Reasons of rejection Paolo Russo Università di Napoli Federico II Dipartimento di Fisica Napoli, Italy 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th,

2 Reviewer(s) Associate Editor Editor-in-Chief Authors submission assignment suggestions recommendation decision Peer-review process Accept Revise Reject Accept Revise Reject Accept Revise Reject 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 Outright rejection

3 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 Why rejection of a paper is of concern? For Authors For Journals’ reviewers and editors For the scientific community Paper acceptance is a key to success? Paper rejection is a failure for a scientist??? N.B. material submitted to a Journal is confidential “A loss of internal energy, a source of entropy, but … beware of the limitations of the peer-review process” P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection

4 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection Reasons of rejection /1 Outright rejection Usually decided after the recommendation of the Ass. Ed. who performs a personal evaluation of the paper. Sometimes decided by Publisher’s officers. - Topic out of Journals’ scope - Evident overall low scientific quality - Evident lack of relevance in the field - Bad English - Too lengthy in text/figures/tables - Evidence of plagiarism or multiple submission - Format not matching the Journal’s style - Unprofessional care in the manuscript preparation

5 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection Reasons of rejection /2 Good content, weak form Usually determined by inexperience of the writing authors. Revise?? Good form, weak content Usually determined by weak selection of the scientific goal of the work. Revise?? Weak content, weak form “ Weak ” : presence of flaws in the study or in data interpretation - not of particular interest presently in the specific field - of low overall relevance - demonstration not fully convincing - material presented in an unclear way - small sample …

6 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection Reasons of rejection /3 Weak content: Lack of originality Lack of practical relevance Weaknesses in the methodological aspects Just a confimation of well-known results In many cases, drawbacks in the manuscript content are related to the selection of the purpose of the study

7 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection Reject Accept Editor’s decision A “strong” paper A “weak” paper Revise - The Editor’s decision levels vary among Journals, Editors, editorial policy - Hint: Self-evaluation by the authors (ie please try to review your own paper with the journal’s published criteria. SUBMIT YOUR PAPER ONLY WHEN YOU THINK THERE IS NOTHING TO IMPROVE ANYMORE IN IT.

8 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection An Editor’s personal viewpoint Often, the really critical decision is between REJECT or REVISE e.g.: In EJMP, just one major and one minor revision are normally granted to a paper (but there are exceptions!) A scientific journal (reviewers, editors) is NOT intended to provide the scientific/technical contribution for arriving at an “above threshold” manuscript after many reiterations of the revision process. If the paper needs too much authors’ revision work, better to reject it (in few cases a re-submission is granted, based on the reviewers’ and editors’ comments) Reasons of rejection /4

9 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection Reasons of rejection /5 Is it really a weak paper? It is the authors’ responsibility to submit a scientific report which is able to convince a few experts (peers) in the field (1-2 reviewers, the Associate Editor, the Editor) If Reviewers and Editors are not convinced, they will suggest rejection (or major revision), independently of the otherwise positive aspects of the work, and of the strength of their negative evaluation report.

10 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection Hints - Please read the Journal’s Guide for Authors - Please read the Journal’s Guide for Reviewers - Please give due relevance to the quality of the English - Please submit your manuscript only when you think it cannot be further improved (i.e. it fully convinces you) - Please write a short but convincing submission letter -Please continue acting as a reviewer (as long as you are an author)

11 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection Conclusions/1 Publishing in a well-reputed scientific Journal is a competition for the acquisition of the (limited) journal space The goal is consensus in the Journal's audience, and hence in the corresponding scientific community, toward the work carried out in the specific study. Lack of convincing strength of a manuscript  for one or more formal or content reasons  invariably leads to paper rejection.

12 8th ECMP, Athens, Sep. 13th, 2014 P. Russo – Reasons of Rejection Conclusions/2 Rejection is not a failure! But it can be converted to good, if its reasons are well considered. Reaching the best practice in scientific writing and evaluation, will hopefully produce a reduced Journals' rejection rate, and most importantly, an improved efficacy of the research work, for the benefit of the scientific and social progess. Thank you.