How do You Review and Publish a Journal?
Journal Review and Publishing
There are several things to keep in mind when you want to submit your article. You want to click on send, but wait! Make one final edit to grammar and spelling. Check the formatting requirements, and image inclusion. Some journals require tables and figures in separate documents, while others are fine with them in the body of the main document.
If given a choice, write a cover letter to the editor of a reputable international journal. This helps them understand who you are and how they can provide the best review for your paper. Feel free to suggest reviewers if this question is submitted by a journal in the submission form. Obviously, don't suggest reviewers who can identify your work, or who have read the paper. One graduate student suggested their advisors as reviewers be a clear no-no. However, in my experience, editors are grateful when you save their time by suggesting potential reviewers in subject areas that are sometimes mysterious.
Evaluating Review
The cornerstone of academic publishing is the peer review process of reputable international journals. Usually it's "double-blind" - neither the reviewer nor the author know who the other party is. Although there are many things I like and hate about peer reviews, here I will discuss pragmatics of receiving and responding to feedback. It might come in a day or six months. Prepare yourself for criticism, and don't be frustrated if the review is revealed in person. Feel free to set aside emails to read when you are in a good mood and have time to think about their feedback.
There are four types of international journal reviews that you may receive:
Desk refused: editors might simply say an article is not suitable for their journal. Hopefully this does not happen if you have done your homework in choosing a journal, but sometimes it still happens. Be polite and friendly, then move on to the next journal that seems acceptable in your article.
Accept: direct acceptance without revision is very rare. In ten years of publishing more than fifteen articles I have never received one. When reviewing the paper I have given, as far as I can remember, there were two direct admissions. Simply put, there are always a number of things that need to be dealt with to get the paper to death.
Reject: in this case the paper was sent for peer review, and reviewers considered it unsuitable for publication. This does not mean that this is a wasted effort, because you can read the comments of reviewers. What this means is that there are sufficient problems with the manuscript that reviewers cannot identify a clear path for revision. However, they must justify the problems they see, which can be useful feedback for publication. Be sure to thank editors and reviewers for their time, even if you disagree with their decision.
Revision & resend: many shipments will accept "R&R." This means reviewers have suggested changes that they believe will bring the paper to the level where it will be suitable for publication. Often R&R will be the two reviewers who suggest a revision. However, you can also get one enthusiastic reviewer and one recommending rejection. In this case, the editor can ask the third reviewer to make a decision, which can make your life a little more difficult! Because R&R is the majority of responses, I will discuss how to deal with it in the section below.
How to Handle R & D
Not all R & D is the same! Some ask for very small edits that you can complete in an hour or two. This is basically acceptance with some adjustments. Others may ask you to do seemingly impossible tasks, such as collecting new data or rewriting your journal using an unknown theory. Before you panic, read the notes from the editor carefully. Do they signal what changes they expect you to make? A good editor will provide some guidance on the path to acceptance. It might be difficult to read uncarnished comments about articles that you have put in so much time. Sometimes it is difficult not to receive feedback personally, but remember that reviewers will evaluate your work based on factors that you might not have considered. They might misunderstand your main argument, or never evaluate an article using the methodology of your choice.
After you read the review, come forward with the understanding that reviewers are trying to improve the article. If you decide to revise the manuscript, make a list of their requests and check them one by one. When you answer their requests, make a note of what you did and highlight changes in the updated manuscript. When you submit a review, be sure to enter your response (still anonymous) to reviewers, indicating that you pay attention to their feedback and respond to each of their comments. If there are suggestions you don't make, explain why you didn't follow their advice. Keep your response relatively professional. Reviewers may not force you to take every suggestion, but they want to know why you don't.
When there is no clear agreement on whether an article should be published, you might be surprised by three reviewers. Additional reviewers are usually invited to settle disputes. While this helps editors make decisions, it can make your life more difficult, because you are in a position to make changes to please three people, at least one of them might not like your work, and you don't know if they will be assigned to review papers. next round. Don't be afraid to pull your paper out of consideration if the change is too difficult to complete. Remember, that will be your name in this article at the end of the day! The editor will not be offended if you pull the paper - it happens all the time. However, don't write a letter explaining your decision, and address some of the reviewers' responses before submitting back to another journal. However, you might get one of the same reviewers again, and the last thing they want is an article they have given feedback to!
Finalization and Publication of Articles
As you move through the review process you will finally get to the point of reviewers showing they are fine with the concept. In rare cases, they can recommend rejection after several rounds of revision. Once accepted, the editor may have some final suggestions. At this point your article will move to the editing stage, when different editors make grammar and spelling changes to help your article shine through. Then you will review the "evidence" - PDF exactly what your article will look like. You may already be bored with this article now, but read carefully! The line editor may have made changes that change the arguments you make. This was never intentional, and they will change it back if you request it. Also review the evidence when you can concentrate!
There are still two final steps after you submit the PDF evidence that is marked the end of it. First, celebrate! You have passed a milestone. Don't just add another line to your C / V - do something good for yourself. Go to dinner with your partner, buy yourself a bottle of your favorite drink, or watch a movie. Academics are very bad at valuing themselves for hard work. We are much better at valuing work with more work! But this is not a healthy way of life. Second, once the "pre-printed" version comes out online - this is a digital copy that's identical to the printed version - if your journal allows it, publish it on social media and upload it to your website. If your university has staff to publish work, be sure to contact them too.
I hope this article has helped you think through the process of sending journal articles! Please share if you feel helped.