5 reasons why journal articles get rejected and how to avoid them:
1. Article not a "good fit" for a journal
Say, a journal focuses on postcolonial writing and you submit a paper on a 19th century American novel.
Or, if you are submitting a paper to a journal like Carbon but the focus of your papers is not carbon.
Academic journals are very niche publications and if your paper does not fit in that niche, it will get rejected.
✔️Go to your target journal's website and read its aim and scope. Also read back issues from the last two years to learn about the "hidden curriculum" of that journal.
2. No clear argument
You either don't have an argument or you bury it under dozens of citations. Your readers don't want to read what others have said before you. They want to know what you have to say.
Present your argument as early and as clearly as possible. Ideally, your paper should start with a sentence like, "This paper argues..."
✔️Learn about frontloading your argument. Example: Benedict Anderson's book Imagined Communities. He presents his whole argument in the first seven pages of the book.
3. No engagement with recent scholarship
You don't engage with scholarship published during the last 2-5 years.
A journal article does not exist in a vacuum. It exists in a scholarly network and in conversation with the works of other scholars.
You don't have to necessarily agree/disagree with other scholars' work. But you must engage with it.
✔️Read latest scholarship in your field. Situate your argument with respect to other scholars' recently published works.
4. Submitting a student paper
You get an A on a seminar paper and submitted it to a journal thinking it's cutting-edge research. It is NOT. Don't do this. You will get rejected and it will shatter your confidence.
It is very easy for a journal editor to figure out if a submission is a student paper.
✔️Seek feedback from your professors. Revise and rewrite your seminar paper multiple times before submitting it.
5. Descriptive not analytic
Your want to write about a novel and start by giving its plot summary. Or, you conducted an experiment or a survey and you start describing every single thing you did during your experiment/survey.
✔️Analyze, don't describe. Always foreground your analysis and argument. If you think description is necessary for the reader, keep it as short as possible. Better yet, weave it with your argument.
This, of course, requires patience, training, and multiple drafts.
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1. Repost to share it with your friends and colleagues.
2. Follow me for regular posts on academic writing.
1. Article not a "good fit" for a journal
Say, a journal focuses on postcolonial writing and you submit a paper on a 19th century American novel.
Or, if you are submitting a paper to a journal like Carbon but the focus of your papers is not carbon.
Academic journals are very niche publications and if your paper does not fit in that niche, it will get rejected.
✔️Go to your target journal's website and read its aim and scope. Also read back issues from the last two years to learn about the "hidden curriculum" of that journal.
2. No clear argument
You either don't have an argument or you bury it under dozens of citations. Your readers don't want to read what others have said before you. They want to know what you have to say.
Present your argument as early and as clearly as possible. Ideally, your paper should start with a sentence like, "This paper argues..."
✔️Learn about frontloading your argument. Example: Benedict Anderson's book Imagined Communities. He presents his whole argument in the first seven pages of the book.
3. No engagement with recent scholarship
You don't engage with scholarship published during the last 2-5 years.
A journal article does not exist in a vacuum. It exists in a scholarly network and in conversation with the works of other scholars.
You don't have to necessarily agree/disagree with other scholars' work. But you must engage with it.
✔️Read latest scholarship in your field. Situate your argument with respect to other scholars' recently published works.
4. Submitting a student paper
You get an A on a seminar paper and submitted it to a journal thinking it's cutting-edge research. It is NOT. Don't do this. You will get rejected and it will shatter your confidence.
It is very easy for a journal editor to figure out if a submission is a student paper.
✔️Seek feedback from your professors. Revise and rewrite your seminar paper multiple times before submitting it.
5. Descriptive not analytic
Your want to write about a novel and start by giving its plot summary. Or, you conducted an experiment or a survey and you start describing every single thing you did during your experiment/survey.
✔️Analyze, don't describe. Always foreground your analysis and argument. If you think description is necessary for the reader, keep it as short as possible. Better yet, weave it with your argument.
This, of course, requires patience, training, and multiple drafts.
Found this post helpful?
1. Repost to share it with your friends and colleagues.
2. Follow me for regular posts on academic writing.
Shoutout to the wonderful folks at Jenni for making my work sustainable and rewarding.
Jenni is your AI-powered personal assistant for academic writing.
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"mushtaq20" for a 20% discount when you buy a subscription.
Jenni is your AI-powered personal assistant for academic writing.
Check it for free at Jenni(dot)ai.
"mushtaq20" for a 20% discount when you buy a subscription.
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