Recently, the editor of an- free of charge- international journal wasted our time. She woke up after 4 months by our inquiry; "how long it takes to provide us with the first feedback". The reviewers, after 3 working days, answered back, and finally rejected our manuscript. It's not the first time that editors and reviewers do so.
The question, not only from them but from other reviewers, is: have you had been intentionally planned to waste our time due to our nationality and affiliations?
I know many weak published papers -even from known universities and not-sanctioned countries- which I wonder why this is published in journals.
I would like to share my experience:
Discrimination does exist. Some people who discriminate others do not even aware of it. My family name is not a typical English one, so I know what you are unhappy with.
I think one solution is to make ourselves internationalised. For example:
1. If possible, make sure you have had English publications. Some editors check author profile. If none of the previous publications is in English, the editors might assume "s/he is not international enough" or "s/he is new", which are possible to bring discrimination.
2. Attend international conferences.
3. Quantify your ability and show it online. For example, the H-index, citation, RG score, etc.
4. When writing the content, not only involve the local issues but also international ones. I was also invited to review papers, and I personally don’t like the papers focusing too much on local issues, because the conclusions might not apply to other contexts, therefore, the academic value could be limited. I am not saying we cannot conduct studies on our countries; I mean we need to make sure our conclusions are of wider implications. For example, I will not analyse the “Chinese educational policies” (which are very easy to be discriminated), but I will analyse “the test-oriented educational policies: examples in China”. I will also try every possible means to involve participants in other countries to make the results validated.
5. Polish the language. The unauthentic language greatly and negatively influence the editors’ and researchers’ decisions. It’s not easy for non-native speakers. I have been bothered by this for a long time.
Hope you find these helpful.
I would like to share my experience:
Discrimination does exist. Some people who discriminate others do not even aware of it. My family name is not a typical English one, so I know what you are unhappy with.
I think one solution is to make ourselves internationalised. For example:
1. If possible, make sure you have had English publications. Some editors check author profile. If none of the previous publications is in English, the editors might assume "s/he is not international enough" or "s/he is new", which are possible to bring discrimination.
2. Attend international conferences.
3. Quantify your ability and show it online. For example, the H-index, citation, RG score, etc.
4. When writing the content, not only involve the local issues but also international ones. I was also invited to review papers, and I personally don’t like the papers focusing too much on local issues, because the conclusions might not apply to other contexts, therefore, the academic value could be limited. I am not saying we cannot conduct studies on our countries; I mean we need to make sure our conclusions are of wider implications. For example, I will not analyse the “Chinese educational policies” (which are very easy to be discriminated), but I will analyse “the test-oriented educational policies: examples in China”. I will also try every possible means to involve participants in other countries to make the results validated.
5. Polish the language. The unauthentic language greatly and negatively influence the editors’ and researchers’ decisions. It’s not easy for non-native speakers. I have been bothered by this for a long time.
Hope you find these helpful.
Only send articles to high impact journals and make sure it is proof read first and that the Abstract and methodology are excellent
Dear Azam Nemati Chermahini ,
Your Question is relevant. Thanks for asking. I am waiting for replies.
I understand your sense. I was also rejected for many times. I think the rejection of a paper may due to many issues, including paper's quality and irresponsibility of editor, even nationality and gender. I hope you could be strong and feel confident in your research. And as they say, polish your skills and works, and try high impact journals or conferences. They are more likely be impartial and to give your good suggestions.
I think no, evaluation of academic activities are completely depend on the quality and the scientific content of the submitted materials.
Regards,
Emad
Presentation "IF YOU WANT TO...", by: Asst. Prof. Dr. Emad Kamil
I don't think reputed journals/publisher don't do this to any author's menuscript.
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