Maximising your chances of getting published
Avoid silly mistakes
#EditorObservations 07 Avoid silly mistakes (YouTube, 1m 9s)
One thing is to have a great study and not spend enough time on refining the submission to perfection. But it is a different thing entirely to just make silly little mistakes that are actually quite embarrassing. Sometimes you might be lucky, and the editor may see the funny side of it. But I suspect – more often than not – journal editors will not be amused when their name is misspelled, when they are a women addressed as a man, when the name of the journal is wrong, when the authors have accidentally submitted the wrong version of a manuscript, etc.
These are the types of silly little mistakes that are illustrated in the #editorobservations included in this section.
#editorobservation
I do wonder why I regularly receive emails starting with “Dear Sir” or “Respected Sir” or any other variation involving a “Sir”.
Surely, it is not an unreasonable assumption in 2022 that a woman might be the editor-in-chief of an academic journal. Surely…
#editorobservation
Apologies for today’s #editorobservation tsunami.
I’m not fussy about how my name is spelled.
But if an author lacks the attention to detail to spell the editor’s name correctly, how can I trust they have conducted their study with great care?
#editorobservation
Sigh
#editorobservation
A key aspect of the review process is to ensure research has been conducted with great care & attention to detail.
The cover letter can offer some valuable insights.
Pretty cute nickname, though: McCable😉
#editorobservation
An oldie but a goldie: typo in 1st line.
Scott McCabe and I are not offended if our names are misspelled. We still read the paper and evaluate it professionally. Still: not a good look.
TIP
Do proofread your submission carefully before hitting “submit”.
#editorobservation
What a pitiful COPY-PASTE job in the cover letter.
Clearly a quick rework after rejection by another journal.
The journal’s name is “Annals of Tourism Research”.
I did read the paper, but it was hard to unsee the sloppiness in the cover letter.
#editorobservation
We are all human.
We are all busy.
We all make mistakes.
Nobody gets blacklisted for a genuine error.
But is really is an excellent investment of time for all authors to carefully proofread the final pdf version of a manuscript before hitting the Submit button.
#editorobservation
Basics
If you submit to Annals of Tourism Research, and you choose to include a cover letter, please address it to Scott McCabe and me.
Don’t include the letter you submitted to another journal previously.
Check the pre-submission pdf pedantically before hitting submit.
#editorobservation
When an article is ready for submission, most of us can’t wait to hit that submit button and get the paper off our desks.
I’ve made a lot of silly mistakes over the years when I was in a hurry to send a manuscript off.
Now I have a little pre-submission routine based on the journal’s system-generated pdf:
- I pedantically check the entire file once more – takes me couple of hours at least.
- I ask all co-authors to approve in writing to ensure that there are no misunderstandings about content, authorship and contributions.
- I run the pdf through iThenticate and save the report in my files to ensure nobody can every accuse us of plagiarism or self-plagiarism.
#editorobservation
Rookie mistake.
Proofread.
Submit.
#editorobservation
It’s Sunday 7:36 am in Brisbane, Australia.
I am trying to wrap up my Annals of Tourism Research assignments so I can watch my son’s dance competition at 8:30 am.
The first manuscript I open surprised me.
Seriously?
Unfortunately, the science reflected the level of care taken when writing the cover letter.
