Scholarly Journals, Prestige and the Early-Career Researcher

Doctoral candidates and those scientists and academics just beginning their careers at universities and other research institutions are often advised to aim for the top-tier journals with a high impact when first submitting their writing for publication. This is far from poor advice given the current role of prestige and citations in employment and funding decisions, and for those who succeed in getting their work published in such journals, it is excellent advice indeed. However, many submissions from early-career scholars will not be accepted for publication in highly respected journals with the greatest impact, while some papers will simply be more appropriate for less prestigious journals. 

Open-access journals are often singled out as inappropriate choices for first or early publications. Some mentors might argue, for instance, that releasing valuable research in such a format for all to read is unwise because data that might still be productively used by the researcher in theses and conference papers is thereby made common knowledge, usually without the author earning the rewards associated with publishing in a prestigious journal with a high impact. Others would insist that those rewards are the primary goals of early publications and, given that most new open-access journals have not yet earned prestige or high citation rates, mentors might think it irresponsible to recommend or condone publication that will not be taken as seriously by employers, tenure committees and funding bodies. While these perspectives are based on the realities of modern academia and its focus on publishing prestige, for good or ill, they are hardly conducive to the efficient scholarly communication of quality work that is unlikely to find a home in top-tier journals. 

There is also a good deal to be said for getting your work out there as long as the journal in which you publish your article, whether open access or not, maintains high scholarly standards, such as objective peer review and careful editorial practices, and enables potential readers to find your work effectively. The process of preparing your academic or scientific writing for publication, revising it in response to peer reviews and working with editors and other journal staff is an educational experience of great value in itself, and seeing your article online (and perhaps in print as well) for others to read has its own rewards. Your paper may even prove successful enough in terms of citations to increase the impact of the journal, but whether that proves the case or not, you will have an article published, and those seriously considering you for funding or employment will be able to read it and determine for themselves the quality of your research. You will also have a better understanding of what publishing your research entails, and you can bring that experience to your next article, thereby increasing your chances of successfully earning a place in one of those top-tier journals if that remains your goal.

Why Is Academic Proofreading Services Important?

Effective academic proofreading is absolutely vital to the production of high-quality scholarly and professional documents. When done carefully, correctly and thoroughly, academic proofreading can make the difference between writing that communicates successfully with its intended readers and writing that does not. No author creates a perfect text without reviewing, reflecting on and revising what he or she has written, and academic proofreading and scientific editing are extremely important of this process.

Why are scientific editing and academic proofreading important for academic and scientific authors? First and foremost, a proofreader brings a fresh and ideally objective perspective to your writing. He or she will almost certainly not be as familiar with your research as you are and in most cases will have no predetermined idea about what you are trying to communicate. This means that a proofreader will be able to focus on exactly what your text does say and catch ambiguities and errors that you, as the author well aware of what you want to say, may read right over without noticing. If the proofreader is a trained professional who is an expert in the English language and a specialist in your subject area, he or she will have the skills to correct and polish your grammar, spelling and punctuation, determine if your references are accurate, thorough and consistent, and ensure that your writing meets the high standards expected in your discipline and field. An academic proofreader will also have the disposition and time to give your writing the exacting attention it requires to ensure that every detail is as it should be so that your work communicates with precision and sophistication. Many members of our research paper editing and proofreading team focus on journal editing, manuscript editing, dissertation proofreading services, thesis editing services and phd thesis proofreading. An academic proofreader can be thought of as an author’s ambassador, and while an author can and should be his or her own ambassador whenever possible, it is always wise to benefit from an ambassador with the appropriate linguistic and academic skills to ensure that your writing represents both you and your work as professionally and effectively as possible. Some of our carefully trained editors and proofreaders work exclusively on PhD thesis editing, master’s dissertation proofreading, bachelor’s dissertation proofreading, thesis editing, dissertation editing, thesis proofreading and dissertation proofreading, applying their education and instructional skills in providing thesis editing and dissertation proofreading services that help advanced students to improve the formatting and language of their theses and dissertations.

Why is journal article editing important for the readers you hope to reach? The most obvious answer is that a journal proofreader is a reader, often the first reader beyond the author of a text, and a reader who acts as an advocate for all future readers. Professional journal proofreaders serve the needs of authors by anticipating the needs of readers, and doing so with an objective but critical eye alert to potential problems. Descriptions of methodology and explanations of trends that seem perfectly clear to the author who is familiar with the material may in fact prove ambiguous, confusing and even misleading for readers who do not possess the same knowledge. Tables and figures that are not clearly designed, labelled and referred to may obscure procedures and findings for viewers instead of highlighting and clarifying them. Arguments presented in language that contains errors of grammar, spelling and punctuation may fail to convince readers even when the evidence presented is extremely persuasive, and terminology designed for communicating in sophisticated and specific ways may lose readers entirely if it is not defined, explained and used with care. An academic proofreader, scientific proofreader, medical proofreader or journal proofreader can detect and help you resolve these and many other kinds of problems that prevent the successful communication of complex and ground-breaking research.

Why is proofreading services important when submitting your scholarly writing for publication? As a general rule, the editors responsible for accepting or rejecting the manuscripts that academics and scientists submit for publication are inundated with text. They receive far more submissions than the journals and publishers for whom they work can ever publish, so they are looking for reasons to reject manuscripts as much as they are seeking reasons to accept them. A manuscript that accurately and precisely adheres to a publisher’s guidelines, boasts a structure that organises material in a logical and effective fashion, and uses language that clearly and efficiently communicates facts and ideas is sure to receive more positive attention and far more likely to be successfully published than a manuscript that does not achieve such a high standard. Since these are the very aspects of scholarly writing that a professional proofreader can help you perfect, engaging the services of a qualified academic or scientific proofreader can prove invaluable, particularly if your manuscript has been rejected due to problems with language and formatting. Once you have benefitted from the proofreading services of a professional proofreader, you will no doubt be able to determine for yourself why PRS proofreading is so very important to successful authors.

Our scientific editing, medical editing, bioscience editing, life science editing, environmental science editing, pharmaceutical science editing, physical science editing, agricultural science editing, LaTeX paper editing, social science editing, political science editing, engineering paper editing, psychology editing, research paper editing, manuscript editing, humanities editing, journal article editing, biomedical science editing, planetary science editing, plant science editing, material science editing, veterinary science editing, behavioural science editing and neurosurgery editing services for authors of scientific papers and reports are especially popular, but we also excel at book editing and have the experience and expertise to proofread and edit books and papers of all kinds across every scholarly discipline. 

If you are in the process of preparing an article for an academic or scientific journal, or planning one for the near future, you may well be interested in a new book, Guide to Journal Publication, which is available on our Tips and Advice on Publishing Research in Journals website.