Poor writing, poor organisation and poor manuscript preparation are regularly cited by journal editors and reviewers as major reasons for the rejection of scientific articles. No matter how well a study is designed, or how important the results are, if the English is incomprehensible or full of errors or the list of references is half missing, the journal will reject it outright. Employing a scientific editor prior to submission is the ideal way to ensure that your papers impress reviewers from the first glance. Here’s three ways that scientific editing can polish your paper to perfection.

Perfect English and Grammar

The first task for a scientific editor is to check every sentence for grammatical correctness and clarity. For scientists with English as a second language, poor grammar or language mistakes are often the main reason for article rejection.

Peer reviewers do not have the time or patience to address poor language and so often they will reject an article without addressing the research or ideas simply because of the English.

Scientific editing will make sure that articles are never rejected due to language and grammar errors. The editors will proofread the entire document for grammar, syntax and spelling errors.

On top of that, they will also check for appropriate use of technical words and jargon to ensure that the language is accurate and clear.

At the end of the scientific editing process, the manuscript is guaranteed to be entirely error-free. With perfect English and grammar, your article will stand out from even those of native English writers.

Clear Focus on Your Contribution

A second reason often given for rejection of an article is lack of organisation, structure or clear argument. For example, inadequate description of methods, poor literature reviews and weak conclusions are often cited as reasons for rejection by journals.

If coherence and organisation are an issue, scientific editing will highlight problem areas and make suggestions to maximise the overall quality and strength of the manuscript.

Scientific editors are all trained to a postgraduate level in a scientific field and understand the complexity of scientific material. They will be able to clearly identify where there are logical gaps, missing information or weak argument and make appropriate suggestion for improvement.

At the end of the scientific manuscript editing process, the completed manuscript will have a strong, logical structure and a readable flow that draws reviewers in and convinces them of the importance of your contribution to your field.

Perfect Adherence to Journal Guidelines

Finally, journal guidelines and author instructions are a significant test of a scientist’s patience. Even with referencing software, making sure that your reference lists, citations and abbreviations all conform to the exacting requirements of each individual journal takes up an enormous amount of time. But failure to adhere to the guidelines in any way can result in rejection.

Scientific editing will take the hassle out of making sure that your manuscript complies with every part of journal guidelines, and perfect adherence will make your article stand out from the others. Your scientific editor will check every reference, citation and technical word to ensure that it complies with your chosen journal’s standards.

The finished, edited manuscript will be ready to submit and one step closer to publication success!