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23 - Submitting to a Peer-Reviewed Journal

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  19 September 2019

Joanna M. Setchell
Joanna M. Setchell
Affiliation:
Durham University
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Summary

Disseminating our findings is part of the scientific process, so that others know what we found. Not making our results available leads to duplication of effort because other researchers don’t know we did the work. Publication bias arises when researchers don’t publish findings because they are non-significant. We may need to publish to advance our career, but this is not the purpose of scientific articles. Confusing these two aims can lead to questionable research practices. This chapter goes through the of submitting a manuscript to a peer-reviewed journal. Peer review involves the scrutiny and evaluation of our work by experts. I begin with how to choose a journal, and things to consider before you submit, then I explain the cover letter, submission, and the review process. I explain the editor’s decision, what to do if your manuscript is rejected, revising your manuscript and resubmitting it. Finally, I cover what happens after your manuscript is accepted.

Keywords

scientific journalpeer reviewpublicationpublication bias
Type
Chapter
Information
Studying Primates
How to Design, Conduct and Report Primatological Research
 , pp. 299 - 312
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2019

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References

Further Reading

Laine, C, Winker, MA. 2017. Identifying predatory or pseudo-journals. Biochemia Medica 27: 285–291. https://doi.org/10.11613/BM.2017.031. Reviews efforts to assist authors and readers in identifying pseudo-journals and legitimate open access journals and provides a framework for doing so.Google Scholar
Shamseer, L, Moher, D, Maduekwe, O, Turner, L, Barbour, V, Burch, R, Clark, J, Galipeau, J, Roberts, J, Shea, BJ. 2017. Potential predatory and legitimate biomedical journals: Can you tell the difference? A cross-sectional comparison. BMC Medicine 15: 28. http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/s12916–017-0785-9. Identifies evidence-based characteristics of predatory biomedical journals, which are also relevant to other fields, or easily translated.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
The “Think, Check, Submit” campaign helps researchers to identify trusted journals. http://thinkchecksubmit.org. Bear in mind that it is run by a coalition of publishers, who may have a conflict of interest.Google Scholar

23.14 Further Reading

Instructions for Authors for your target journals.

Publisher’s websites for guidance on graphical abstracts, highlights, and lay summaries.

bioRxiv (pronounced bio-archive): a free online archive and distribution service for unpublished preprints in the life sciences. www.biorxiv.org.Google Scholar
The Committee on Publication Ethics. http://publicationethics.org/. Promotes integrity in research publication. Primarily aimed at editors of scholarly journals, but a very useful source of information on publication ethics for authors.Google Scholar
Hailman, JP, Strier, KB. 2006. Planning, Proposing, and Presenting Science Effectively. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 3 covers submitting a manuscript to a journal.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Matthews, JR, Matthews, RW. 2014. Successful Scientific Writing: A Step-by-Step Guide for the Biological and Medical Sciences. 4th edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. Chapter 17 covers publication.Google Scholar
Roig, M. 2015. Avoiding plagiarism, self-plagiarism, and other questionable writing practices: A guide to ethical writing. https://ori.hhs.gov/avoiding-plagiarism-self-plagiarism-and-other-questionable-writing-practices-guide-ethical-writing [Accessed 9 January 2019]. US Department of Health and Human Services Office of Research Integrity educational module to help identify and prevent questionable practices and promote ethical writing.Google Scholar

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