No one wants to deal with rejection of something they think is important. This is especially hard when the rejection is an academic manuscript you’ve spent months or years researching and putting together. By this time, that project is near and dear to your heart, and it’s difficult to comprehend why a publisher wouldn’t place the same importance on your submission.

Why your work was rejected could be one or more of a myriad of reasons. The important thing is how you respond to that rejection. The first rule of rejection is to walk away and don’t react. Give yourself time to think rationally rather than emotionally. After the emotions have died down a bit, it’s time to look further into the rejection and see how you can grow from it to become a better researcher.

The Common Reasons for Desk Rejection

One of those “life lessons” we learn as we grow into adults is that if we use rejection right, we can learn from it. It’s the silver lining to something none of us enjoy dealing with. This lesson applies to your research career’s rejections, as well. What was the reason for your desk rejection? Here are some of them, and how they can help you:

●      Improper journal submissions: Your manuscript could be absolutely perfect down to the last detail, but if it’s outside of the scope of the journal’s purview, they’ll reject it.

●      Missing journal guidelines: While you're checking the scope of the journal, head to the page designed for writers. There, you’ll find a list of the specific guidelines that the journal requires. Before an editor reads your paper, they’ll go over that checklist. If anything is missing, it’s an automatic reject.

●      Not novel enough: Some topics have been written ad nauseum. If you’re writing about something that has been overdone, include a “statement of novelty” to explain how you’ve taken an innovative approach to the subject. Include the idea and how it brings new light to the field of science in the abstract and conclusion.

●      Plagiarism: Use multiple plagiarism detection software features before you submit your work. The publisher will be doing the same thing. If yours shows any duplication up to 20%, it will be rejected.

●      Formatting, mechanics, and grammar: The occasional error isn’t going to be enough to get your paper rejected. But if there are consistent mistakes, the journal will reject your paper. If English isn’t your first language, or you’re more confident in your research than your formatting and structure, consider hiring a scientific editor as part of your manuscript creation process.

Each of these errors is substantial enough to have your paper rejected on its own. One mistake is easy enough to learn from, and since about 70% of manuscripts are rejected, it’s not something to take personally. Fix the error, don’t make it again in the future, and you have a much better chance of getting published later.

When there are multiple causes for rejection, however, it can be more intimidating. A wise suggestion is to team up with a scientific editor to see how you can grow. These individuals have a background in editing and science and have already published papers in journals. They understand the process and the content and will work with you to help you get to that point, as well.

Published? Check Your Work’s Stats on Impactio

In the academic field, if you’re not growing, you’re often left behind. Science is always evolving, and other researchers will build on your published work. So, how can you continue to grow after you’ve passed the desk rejection phase? The answer is with the Impactio platform.

Impaction is America’s leading platform for academic impact analytics. The free tools you’re given as a member can help you see where the strengths and weaknesses are in your previously published work. Run reports that view citations, impact, and other academic credits analytics, then visualize them with the Global Citation Distribution Map (GCDM) feature.

When you want to take your career to the next level and continue to grow as a researcher, Impactio has all the tools to support your objective.