Video: What every journal editor expects an author to do

Part two of the conversation between Dr. Donald Samulack, President US Operations, Editage, Cactus Communications, in conversation with Dr. Anne Woods, Chief Nursing Officer at WKH, and Shawn Kennedy, Editor in Chief, American Journal of Nursing

In this vignette, Shawn concedes that often journal editors face a problem when authors fail to follow author guidelines or even check if their paper meets the journal’s aims and scope. The next problem is that of authors submitting manuscripts with spelling errors or unformatted papers. She adds that journal editors and reviewers are more likely to think that poorly presented and prepared papers also present bad research that may not be worthy of publication. Dr. Woods states that authors must also remember that the way in which a manuscript is written is important and authors whose first language is not English should get help from professional academic editing companies to ensure their papers meet global publication standards. Dr. Samulack states that authors should write with the audience in mind but also remember that their paper will first be seen by editors and reviewers who are the gatekeepers of academic publishing.

View other parts in the series:

• Part 1: A journal editor and a publisher talk about how the publishing process really works
• Part 3: 5 Unethical publication practices journal editors hate to see
• Part 4: Authors beware: Avoid falling prey to predatory journals and bogus conferences
• Part 5: Ethics of authorship from a journal editor's perspective