Peer review · 9 pages
Peer review & submission
A guide to navigating peer review and journal submission, from manuscript drafting and cover letters to handling revisions and editorial decisions.
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All 9 peer review & manuscript submission pages
Desk Rejection
A desk rejection occurs at the initial screening stage of the journal submission process. Upon receiving a manuscript, the editor-in-chief or an associate editor evaluates it for basic suitability. If the manuscript lacks alignment with the journal's scope, suffers from severe linguistic issues, fails to adhere to submission guidelines, or does not present a sufficiently novel scientific contribution, the editor will reject it immediately. This decision saves time for both the editorial board and external reviewers, allowing authors to quickly revise their work or submit it to a more suitable outlet.
DefinitionRevise and Resubmit
A revise and resubmit decision is one of the most common outcomes of the first round of peer review. It indicates that the editor and reviewers believe the manuscript's core ideas are valuable, but the presentation, methodology, analysis, or discussion requires improvement. The decision is not a guarantee of acceptance; rather, it is an invitation to refine the paper. Authors are expected to submit a revised manuscript along with a detailed, point-by-point response letter explaining how they addressed each reviewer's comment.
DefinitionMajor Revisions
A major revisions decision is issued when a manuscript has significant merits but also has substantial flaws that prevent immediate acceptance. These issues might include weaknesses in the research design, insufficient statistical power, incomplete literature reviews, or poorly structured arguments. To proceed, authors must undertake a thorough overhaul of the paper. This often involves gathering new data or performing additional analyses, followed by a rigorous rewriting process and the preparation of a comprehensive response document.
DefinitionManuscript Submission
Manuscript submission is the administrative and academic entry point to the publishing pipeline. Authors must prepare their research according to the target journal's specific guidelines, ensuring correct formatting of text, references, figures, and tables. The submission is typically managed through online platforms (such as Editorial Manager or ScholarOne), where authors input metadata, declare conflicts of interest, list funding sources, suggest potential reviewers, and submit a cover letter.
DefinitionCover Letter for Journal Submission
The cover letter is the author's primary opportunity to pitch their manuscript directly to the journal editor. Rather than merely repeating the abstract, a well-crafted cover letter contextualises the study, highlighting its main findings, scientific impact, and alignment with the journal's readership. It also serves an administrative purpose by containing mandatory declarations, such as statements of original work, lack of dual submission, and agreement of all co-authors.
DefinitionEditor-in-Chief
The editor-in-chief holds ultimate editorial authority and responsibility for the journal's content and reputation. Working closely with publishers, associate editors, and the editorial board, the EiC ensures that the journal maintains high academic standards and ethical practices. While they may delegate the handling of individual papers to associate or section editors, the EiC establishes the overall policies, resolves appeals and ethical disputes, and drives the journal's strategic growth, including indexing and impact factor management.
DefinitionEditorial Board
The editorial board is the governing and advisory body of a scholarly journal. Comprising established researchers in the journal's discipline, the board provides expertise across various subspecialties. Members serve several functions: they help maintain the quality of publications by acting as handling editors or peer reviewers, suggest thematic special issues, encourage submissions from their networks, and advise the editor-in-chief on strategic policy changes.
DefinitionCall for Papers
A call for papers is a mechanism used to solicit scholarly contributions on a specific topic, theme, or discipline. In journal publishing, CFPs are commonly used to compile 'special issues' or 'thematic sections' guest-edited by experts in a niche area. For academic conferences, the CFP invites researchers to submit abstracts or full papers for oral presentations and poster sessions, establishing the scope and timeline of the academic gathering.
DefinitionAbstract Submission
Abstract submission is the primary step in participating in academic conferences and symposia. An abstract serves as a condensed version of the research, outlining the background, methods, results, and conclusions in a limited word count (usually 150 to 300 words). Organisers evaluate these submissions to determine the relevance and quality of the research, categorising accepted works into oral presentations, panel discussions, or poster sessions.
