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There are some very common reasons why journal papers get rejected, often by the editor. They don\u2019t even make it to review. Here\u2019s the seven deadly paper writing sins:<\/p>\n
(1) The paper\u00a0doesn\u2019t fit the journal<\/strong>. It\u2019s very important to check out the specific journal for which you re writing and tailor the paper to fit it. Journals can be thought of as conversations, and each paper as an entry into an ongoing conversation about a particular topic. That\u2019s why it\u2019s important to always see what other papers there have been on the same topic in the journal you are aiming for. If there\u2019s nothing, there may well be a reason, namely, the journal isn\u2019t interested in the topic.<\/p>\n (2) The paper is\u00a0overcrowded with ideas<\/strong>. It lacks focus. Most journal papers have one point to make, they work with one idea, one angle.<\/p>\n (3) The paper\u00a0doesn\u2019t reassure the reader<\/strong>\u00a0that the research is trustworthy, in other words, that it has been well designed, thoroughly conducted and fits within a recognizable tradition of work. Different disciplines require different levels of detail about how the research was conducted, with whom or what, where, how often, how many \u2026 The vast majority of journals require you to write about that is methodology and\/or about your methods.<\/p>\n (4) There\u2019s\u00a0no sense that the paper is adding anything new<\/strong>. The writer hasn\u2019t been able to summarise what\u2019s already known about the topic, and what this paper adds. They might just report a piece of research without being able to say why it\u2019s important, and why people need to know about it or what should happen now that they do. In other words, there\u2019s no So What and no Now What.<\/p>\n (5) The\u00a0writing sounds very inexperienced<\/strong>. This usually means that the paper is front loaded with too much literature and lacks a strong conclusion that deals with the So What, Now What questions. But it can be because there is too much time spent on method, or the paper is weighted too heavily to results, or there isn\u2019t enough grounding for the study, or enough analysis.<\/p>\n