220117P - HOW TO PUBLISH YOUR PAPER

Presented at a postgraduate research workshop at King Fahad Medical City Riyadh on January 17, 2022 11.30am-12.10pm by Omar Hasan Kasule Sr Professor of Epidemiology and Bioethics MB ChB (MUK), MPH (Harvard), DrPH (Harvard).

CHOOSE THE JOURNAL

• Success in publication is based on a correct matching to the journal
• Aim at high-impact journals if your research was original, rigorous, and has substantial detail.
• Keep the journal in mind even during the research. Do not start writing unless you have a journal in mind with alternatives
• Check the background of the journal including websites of predatory journals
• Read published articles in the chosen journal to make sure they are similar to what you plan to submit

CHECK YOUR MANUSCRIPT CAREFULLY

• Review the journal’s instructions to authors and follow them word by word
• Use margins and line spacings that the journal instructs
• Start each section of the manuscript on a new page
• All pages are numbered
• Figured and legends are grouped on separate page(s) at the back of the manuscript. Some journals ask you to put them in the text
• Make sure you follow word or page limits and also submit the acceptable number of illustrations. They must be of the quality accepted by the paper.

CHECK FOR GRAMMAR AND SPELLING MISTAKES

• Use spelling and grammar checkers but treat them as alerts sometimes they mislead you
• Spell checkers do not pick up a wrong word correctly spelled
• Spell checkers do not pick up missing words
• Having someone who did not see the manuscript before read through his fresh eye may see mistakes you missed
• Read the manuscript loud to yourself

SUBMISSION PROCESS

• Most submissions use online systems which allow you to track the progress of the paper
• Make sure you have correctly uploaded the last version of the manuscript and have uploaded the illustrations
• The online submission system may ask for additional information if it does not have the information included in the cover letter
• The cover letter from the corresponding author provides context for the paper. It should mention that the paper is original and has not been submitted to any other journal
• The cover letter should confirm that all authors contributed and may describe the contribution of each one
• Make sure you get a confirmation of receipt

HOW TO HANDLE EDITORS

• Distinguish between the roles of the editor and the managing editor and know how to deal with each one
• An editor is a volunteer scientist who accepts or rejects the manuscript. He also chooses the peer reviewers
• The managing editor is a full-time paid manager in charge of administrative details
• The manuscript editor checks your manuscript for consistency with the journal’s policies. He corrects grammar and spellings and may send you queries to clarify
• Respond promptly and politely to all editor queries. Do not start a fight with them. Do not try to prove you were right. Just do what they want. If they ask for something you already submitted just resubmit it

 

THE REVIEW PROCESS

• You must understand the review process to avoid making mistakes
• The editor makes an initial assessment: is the subject matter of interest to the journal? Is the manuscript complete? Does it follow the editorial style of the journal?
• The editor decides which manuscripts shall be sent to peer review and which ones shall be rejected outright
• The editor chooses 2 or more peer reviewers
• The review process is double-blind; both authors and reviewers are blinded
• Reviewer comments help the author even if the article is not accepted

DEALING WITH THE EDITOR’S DECISIONS

• If all reviewers are unanimous the editor’s decision is easy.
• If reviewers disagree the editor chooses an additional reviewer
• The editor’s decision is to accept, reject or modify. In good journals few papers are accepted as submitted there are always some revisions, minor or major. The rejected and modify letters are accompanied by the reviewers’ comments. Rejections are not all of the same degree: major flaws, can be revised, good but not competitive
• Do not fear contacting the editor about the decision. They are not enemies. They are on your side

 

RESPONDING TO THE EDITOR

• In your response rewrite the manuscript to include all criticisms you can reasonably accept and clarify points that were misunderstood by the reviewers. Make it easy for the editor to see where you made changes by using markup
• Attach a letter itemizing all you did. Your rebuttal of reviewer comments should not be antagonistic. If the comments were numbered follow the same numbers in your response
• You may resubmit the corrected manuscript to the journal that rejected it or you may submit it to another journal
• Try to meet the resubmission deadlines
• Follow up with the journal if you hear nothing within 8 weeks

HOW TO DEAL WITH PROOFS

• The copy editor corrects spellings and punctuations, checks abbreviations and units of measure, and revises writing to improve readability
• The copy editor may send queries
• You approve the final version. Check the proofs carefully. First read then study. Reading the proof backward is a sure way of detecting errors. The typesetting process may introduce errors you did not make
• You need to know how to mark the corrections for the typesetter to fix or if you agree you can correct them straightaway. Return proofs before the expiry of the deadline.
• Do not make additions to proofs
• You can add new references with the journal’s permission
• Check that all illustrations are present and are complete

PUBLICISING YOUR PAPER

• Use social media
• ORCID
• ResearchGate