[Image above] Credit: ACerS
You perform your research over months and years. You spend days, weeks even, writing your manuscript. You want it to appear in the best journal in your field, so you submit it there. Days or weeks later, an editor tells you the manuscript was rejected and refers it to a sister journal. What’s up with that?
We know that being rejected by a journal is difficult. It feels personal, as if your life’s pursuit was not good enough. Feeling this way is quite natural. But it is very important to understand that the evaluation is not personal. Rather, the editors evaluate every manuscript against the criteria of the journal. Here are a few of those criteria.
Scope of a journal
Each journal has a range of topics that its editors focus on. Those topics should be clearly spelled out in the “Aims and Scope” statement for each journal. For your reference, here are the short versions of the scopes of the four ACerS journals.
- JACerS: Rigorous experimental and computational exploration of the fundamental science of ceramics, glass, and composite materials containing ceramics or glasses.
- ACT: Rigorous research on the applied science and engineering of advanced ceramics and related materials and products.
- IJAGS: Rigorous research on the applied science and engineering of glass and related materials and products.
- IJCES: Sound science or engineering studies on ceramics, glass, and related items at any level, including incremental advances.
Novelty
What does “novel” research mean? Other words for novelty include “uniqueness” and “degree by which the scientific record is enhanced.” This evaluation depends on the expertise and content awareness of the reviewers and editors. The ACerS journals engage leaders in their respective fields to provide highly informed judgements.
That said, different journals have different expectations. JACerS, for example, requires highly novel work. On the other hand, IJCES does not have a novelty requirement and accepts work-in-progress along with confirming studies, both of which are important but rarely published.
Quality of science or engineering studies
Well described methods, plausible data, valid analyses, and appropriate conclusions are the most basic requirements of all ACerS journal articles. The range or number of methodologies used in a study are part of the rigor required by each journal, from relatively simple studies all the way up to multifaceted explanations.
The articles published in each journal must meet the specific criteria level of that journal. What happens when some of, but not all, the criteria are met by an author’s submitted manuscript depends on where the manuscript falls short.
- Authors of manuscripts that meet most of the requirements of the journal are given the opportunity to submit a revised manuscript according to the critiques of the reviewers and editors.
- Studies lacking the basic requirements of sound scientific or engineering studies are rejected outright. Authors must address the shortfalls before further resubmitting to any ACerS journal.
- The rest, that is those that are sound scientifically but don’t meet scope, novelty, or rigor requirements, are offered the opportunity to transfer to a sister journal.
Thus the referral to transfer is actually a partial approval of an author’s work. The editor has determined that the work has merit and its publication will benefit our field. The editor also provides their expert opinion that the work has the potential to meet the scope and other requirements of the specific sister journal.
Transferring an article to a sister journal has many benefits for authors, including
- Ease and speed of submission: All files, author information, and editorial comments are automatically sent to the receiving journal. The author only needs to answer the questions unique to the receiving journal to complete the transfer submission.
- Speed of review: The editors of the receiving journal take into account the comments received in their evaluations. If a manuscript was fully reviewed in the sending journal, the author also can submit an updated manuscript addressing the reviewer comments. This process allows the editors to treat the manuscript as a revision, and thus shortens the review cycle even further.
- Probability of acceptance: Our statistics show higher rates of acceptance for transferred articles compared to original submissions, due in part to the partial approval from the original journal.
So, next time you receive a referral to another ACerS journal, we hope you will appreciate that the editor recognizes the value of your work and believes it would be a good fit for that journal. By accepting the transfer and completing the submission you will be one step closer to having your work published alongside articles from leaders in ceramics and glass, who continue to recognize the enduring quality of the ACerS journals.