old
In Elsevier journals, all citations must be complete and relevant to recently published articles. Old references mean that your article does not focus on recent developments or up-to-date science. Incomplete references should be avoided at all costs.
- Your article is not within the scope and objectives of the journal
Carefully read the goals and scope of the target journal. The author’s guidelines for submission can also be a useful guide for scholars to find suitable journals to submit their articles.
The best way to ensure that your article can go through technical scrutiny is to review, review, and review! Review your article yourself, check your article using a plagiarism checker, and ask a professional editor to check the readability and details of your article. Professional editors will also review your citations to make sure they are complete and in the right format. There are technical tools available to academics today that make this process easier for them than ever before.