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 in 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 find a journal to publish your work in here).
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 reviewing 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 got another rejection, saying that my paper did not fit the journal’ scope. I was heartbroken and I, I won’t lie, it was a few weeks before I could look at the paper again.
How did I handle the rejection?
How to handle rejection from journals –
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 you are submitting to any journal. Don’t be in a rush. What I should have done is 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 on that journal and had received a paper from the journal for review.
The paper was an applied methodology like mine. The one key difference was that there was a well established, Western (white) co-author on the paper.
She felt that the paper was not as well written as mine and was disappointed that they had rejected mine without reading it.
I learnt that my situation happens a lot. Papers without a well-known co-author from the West get rejected often.
However, since I had no proof of the bias, I decided to concentrate my efforts on a different publisher.
BUT, don’t get discouraged
After not touching my research for a few weeks, I was able to come back to it and re-submit in 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 this journal for free!
You can appeal the rejection
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 it’ 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!
