Preparing an Article for Submission

Success is no accident.

What are the most common mistakes that writers make when submitting an article to a journal? In the previous post, we talked about 12 common mistakes authors can follow to improve their writing skills. Today, we review some most common mistakes that every writer may make at the time of submission. Understanding and detecting common mistakes that may occur in an article can improve your writing skills and enhance your chance of acceptance. So, let’s take some time to get familiar with those mistakes and remember to fix those forever. Even confident writers make mistakes at times.

Let’s get into such common writing mistakes to avoid.

Non-compliance with journal guidelines by authors –

According to the AMA committee, this is one of their most common problems: writers submit requests indicating that they have not read or followed the journal’s guidelines to authors.
Inconsistencies in data – Data of figures reported in the text do not often match those in the tables/figures. Author(s) should check all presented data in the article.
Errors in references – Missing references, listed references not matching the citations in the text, and inappropriately formatted references are other common problems in manuscripts. Missing and inaccurate references undermine the credibility of a paper.
Exaggerated conclusion – While the conclusion is an important section for articles, editors find exaggerated results in the articles which are unsupported.
Unexplained footnotes – Authors sometimes fail to explain things that are obvious to them. For example, that the data values shown in a table are rounded-off. This information may not be obvious to the reader and authors should explain it in a footnote.
Missing or incomplete forms – Filling out forms regarding authorship, conflicts of interest, ethical board approval, etc., are important parts of the publication process. However, authors find this step cumbersome and often submit incorrectly filled or incomplete forms. As a result, the unnecessary back-and-forth between the editorial board and the authors delay the publication process.