Can you identify someone in your field who is proficient in English and has already published papers in your domain? They may be native speakers or non-native.

Do not get frustrated or disappointed with the rejections. Seek a way out. You might have done a qualitatively good study, but unable to present it in an acceptable manner. In the beginning of your research path, rejections may be de-motivating. But do not stop doing research and sending manuscripts for publication.

There could be someone who edits the paper without expecting to be a co-author as your study may not be his/her domain.

Sometimes the manuscript is rejected based on the institution or university to which the authors are affiliated - which may be from non-US, non-UK, non-Canada or non-Australia. There could be problems with the flow, grammar and textual content within the manuscripts submitted from such countries. At the same time, there are very good papers published from such countries in peer-reviewed journals. The authors might have the fluency in the language even though they are non-native. Or some authors might have taken a professional's help. Nowadays, there are many such services where editing of the MS is done.

Sridhar Sambatur Dear Sir,

Thank you for your kind gesture and motivational words.

Yes, I can identify those who are proficient and have already published papers in the same domain. They are full professors, and I have also cited their work in my MS. However, I don't know how to ask such experts to collab or proofread my work. I roughly approached a few, but no response so far; they might be busy as they are full professors and will have other MS or Ph.D. scholars' responsibilities.

Talking about affiliation, I have no idea about such a thing, so I give the benefit of the doubt. Besides, regarding professional help, there are editorial services, but they are quite expensive for a student to bear such an amount. Therefore, approaching someone to be a co-author (native) would be a fair deal for both parties. Meanwhile, if any advice on approaching such experts, I'll be grateful to you.

Regards,

Dear Nilesh,

It is an interesting and important set of questions that you have ask, so permit me to share my thoughts with you on this.

1): how do you ask someone from the same field to modify/proofread your manuscript?

You may ask qualified colleagues to read your manuscript and provide his/ her thoughts and feedback, however, you should not expect your colleagues or supervisor to proofread/ modify for you. Also there is a limited number of times you can approach the same person, really.

Often it is better to get professional proofreader, with experience in the discipline, to do the task, and it matters as their ability= their fees. You will be surprised to hear that even full professors from Singapore, Australia, the UK or US have their favourite proofreader and typically it costs about USD600 to proofread a polished manuscript for inconsistencies prior submission. Such services are essential especially for non-native writers, and especially critical for submission to top ranked journals since the process is highly competitive. Hence we often like to seal the deal with a well formed paper that reads very well at first submission.

2): how do you develop trust in that person?

It would be a trial and error at first as you try different proofreaders, and you can compare the quality of work returned by the professional proofreader. Typically a colleague may not able able to dedicate extensive time (unless he is a co-author) to polish up your work or restructure the logic of your paper. I have asked native speakers/ English teachers to assist me previously, versus a good professional proofreader, which the outcome is very different!

3): if one agrees to proofread and modify, which rank he/she deserves on the authors' list?

It would be unethical for someone who proofreads to be a co-author, even though he/she is a native writer, as he/she provides little intellectual contributions.

However, asking a colleague to improve/ restructure your arguments and flow would be completely different :)

4): is it okay to approach a full professor to do this task?

You can definitely approach them to collaborate with you. However, top professors have their commitments (as you mentioned) or their common collaborators whom they have worked with. Therefore it is less likely they will be interested, unless they see great potential in your research analysis.

Hope this sharing is useful

Kind regards

Prof Kuah

Dear Nilesh,

Many professional agencies provide now good services in proofreading and improving English texts, so I do not need to invite a native-English co-author to make your manuscript acceptable if it already has good methods, sufficient data and assertive results and discussion.

Quite the opposite. Sometimes working with a native English speaker makes your article (especially in humanities) so well written, that this provokes jealousy from non-native English speaking reviewers and they start to play fools with your paper.

From the practical point of view, the best point to invite a co-author is when you receive "major revision" from a respectable journal, and especially when reviewers have already approved your main ideas and results but asked to express them more clearly. In addition, no one will step in unless she/he feels that the paper is

1) is in her/his area of expertise

2) contains fresh ideas

3) requires some intellectual contribution from that person

4) will not compromise her/his reputation to be submitted to low-grade journal.

Dear Prof. Adrian Kuah,

Your answers are quite impressive and to the point. Thank you so much for your thorough response!

I want to put another question in your court, and that is, my MS went under review for a top-tier journal (JOM); their reviews were constructive, but they did not mention anything about language. How do you see this response by such a good journal? Unfortunately, MS got rejected based on other reasons. Also, any guideline for approaching someone for improving and restructuring MS.

Thanks in anticipation!

Regards,

Nielsh

Dear Prof. Igor Gurkov,

Thanks for the different insights. Prof., if I receive "major revision" from a respectable journal with the approval, what would you recommend; professional help or co-authorship with a native?

Usually, as you mentioned the jealousy factor, I have received comments on language from the low impact factor journal. High impact journals have never commented anything about language. Does the low IF journal have non-native English speaking reviewers? Giving you the benefit of the doubt regarding this statement, "Sometimes working with a native English speaker makes your article (especially in humanities) so well written, that this provokes jealousy from non-native English speaking reviewers and they start to play fools with your paper." Thus, is this the reason that low IF journals give comments on language and reject?

Regards

It depends on your self-confidence and the type of a journal. For a less-academic journal a native co-author brings some "spirit", for a pure academic journal were formulates are more important than the style, the professional good editor is better.

Hi Nilesh and Igor,

Great discussion.

I feel that low IF journal may be picking up on the language factor because some editors and reviewers may not be in a position to address any methodological weakness or lack of strong theoretical and testable constructs - issues that I commonly have to address in high IF factor journals.

That aside, a well crafted paper, will provide the distinct clarity for a proper review to take place, as all ambiguities are removed and inconsistency in logic addressed (in an ideal world of course). Hence if a paper does not read well when submitted to a high IF paper, the chances of an re-invitation is low.

Another thing, working in a bigger team does help in refining and polishing the paper! I would be interested in having a quick look at your MS. You can send it to [email protected]

Kind regards

There is also another difference working in larger team with some experienced researchers, it is also about anchoring your research to an important topic, and not merely doing the research soundly. Native writers or proofreaders cannot help you do the former.

Kind regards

Dear Prof. Igor Gurkov,

Thanks for your guidelines and answers. Much appreciated your time and insights!

Dear Prof. Adrian Kuah,

Thanks for showing interest in my work. I also believe in working in a bigger team, as it will, for sure, improve work quality, develop cross-border collaboration, and boost the profiles in terms of publications.

Considering this, I share my MS with you by tomorrow. Besides, please be noted that MS is currently under review in a Q1 journal.

Regards,

I think my suggestions regarding this aspect is...if we have to approach native speaker to be a co-author ...we should have relevant research works so that we can get best idea from him or her and that idea then works...no doubt it will boost your knowledge and you will definitely get an edge and you can build trust also when you himself remain honest...transparent...competent..determined and energetic....