Rejections pave the pay for good future publications. Do not be disheartened.

Best of luck.

During the past 3 months, I submitted three article to one of my favorite journals (Neurology) and 2 of the articles got rejected straightaway (I received rejection after 5 days). One of the articles made it with minor revision and I'm waiting for the response.

I submitted one of the rejected articles to another journal and it got accepted and published.

What I do with frustration? I anticipate it before submitting the article to the journal. I make a list of the journals I want to submit to before submitting to my first choice and I anticipate this rejection. After I get the message, I wait for several days to deal with my emotions, make some corrections, follow author guidelines of the other journal and then submit it to my 2nd choice journal..

Hi,

There is always a certain percent of rejections to papers sent for publication. Even Nobel Prize winners have a percentage of rejections (if it is any consolation). Usually this is a discouraging feeling, but one has to see why the paper was rejected, what are the reasons. If it happened because the paper was not in the aim and scope of the journal, then the only thing to do is find another journal that will accept the paper. If the reason relates to the content and format of writing, then the best thing to do is to improve the paper and find another journal where it can be published.

For me, 3-4 rejections before a final publication are common. :-) This is the same with my colleagues who serve as a assistant/associate professor. People are getting more rejections than we thought. I hope that a new researcher does not be discouraged by such a rejection. The rejection actually very much depends on the editor-in-chief or associate editor's preference rather than a quality of the paper. My work is about nursing setting-based businesses administration. Most of nursing journals gave a desk reject. The reason was "out of the scope." I am concerned about this trend. No matter how innovative and promising the work is, if the paper would not be read/understood/cited by the nurse science community, it is actually hard to bring out a significant change in a way of thinking or in nursing practice.

Thank you all Alli Noah Subir Bandyopadhyay Essam Al-Sibahee Avishag Gordon

Dear Claire,

The cause of rejections that I have usually received before publication is that my English language that is not native. However, their number is not high.I wish scientists to help those who do not speak English fluent. A global movement is needed. Many of their good works are rejected for this reason!

Thank you for your contribution to this discussion Nader Aghakhani

Actually that's depends on the subject that researcher work on, if he or she worked on old topic that no one still interest in, or may be the researcher didn't add any things new or useful in his or her article, that things don't allow your paper to be accepted. also the researcher must support the results that he/she got with applications through the examples, figures and do the simulations or use any things can support the results. In addition the author should care for the language, the structure and the the order of the paper.

Hi

I had papers that was accepted without revision, papers that was rejected in 24 hours, and papers that was accepted after 4 years times and after more than 20 revise and reject process. Sometimes the problem is with the chief editor, and sometimes with the reviewers. The rejection of papers containing new and innovative ideas is more common, that is because most persons think that the work in their field is complete, in general, and only refinements is needed!

For example, In the field of earthquake engineering, a fragility curve is constructed via 100 of 1000s of time history nonlinear dynamic analyses. I detected, and logically verified that the fragility curve is a property of the structure and can be constructed with a few simple calculation, that more than million times simpler and more accurate than the common methods. The journals reject in 24 hours and colleague throw it in garbage bin!

But I am not depressed. Sometimes in future this will become the common practice.

I was the Editor-in-Chief of two separate scholarly journals in my field -- for a total of 10 years. Both had an acceptance rate of 12%.

It is quite a different view from the Editor's desk than from the Author's. Many of the rejected manuscripts sent to my journals were just unsuitable: topics were not original, inadequate research or evidence to prove the premise, too short/too long, more suitable for another publication, redundant of the extant literature -- or ignorant thereof, etc.

As for my own history with rejection letters as an author, I've received 4 in my 40-year career: 2 were published in other journals, having been rejected on inappropriate grounds: in one, my thesis was deemed to be "anti-Christian" by a grad student zealot on the Editorial Board (she was fired); the referee on the other one said that my compare/contrast essay should only be about ONE text, when the whole point WAS the comparison. (I ended up writing about the one text and it was published in a book anthology.)

The other two that were rejected (with an invitation to "Revise and Resubmit") were dis-approved on legitimate scholarly grounds: they were both a little dated and I was unwilling (due to time constraints) to update them, as was recommended by the anonymous readers.

For me, frustration only came to play for the essays that were turned down without good cause. And I channeled that frustration into finding a more suitable venue for my ideas.

Abdolrasoul Ranjbaran I was moved to see your advice. Yes, right. I strongly agree with you. My program of research is also radical. It may thus make the mainstream researchers uncomfortable. My papers continue to be rejected for that reason. I am really sad to see that such peer pressure leads to a retrogression in advancing science.

In my field, after some rejections, it is complicated to publish your work, especially in high-quality journals. Choosing the right outlet is essential while developing a paper, in terms of writing style, selection of the literature (which should, at least partially, come from that specific journal), and so on. Try to engage with known scholars as coauthors, and try to learn from them. It will get better!

I have noticed that several of the scholars/researchers who have been rejected seem to be non-native speakers of English. If they are attempting to publish in English, I hope that they have the forethought to have their submissions proofread in advance. (This may explain why they are rejected so quickly, "out of hand," without a thorough review.)

Incidentally, I am available to perform copyediting and proofreading services for almost all academic fields.

Rejections are part of the learning process and developing your own critical view to become a good professional. Either if you are a new researcher or more experienced, you may get eventually some rejections. The best is to be aware if your work is really matching the journal, conference interests and get some review/s from a professional colleague if possible before submitting. If you get rejected, ask for some feedback in case it's not provided, it always help you to spot what to improve. To deal with frustration, breath and be gentle with yourself, accept it, there are many reasons why they reject a paper, and sometimes its as simple as they have to select due to a high volume of applicants so they go for minor details to discard and in the worst case your work is very weak in many aspects, then keep practicing and get a mentor, keep learning, it never ends.

Good luck!!

Admittedly, paper rejections are painful to scholars ; however, they are a central part of academic growth. Such events should not be fatal; rather, they should give us the courage to continue . As Idowu Koyenikan righty observes, “Failure is constructive feedback that tells you to try a different approach to accomplish what you want.”

I have had papers rejected and am hoping a journal will publish my work on Tourism Management based on Sustainability issues

I experienced this feeling for the first time yesterday. I sent my article to a journal I liked so much that I received an email in less than 24 hours that my article had been rejected. I don't feel well and I hope to have less of this experience in the future.

It is the first manuscript that I've written ever. I sent my article to another journal this morning and I hope to get a better answer.

The experience can be a huge disappointment. My rejection experience was from the response that the theme of my work was not on the priority list of the journal. How did I respond? ..and how I will respond in the future?

1. Quickly glance through the comments and notify co-authors and encouraging each of us to consider the comments to bring newer opinions to improve the paper.

2. Thank the journal/reviewers/editors for spending time to review it.

3. Review their comments and carefully considering them after 3-7 days.

4. Revise, reformat and resubmit elsewhere.

I am experiencing similar situation. Its realy hard to accept the rejections. In my case, most of the time, the editor rejected by notifying the article not fit in the journal's scope; however, it is not the case always. I believe the author's profile does contribute alot. Further, it depends on the reviewers, in many cases, the right reviewer didn't select by the editor.

Though rejections hurt alot, but do remember these rejections are beneficial for improvement in your article. As Ali Raza Khoso said the reviewers do play a factor in the decision and their rejection will certainly improve your article, however, the hardest rejection is when the editor rejects it, citing this manuscript does not fit in the journal's scope, although in my case, it covered almost 100% of the scope of the journal.

My experience has taught me to accept these rejections and keep updating, improving the manuscript and keep submitting in different journal, and after 8 9 journal rejections by the editor, I finally got those articles in reputed journal.

Another parameter which my friends have told is that the names/profile of author and co-authors also influence the decision, however, in my experience, I do not agree with this being universal.

If you believe that you have a new idea with strong justification in manuscript then you can get it published in high impact factor with minor revision. If your manuscript originality is questionable and it replicates others idea. So don't waste time of editor and reviewer. I believe novelty takes time to achieve.

Do the best before a submission, take a rest after rejections. 😊

Hi,

Every researcher, even Nobel prize winners have a certain percentage of rejection to their papers. It could be because the subject is not in line with the aims and scope of the journal, or any other reason. Despite the frustration cause by the rejection, it seems that the author should look ahead positively, and try another journal, or follow the reviewers' comments and correct the paper accordingly, and then send it again.

Paper rejection is a huge disappointment, however, it gives you an opportunity to make your work better. Let me share my experience about paper rejection. I submitted a paper in a Q2 journal, after a period of around three weeks of double blind peer review, I received a mail from the journal editor showing "Major Revisions". We sat and discussed with the co-authors to address the comments from the reviewers, and then re-submitted again. After 7 days, we received another mail with the subject "Minor Revisions". We tried revising the paper and re-submitted again. The next mail we received was "paper declined for publication- Encourage Resubmission." When we read the content of the mail, the editor encouraged to make significant revisions or add new data in the manuscript to warrant further consideration for publication of the manuscript.This time, we were not given time limit to make revisions. We later made significant revisions and resubmitted again. The final message we received was " Declined for Publication." The editor-in-charge later clarified that the decision was based on the comments of external experts who carefully peer-reviewed the paper. She however encouraged to incorporate the reviewers' suggestions into the paper and submit else where. As authors, we were heart-broken, but never lost hope. We downloaded all the review reports (from the first two peer reviewers, and the reports from external experts). We did a significant change to the manuscript and submitted the same manuscript to a Q1 journal. The paper was peer reviewed again. After three months, the editor sent revisions from the reviewers, we worked on them carefully and submitted again. Finally, we received a message saying "Manuscript accepted."

Moral lesson

1. Never lose hope when the paper is rejected. It gives you as an author a chance to learn new things and modify your work.

2. Always analyse the reviewers reports critically. It's always better to take time while responding to reviewer's comments, and the responses have to be appropriate.

3. Always appreciate the work done by the reviewers. Their comments are valuable, constructive and vital for the benefit of the authors.

Thank you Claire Su-Yeon Park for raising this important topic. It is vital for us (young researchers) to learn from other researcher's experience.

Thank you Claire Su-Yeon Park for this question,

In the last 7 months I published two papers. One of the research paper was rejected by one of the journal in Scopus (Q2) because of the journal's policy to refuse any figure form in which you do not have the copyright.

At first I felt frustrated, but came back again and took advantage of the notes that were written down on the paper and tried again, and it was published days ago.

Thank you Claire Su-Yeon Park for this question,

In the last 7 months I published two papers. One of the research paper was rejected by one of the journal in Scopus (Q2) because of the journal's policy to refuse any figure form in which you do not have the copyright.

At first I felt frustrated, but came back again and took advantage of the notes that were written down on the paper and tried again, and it was published days ago.

Dealing with this issue since a long time with recently research paper , one of paper is revised twice with in 5 month duration , waiting for decision further. One paper rejected twice and another rejected immediately by the editor .

Hi,

A rejection is not accepted lightly, because the author invested a lot in his paper, and the decision to accept it or not is actually evaluative, and kind of "gives a grade" to the paper, so, a rejection symbolizes a low grade, and it is not accepted lightly. However, a rejection from one journal does not mark the "end of the road" for this paper, and the author could try another journal, and also revise his paper as much as he can.

Rejection will always make our work better

Hi,

Everyone experienced a paper rejection now or then, and it does not mean necessarily that the paper in unworthy, but rather that it is not in the scope of the journal. Luckily, we have so a choice of many journals where to send our paper in case of rejection.

Dear Claire Su-Yeon Park I experienced first rejection for one of my papers. The decision came after almost 1 year of submission that's why I felt hurt. The interesting part was, with the help of editorial comments, I again corrected my article and submitted it to a new journal which was published in a first attempt. With this experience, I now, usually submit my articles to big journals where I seek good editorial and review comments from genuine experts in first hand, later, if rejected, I correct it based on their suggestions and submit to a new publisher (which may have comparatively less impact factor). The advantage of this is that you publish a good article on whether or not the publisher is highly impactful.

Dear Claire Su-Yeon Park last 2 months I have experienced a lot of rejection. One of my research papers was rejected 8 times by Scopus (Q1) because of no novelty. Paper rejection is a huge disappointment, however, it gives you an opportunity to make your work better. Now my research paper is under review in the Q1 journal I am waiting for a reviewer's comment.

Thank you for raising this important topic. It is vital for young researchers to learn from other researcher's experiences. I have learned a lot from other researchers' experiences.

I have been rejected several times (some of them justified and some others not really) but, what I´ve learned is that sometimes this rejection is tougher in not IF journals than in IF ones. The same paper has been rejected in what I called "wanna be IF journal but still not" and accepted in IF ones.

Hi,

Every researcher experiences several rejections during his publication history. It is disappointing, but one should not take rejection as a "dead end", and it is suggested that he will make an effort to revise the paper .It is possible to change the focus of the paper, and rearrange the data, and send the paper again, to another journal.

Thanks for raising this important and timely discussion point. While I was coining the publishable idea it was seemed to me excellent, but this might not be the case. My paper was rejected several times. Now I have started thinking over it. Still the idea is not bad but it requires flushing out the novelty of the idea and will submit it again although a potential danger for rejection may appear. Still will not frustrate and refine it further and one day it will have closure by lending itself somewhere.

Dear Claire Su-Yeon Park every serious researcher eperiences occasional rejections. We must learn how to deal with them in a professional manner. My advice would be to make all suggested corrections and submit the revised manuscript to another (better?) journal. During the past 40+ years of chemical research we were lucky because less than ca. 5% of our manuscripts have ever been rejected.

Please see this useful article entitled "What to Do When Your Paper Is Rejected":

Article What to Do When Your Paper Is Rejected

Dear Claire Su-Yeon Park please also note that there is a closely related RG thread entitled

"How do you emotionally deal with your paper rejection?"

https://www.researchgate.net/post/How-do-you-emotionally-deal-with-your-paper-rejection

The question has received 27 answers, some of them might be useful.

Understanding of the reason(s) of rejection will help you to get over it.

Thanks for the information , particularly for bigginers this experience share is vital

Depends on whether its a desk rejection or a post peer-review rejection. Desk rejections primarily depend on a number of factors such as the number of articles that a journal recieves, interest of the journal, presence of a similar topic in pipeline,etc. Unless you recieve specific comments about your manuscript such as, there is nothing novel in your manuscript, desk rejections should not be taken too seriously. Just move on and submit to another journal (With a better or similar impact factor. For post peer-review rejections, certain decisions by the editors may be too harsh. Just incorporate the comments of peer reviewers and move on.

Dear @Claire Su-Yeon Park, Though this question was asked a long time ago, I wish to share my experience.

Once I experienced rejection of one of my papers. It was in Bengali and to write a research paper in Bengali is many times more tough than in English. I was very frustrated and it was too painful for me to accept the rejection. I then decided to submit it in a new journal. I had to re-write the paper according to the guidelines of the new journal and due to its lesser word limits, I had to work harder then. And at last, it was published.

Though that rejection killed much of my time, it created an opportunity to publish in a better journal than that.

I contributed to this discussion quite some time ago -- about my own experiences as both an author and an Editor-in-Chief of two scholarly publications for a total of 10 years. Today, I'll address a more recent trend, especially in Humanities and Social Science journals: a party-line "P.C." viewpoint now common at many academic journals. Several editors and editorial board members see their subject (and life in general) through a narrow political lens and they therefore reject submissions based on their ideology. Alternatively, they ask authors to revise and incorporate their ideas, references, and worldview, even if irrelevant to your thesis. Many submissions are completely misunderstood when approached from such a limited perspective. I, foe instance, submitted an essay on Dark Humor in the Italian film, LIFE IS BEAUTIFUL, and was insulted to read that the journal editor and a reviewer both believed that my article glorified Italian Fascism and the Holocaust!

As a junior researcher, I've got 2 rejections for my paper. On the other I hand I had one accepted paper.

Yes, I agree with Frank P. Tomasulo. Sometimes submissions are rejected for personal ideologies of the editor/s also. @Frank P. Tomasulo

Impossible is nothing.

Thank you so much to Claire Su-Yeon Park for asking this question. The answer's from many, sound very helpful.

There is a difference between desk and post-peer-review rejections. A journal's interest, the quantity of papers submitted, whether or not another paper on a related issue is already in the works, and other variables all have a role in the amount of desk rejections. Desk rejections should not be taken too seriously until you get specific remarks about your book such as, "There is nothing innovative in your manuscript." Simply go on to another journal (with a higher or comparable impact factor.) and submit your work there. Certain editors' judgments in post-peer-review rejections may be unduly severe. It's best to just absorb the feedback from your peers and move on.

If you are aiming at high journals, then rejection is sometimes expected. Take note of the reviewer(s) recommendations and advice if any, and either resubmit to the same journal or search for another one with suitable scope.

I think Frank P. Tomasulo 's submissions are worth ruminating on.

During my master's and Ph.D. degree, I actively published in high-quality IEEE journals with an impact factor of 10+. For all those papers, I received major revisions, and the papers got accepted after submitting the revised manuscripts.

Unfortunately, research paper rejection is one of the worst feelings which we face as a researcher. We should handle it as a process and here are a few steps which you can follow.

Regarding your question, "how to deal with the frustration", I am sharing two blog posts, which focus on the same issue and can answer your question.

How to Deal with Research Paper Rejection

https://www.studycatch.com/2022/01/how-to-deal-with-research-paper-rejection/

15 Key Peer-Review Terminologies: The ABC of Research Publications

https://www.studycatch.com/2021/12/15-key-peer-review-terminologies/

Please remember, we often say rejection is part of the process. In my opinion, there are a few things that can maximize the chances of a research paper's acceptance.

1. One should clearly define the motivation and the contributions in the paper.

2. If possible, there should be a comparison with the existing approaches. Clearly, show how your work is better than the existing solutions.

3. Importantly, the paper should match the scope of the journal.

4. Approach and research should be clearly defined. e.g., how you achieve the results?

5. Avoid typos, grammatical mistakes and cite the latest papers. It is great to cite some papers from the same journal, which shows already some similar work has been published in this journal.

6. Follow all the guidelines about page limit, number of words, tables, and figures.

Unfortunately, if the paper gets rejected. That's not a big deal, learn from the feedback and resubmit.

Nice response Dr. @Muhammad Asadullah. Thank you.

Never take a rejection as a bad news. Rather your manuscript is rejected because it does not fulfill the acceptance criteria of the journal. A rejection is always fruitful when the reasons is given, and help to improve the qualities of your manuscript for futur submission. Never be discouraged of rejection, there is always a place for publication for good manuscript.

I get 2 to 3 rejections before publishing. Usually after each rejection i would take some time off the paper and its long list of comments, then come back at a later time to respond to all comments.

As an upcoming researcher, I anticipate rejections and have grown to deal with the frustrations that come along with it. One of my recent published articles got rejected by about 9 journals between 2019 and 2021. Out of these , 4 were desk rejections while 5 went through at least 3 rounds of peer review. Reasons for rejection were for me very flimsy however, by the time I incorporated all of the review comments, the manuscript came out top-notch and got accepted for publication by the journal that eventually published it after two rounds of review.

The take away is you must anticipate rejections and be ready to rework each time you get rejected.