#Editing manuscripts for publication full

If the manuscript clearly lies outside the scope of the journal, then a rapid rejection allows the author to quickly find and submit their manuscript to another journal.Editors will then go through the abstract and may even skim through the introduction, figures and tables, or other sections of the paper to determine whether the manuscript passes their quality threshold. Therefore, it is imperative that authors craft a well-written cover letter that highlights the significance and strength of their research as well as provides a good reason why the manuscript is a good fit for the journal. One of the first items that editors will look at is the cover letter, and they may not get further than the cover letter if the study does not seem interesting enough. Journal editors typically look at hundreds of manuscripts a year. During the initial screening, journal editors mainly check the following:

#Editing manuscripts for publication full

1 Given the large volume of manuscript submissions, more and more journals follow a policy of screening papers before sending them for full peer review. Finally, journal editors or the journal’s editorial board consider the peer reviewers’ reports and make the final decision to accept or reject the manuscript for publication.Īpproximately 3 million manuscripts are submitted to journals every year. Only after clearing the initial screening is the manuscript sent to one or more peer reviewers. Typically, after a paper is submitted to a journal, a journal editor screens the manuscript and decides whether or not to send it for full peer review. Indeed, it is the journal editor who is considered to be central to the decision making process. At peer-reviewed journals, decision-making authority rests solely with journal editors or the journal’s editorial board.

However, peer reviewers do not make the decision to accept or reject papers. It is a process by which experts evaluate scholarly works, and its objective is to ensure a high quality of published science. The peer review process for journal publication is essentially a quality control mechanism. This article was originally published in 2013 and is being recirculated as part of Peer Review Week 2021.