Two Discouraging Verdicts on Publications on PostgraduateForum.com

Two Discouraging Verdicts on Publications

HazyJane 1964 posts
11 years ago

Quote From Mackem_Beefy:
Is the impact rating that important anymore? When most of us look for papers we use the internet to search for papers relevant to our topics of research, then download and read them with a cursory nod at most as to which journal they were printed in.

I personally think in the days of the internet, too much attachment is made to impact ratings. I'm more interested in the quality of the document and there's some decent documents with good research even in lower impact journals.

Ian (Mackem_Beefy)

I heartily agree. Though, unfortunately, job interviewers and funding committees can still get a little hung up on them, so it's probably still advisable to try to get at least a couple of 'high impact' journal names on your publications list.

With a few exceptions, I do find the concept of journals to be increasingly redundant for the reasons you state. It's quite helpful to have similar things bundled together, but like you, I do my searches online and read what is relevant regardless of where it's published.

edp05mab 1 post
11 years ago

As some others have said, I am pretty sure the first journal just meant that your article needs to be published at a more specialized journal. My first ever publication's story was like this: first, I submitted to a journal in a certain sub-field, then got feedback it was unsuitable for THEIR journal, but that it might work in a journal specialized in something else. I submitted it elsewhere (to one of the top journals in that other sub-field) and it got accepted after some small revisions.

As others have said: even established academics get rejections occasionally. Being asked to do minor or major revisions to an article is completely normal. I actually find the process of responding to peer reviews very helpful to my professional development, as it makes me think better about my research, and sometimes can really improve the quality of a paper. Occasionally, a peer reviewer will be egotistical, but generally I find them helpful.

You could volunteer to do peer reviews yourself (some journals ask for volunteers; others ask you to do peer reviews after you've submitted an article to them, even if it was rejected!) - it might help you see "the other view".

Good luck! And don't lose faith!

incognito 229 posts
11 years ago

Quote From BilboBaggins:
Oh and to put that 8% in context, the majority of people submitting to that journal will have PhDs, and many will be long-term seasoned academics. But even that aside just a tiny proportion of papers submitted to that journal are accepted. So the editors can be very very choosy. It's not a bad reflection on you that yours wasn't accepted, just simple numbers and reality. But there should be plenty of other journals you can turn to, and it's likely that you will see the piece in print eventually. So keep going with it!

Thanks Bilbo as I said in my original message this is a new experience so it's taken me by surprise. I am close to finishing the revisions for the accepted (or nearly accepted I should say) paper, and as for the other one I'll submit to another journal and if it gets rejected then I'll edit it. Just seems extremely competitive and when you think that tenure-track positions at research-intensive unis require a publication in a top journal, then it borders on disheartening.

Two Discouraging Verdicts on Publications

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