Why should I edit my manuscript before submitting

When planning to publish your findings in a journal to reach out to a larger peer group or scientific community, there are a few things to consider in addition to the primary research effort. Getting one’s research published in a reputable journal also necessitates meeting specific editorial requirements. Journal editors strive to strike a balance between a publication’s novelty and relevance and the expectations of its scientific audience. Published articles must have high-quality science writing and manuscript editing in a reader-friendly style. Without a thorough review of the content, an editor may reject a publication due to bad language or organization.

Reviewers frequently comment that the document was not thoroughly vetted in-house before submission or was lengthy and disorganized. Peer reviewers are subject specialists from the scientific community you’re hoping to reach, and they’re more likely to understand the article’s substance. On the other hand, a poorly constructed document can be highly irritating and time-consuming for reviewers and is more likely to be dismissed.

When it comes to manuscript editing work for publication, there are three essential factors to consider:

1. Manuscript Editing a Content

If you need your manuscript to be accepted by a journal, make sure it has some novel insights/ideas or a new piece of evidence that will pique the scientific community’s attention. The document must have a defined goal expressed in the introduction, reporting of the actions in well-delineated sections, and the inferences or conclusions drawn as a result of those activities with sufficient references at the end.

While the author can complete the first component, the two crucial aspects should be delegated to a competent language editor.

• Editing a line

Line editing focuses on the publication’s language and is particularly difficult for authors because it is easy to overlook how phrases sound to the reader. This is best accomplished by a third-party language editor who is unattached to your text and can assess your writing style objectively. Language editors specialize in scientific editing, guaranteeing that the final language is clear, concise, and straightforward.

• Copyediting:

This final editing step employs a keen eye for detail, scrutinizing grammar, spelling, punctuation, and syntax for consistency. It’s critical to double-check formulas, annotations, and characters in scientific papers. Again, having a language editor look into these issues is preferable to having an author look into them. A well-edited publication improves the reading experience and allows the research and findings to be presented more communicatively. A decent research paper can thus be elevated to a desirable publication for the scientific community with the help of a competent language editor.

The editor’s perspective

When it reaches the editor, your work may be among a long line of other hopefuls. The editor may have a set of ‘desk rejection’ criteria to follow; editors have the authority to reject up to 50% of submissions without sending them out for peer review. Your contribution may be rejected on the spot if your language is poor and manuscript editing quality is less. Editors are concerned with a submission’s overall quality: bad language implies – correctly or incorrectly – that the science is equally sloppy, and this raises a red signal for the editor. If your submission is full of errors, it will not go to the next step because they have so many other suggestions to deal with.

What your readers are looking for

The ultimate purpose of submission is to get your research into the hands of your readers; this is something to consider before submitting. So, what precisely do they want to see? Would they be able to comprehend what you’ve written? Would they be satisfied if the language was inadequate? If the battle for publishing is challenging, readership is even more challenging. Your readers have millions of papers to select from; if your paper isn’t effectively written and edited, they won’t know if it’s relevant or enjoyable to read, which could result in fewer downloads and citations. One method to avoid this is to proofread and modify your manuscript editing before submitting it.

What the reviewer notices

Although it is not the reviewer’s responsibility to copy edit your paper, they may become distracted enough to begin editing your wording if they see enough errors. Peer review is essential in ensuring that scientific papers are of high quality. Because reviewers are scarce and heavy, rectifying linguistic errors aggravates them. They will have a wrong opinion of your paper if it contains types, grammatical errors, or misused punctuation, and they will be less likely to recommend it for publication.

What you can do

 Few basic things to avoid falling into the poor language trap. First and foremost, use spellcheck. It may seem obvious, yet a startling number of manuscripts contain errors that a word processor could quickly and automatically detect. After you’ve finished writing your manuscript, then manuscript editing it, have it read by a native English speaker. Better still, hire a professional language editor to check over your book; they’ll know exactly what to look for and can help you improve it.

About Pubrica

Pubrica’s manuscript editing service writers have collaborated with various medical and scientific periodicals. We collaborate with academics and researchers worldwide to create unique publications that clearly and concisely explain findings. We offer prepublication services for your book, including editing, proofreading, rewriting, and translation.