Language is a medium to communicate your ideas with others. The clearer it is, the better the communication will be. In an international context, we’re always looking for a way to connect and hence it becomes all the more important to find a language that has a universal appeal to it.
Many scholars and scientists are aiming for reputed English journals for publishing their studies because:
- English is a universal language and has a wider appeal.
- Publishing in a journal is crucial to scholars and professionals alike.
- Some institutions require a published work from students before they get a degree.
Key challenges faced by researchers aiming for English journals:
- Strict competition and high standards.
- Rejection due to grammatical errors in the English language.
- Editors are getting busier and they have lesser time to spend on poorly written papers.
The question is: how to avoid these rejections due to language errors?
All researchers are not great writers. Being a non-native English speaker adds to the problem. Here are a few quick tips that can help researchers improve their impact factor while sharing their scientific knowledge.
- Do your homework
It is important to gather as much information as you can about the journal you’re targeting. Choosing a high impact journal is one thing, finding the correct target audience is another. If you think the publication caters to your research area, go ahead with it otherwise, look for something that matches your field of research. If your research area does not interest the journal, it will be rejected without any explanation.
- Tailor your paper
You cannot have one style to match all the needs. Be innovative and tailor your paper according to the guidelines set up by the journal. This also shows that you haven’t just blindly made a submission, but you have researched well about the journal you are submitting to.
- Citations and References
Make sure you have got the basic structure of the research right. Citing your references in the right format is a basic requirement for many high factor journals so make sure you pay attention to it. Also, do a plagiarism check for your content because you wouldn’t want the editors to be completely ban you from further submissions.
- Proofreading and editing
Your paper would definitely be reviewed and edited by a professional when you submit it to a publication, but prior to that final step, make sure you get it reviewed by a native English speaker to enhance the impact factor. It will help spot and replace any trivial mistakes, and also improve your sentences structures.
Conclusion
One cannot become a flawless writer in a day, nor is it possible to quickly master a foreign language. It will, therefore, be helpful if proper and regular training is provided to non-native English speakers in the educational institutions. Non-native speakers should also be open to the idea that English is a language that is widely understood and has a larger audience. It is important to understand that these barriers not only hinder the circulation of important studies but also limits scientific research in different areas.