Even the most relevant research may fail to pass peer review, and a scientist may be denied publication. In this article we will consider the most common mistakes made when writing a scientific paper.
According to statistics, only 30% of scientific papers submitted to reputable scientific journals will be published. Ranking publications value their authoritative status in the scientific community and are not willing to sacrifice it because of articles of poor quality. The main reasons for rejection of a publication will be discussed below.
What mistakes in writing a scientific article can lead to rejection for publication by a periodical?
Lack of a clear and consistent structure
Formalization of the article is of great importance. Shortcomings in the design of a scientific paper can be a serious reason for a negative review. Inconsistent sections, lack of abstract, introduction, conclusions, methodology or list of references are serious arguments for refusal to place an article in the journal.
The paper should be formed according to IMRAD. This structure provides 4 sections:
- introduction
- materials and methods
- results
- discussions
Failure to comply with the technical requirements for the design of a scientific paper
Banal, but ignoring the requirements of technical design of articles can cause a negative review. It is important to adhere to the technical standards for writing scientific articles. If you deviate from the guidelines below, it is likely that your paper will not be accepted.
Basic technical requirements for the design of a scientific article:
- MS Word program
- document format "docx" or "rtf"
- text alignment by width
- font name - "Times New Roman"
- font size - 12 rt
- line spacing - 1.0
Language errors
A research paper that has language errors will never be missed by reviewers. Before submitting an article to a periodical, make sure that there are no grammatical, spelling, punctuation, syntactic, lexical, stylistic, graphical, factual, and logical errors in the article.
Incorrect title of the research paper
The title of a research paper is what hooks you in the first place. It should arouse interest and intrigue the reader. A title that is too long, too short, illogical, without emphasis on the purpose and object of the research may also be a reason for rejection of publication. The title should not exceed 12 words and accurately express the essence of the research. It is acceptable to use only well-known abbreviations.
Irrelevant topic for the article that has lost its novelty. Plagiarism
Every research paper should raise a relevant topic and have an element of novelty. Research that is plagiarized or lacks the necessary relevance will not be passed by the reviewers of international databases.
Lack of citations in the article
The absence of citations of scientific studies on which the scientist relied when writing the article clearly casts doubt on the sources of information used by him/her. Citing the work of other researchers is necessary to substantiate claims and analyze results.
Poor quality and inconsistent graphical elements
A research paper should include only high-quality visual elements such as figures, tables, and graphs. Visual components should be unique, informative and logical. It should also be remembered that the numbering of all elements should be in the order defined in the text.
Incorrect design of the list of used sources
Another common reason for refusal to publish a scientific article is incorrect design of the bibliographic list. The used sources of information should be cited in the article, as well as displayed in the reference list at the end of the article in alphabetical order or in the order of mentioning in the text. In most cases, the sources should be formatted according to the international format of the APA 6th edition.
We have listed the main and most common reasons for refusal to publish a scientific article by periodicals. “Scientific Publications " has been on the market of scientific consulting for more than 8 years. We know the answer to the question - "How to prepare an article to be definitely published in a ranking scientific journal?". To order an audit or publication of your research paper, please leave a request on the website and we will contact you as soon as possible.
