How to handle rejection from academic journals

When I finished collecting data for my PhD thesis, I couldn’t wait to publish my work in a journal. This would be my first publication as a primary author, a step towards graduating, and a small step to building my research career. I worked hard to analyze my data and do a good write-up. Along the way, I presented the findings to a research group that I was a part of and went through several rounds of corrections with my two supervisors and a mentor.

I finally felt that I was ready to submit my work to a journal. I ran a search using a journal finder (more on how to use a journal finder and other key steps to publishing in an academic journal can be found in our Research Guide). I selected one of the top journals in my field and submitted my paper. Imagine my shock when I received a desk rejection a few weeks later. My paper had not even made it past the managing editor. The reason given was that the paper fit the scope of their journal but was not novel enough for their readership.

Not to be discouraged, I quickly submitted my paper to another journal under the same publisher. Again, I quickly received another rejection, this time saying that my paper did not fit the journal’s scope. I was heartbroken, and I won’t lie—it was a few weeks before I could look at the paper again.

How did I handle the rejection??

1. Recognize your mistakes

First, recognize the mistakes you made.

When I submitted to the first journal, I did the right thing. However, because my work was an application of an existing methodology, they did not find anything new in the work that would interest their readers. This is perfectly normal. Scientific publishing is highly competitive, and if you are not making a major contribution, the higher-ranked journals have a good reason to reject you.?

The mistake I made was to quickly submit my paper to another journal without doing the hard work I needed to, to ensure that my paper fit their scope. This is important when submitting to any journal. Don’t be in a rush. I should have read the scope of the second journal carefully to ensure that my work was within it. I could also have read through some of their latest journal articles to see what kind of research they are publishing.?

Recognize that there is competition (and sometimes bias) out there

I submitted my work to a highly competitive journal on the first try. When I got the rejection, I was sure that was the reason. However, a few months later, one of my supervisors told me something disturbing. She was a reviewer for that journal and had received a paper from the journal for review. The paper used an applied methodology similar to mine. The one key difference was that it had a well-established, Western (white) co-author. She felt that the paper was not as well written as mine and was disappointed by the fact that mine had received a desk rejection. I learnt that my situation happens and many authors have written about systemic biases in academic publishing. Papers without a well-known co-author from the West, or from less prestigious institutions are sometimes rejected, and my paper had all Kenyan co-authors. ?

BUT don’t get discouraged

Since I had no proof of the bias, I decided to concentrate my efforts on a different publisher. After giving my research a few weeks break, I was able to return to it and re-submit it to a journal published by a different publisher. The journal was relevant to my scope, and I worked hard to re-work my paper so that it was within the scope of the new journal.

If I had given up, I would not have been able to get my work published. Best of all, the final journal was open-access, which means that my work will be shared widely. I found it encouraging that the publisher I settled on had subsidized rates for researchers from developing countries and an open-access policy to make their work widely available.

I ended up publishing my work open access in a good journal for free!

A final note: You can appeal the rejection

Did you know that you can appeal the reviewing editor’s decision not to publish your work? Particularly if it’s a desk rejection, which means that it is not about the quality of your work.?If you feel that you fit within the scope and other requirements of the journal, you can write a letter to appeal the rejection, explaining clearly and succinctly, why you feel your paper deserves to be considered again.?

What has been your experience with publishing your work as an African researcher? I would love to hear from you!