The top sign of academic quality is publishing in an Elsevier journal, but most researchers face the infuriating problem of desk rejection. We are Mars Publications, and we deal with turning these failures into success stories. Being a top research consultancy, we offer professional advice that will see your manuscript pass through the first round of editorial examination and bypass peer review.
Our team will provide a strategic level of services, whether you are refining your methodology or selecting the correct high-impact journal. We do not only assist you to write, but also to publish.
Once you smash the submit button on the Elsevier portal, it is a strict ride. A journal editor conducts a so-called desk screening before any subject expert ever sees your data. At this stage, they reject a manuscript after a single reading (up to 70 per cent). To a PhD student or a young researcher, this desk rejection might be the greatest humiliation ever. Nevertheless, the vast majority of the causes of this result are preventable. You can optimise your submission strategy by knowing the exact causes of an Elsevier editor to reject you.
Aims and Scope Misalignment
A mere lack of fit is the most widespread cause of desk rejection. Each of the Elsevier journals has a very clear Aims and Scope section on its home page. Should you be concerned with local farming but you write to a journal with a universal, theoretical outlook, the editor will turn it down on the spot.
To prevent it, consult the Elsevier Journal Finder tool. Using AI, this resource will be able to find the most compatible audience by matching your abstract with thousands of indexed journals. A Scope Audit is also done by our consultants at Mars Publications. Where we make sure your paper gets to the correct desk the first time.
Unsuccessful Design of the Technical Screening
Technical assistants make sure about the basics before an editor reads your abstract. Failure to comply with the Guide for Authors is the formula of rejection.
- Incomplete Submission: The absence of keywords, author affiliation, and missing ethical statements is an indicator of inadequate preparation.
- Plagiarism Issues: Crossref Similarity Check (powered by iThenticate) is used by Elsevier. Should your index of similarity surpass the threshold of the journal, even due to self-plagiarism, the system will warn you against it by automatically allowing the piece to be rejected.
- Formatting Flaws: Citation style used is not going to be the correct one, or you are writing more words than you are supposed to, your time at the journal will not have been done justice.
The Problems of Language and Coherence
Elsevier journals are accessible all over the world, yet the standard language of science is high-level English. In case your research results are blurred with poor grammar or clumsy phrasing, the editor will not submit it to the reviewers. They will not have to waste time on a paper that is hard to read and the reviewers are volunteers.
We suggest that you hire professional editing services so that your active voice and logical structure is not lost. Your abstract and introduction should be especially clear since it is the first impression of the editor.
Absence of Innovativeness or Advancement
Elsevier journals want to have research that is beneficial to the field. In the case your paper is just another study in another place without the addition of something new, then it is not novel.
The “So What?” Factor: Does your study address an important issue?
Journals that possess high impact factors give preference to those studies. Which could have implications that are not merely in a niche or a region.
You have to clearly indicate in your cover letter how your research is original. Don’t leave it to the editor to find out the worth of your writing; tell him or her precisely what you are covering in a certain gap in the literature.
Methodological and Data Flaws
Even on the desk level, editors seek blatant science red flags. When a small enough sample size warrants your conclusions, or when you use old-fashioned methodology and more recent norms overtake you, your paper is bound to fail.
- Statistical Validity: Be sure that your p-values and data analysis are up-to-date.
- Ethics: In case of human or animal subject in your study, you need to provide evidence of institutional review board (IRB) approval.
How Mars Publications Can Help
In Mars Publications, we are conversant with the dynamics of the Elsevier universe. We also have a full Pre-Submission Peer Review, where our professionals review your manuscript and provide an opinion on what a journal editor would think about it. Our Experts verify the scope, generate plagiarism reports, and proofread your English to the international standard.
We aim at removing the factors that trigger desk rejection. Collaboration with us will give you a competitive advantage as the most esteemed journals in the world will rightly recognize your hard work.