Submitting a manuscript for publication in a peer-reviewed journal is challenging. As a provider of medical publication support services, we know that all too well. If you’ve finished your manuscript, the work is done!
Right?
Don’t run that victory lap just yet. While the toughest part of the process is done, there’s still a while to go before you get that acceptance email. Submitting your paper to a scientific journal is tedious and has unexpected pitfalls. A mix-up or misstep could potentially sink your paper.
While soliciting scientific or medical publication support services from companies like The Med Writers is the easiest way get the job done right, you can do it yourself with a little guidance. In this article, we’ll share our expertise and help you get your article submitted and, hopefully, published!
Overview For Submitting A Manuscript
Submitting a manuscript is a daunting process. Here are the basic steps to doing so successfully.
- Select a journal.
- Find all the submission guidelines.
- Format your paper accordingly.
- Collect any additional information.
- Double-check and submit all materials.
- Finalize your submission.
- Wait for a response.
- If accepted, celebrate. If rejected, try again elsewhere. If you need revisions, make changes and resubmit.
Selecting an Appropriate Journal
The first step is finding the right journal for your paper. If you’re working in the biomedical sciences, your first thought might be Nature or The New England Journal of Medicine. It’s worth a shot, but it’s worth considering a few things before you get started.
When selecting a journal for submitting a manuscript, consider the following:
- Your needs
- Your field
- Format
- Impact factor
- Time restraints
- Access
- Pricing
What Do You Need from Your Publication?
The first thing to consider is why you want to publish your work. Of course, as scientists, we’re personally invested in sharing our discoveries with the world. However, this isn’t always the only motivating factor.
You may be seeking funding, which often hinges on a strong publication record. Maybe you need a paper published quickly for your upcoming promotion or grant application. You could be looking for a publication to post on your website to let potential customers know your medical products or services are backed by scientific evidence.
What you need your publication to do for you will play an outsized role in your journal selection process, so keep it in mind moving forward.
Scoping the Field
Next, compile a list of journals in your field. While you probably know your field’s flagship journals, there are likely many options for each subfield and specialty. Start searching for your field and “journal” in any search engine.
However, it helps to search for your article’s keywords in an academic search engine like PubMed or Google Scholar. Then, look through the search results and note those that published articles with a similar theme to your manuscript. 
Finding Your Format
As you comb through the search results, think about the format of your paper. Is it an original research article? A systematic review? A case study? If you see a peer-reviewed publication that seems to publish articles of your format, move them up your list. If one journal is promising, but you don’t see your format represented, go to the journal’s page and see if they accept that format. If not, keep looking!
Factoring in Impact
Next, consider what impact factor you are looking for. The impact factor is a number that represents the number of articles that reference papers from a journal. It’s often controversially conflated with quality. It isn’t, but it does serve as a barometer of a publication’s influence.
If you’re applying for funding or a promotion, consider the rest of your publication history. Do you have a lot of papers in journals with lower impact factors? Consider submitting a manuscript to a journal with a higher one. However, keep in mind that higher-impact journals generally get more submissions and are therefore more selective, on average.
However, if you just need a manuscript published, aim a bit lower. Journals with lower impact factors aren’t necessarily easier to get into, but you’ll likely hear from them more quickly because there are fewer submissions for them to sift through.
Time Constraints For Submitting A Manuscript
Do you need a paper published next year, next quarter, next month, or last week? Every journal has a different timeline from submission to response, which may be listed on its website, likely on the “instructions for authors” page. If you can’t find it, search the journal’s name + “time for submission” or something similar. Some journals have fast-track options, but these may require additional work on your end.
Access and Pricing
If you’ve searched for scientific literature, you’ve been hit with a paywall. As scientists and clinicians, we recommend open-access publishing. However, this isn’t always practical, as journals tend to charge more for open-access papers. Look into whether there is a publishing fee for closed or open access and decide based on your budget and preferences.
Finding the Guidelines
Now that you’ve selected a journal, it’s time to start uploading and submitting a manuscript, right? Once again, not so quick. There are a lot of minor details that can sometimes get your manuscript rejected without consideration. Therefore, you must locate and follow the submission guidelines to a T.
Unfortunately, this is not as easy as it sounds. Each publisher has its standards, which may differ from those of its journals. In addition, submission guideline pages are often incomplete, inconsistent, or hard to find.
While providing medical publication support services, we’ve seen it all. For instance, the abstract word limit may be absent from the journals’ website. To find it, one would need to register at the submission portal, start the submission application, and advance to the abstract upload section.
Not ideal. 
We recommend collecting submission guidelines from the following sources for any journal you’re applying for to avoid any embarrassing slip-ups.
- The journal’s “instruction for authors” page
- The publisher’s guidelines
- The journal’s writing format guide (APA, AMA, Chicago, etc.)
Once you have these together, register at the journal’s submission portal. Once you’ve logged in, start a submission and click through the steps to make sure the information here matches what you see on the other pages.
If you are in doubt about anything when submitting a manuscript, email the editor. Mention what specific resources you’ve already looked at and politely ask for clarification and if there are any guideline documents you’re missing. There’s a solid chance they have documentation that is not clearly accessible on their site.
Look for the following details in particular:
- Font size
- Text limit (abstract and main body)
- Main body and abstract structure
- Conflict of interest disclosure format
- File format for figures and tables
- Whether the journal requires a separate file for abstracts and title pages
- Reference style
- Language (American vs. UK English)
Gathering Your Materials
Now that you’re clear on the journal’s guidelines for submitting a manuscript, it’s time to gather the files you need and format them into shape. These documents usually include the following:
- Cover letter
- Main manuscript file
- Abstract
- Title page (for journals that perform blinded review)
- Figures and tables (often uploaded individually)
- Conflict of interest disclosure statement
You will also need to provide keywords a subfield category for your paper. Likewise, journals generally ask authors to recommend reviewers for their paper. These usually are professors in the field, although exceptions apply. We recommend those who’ve done similar studies to your own.
Finally, and it may seem obvious, collect the details on your collaborators. This includes their institutional address, affiliations, and, most importantly, email. Many journals will ask the co-authors to accept their role in the submission via email, so make sure they know to look out for it.
Submitting A Manuscript
Now that everything is ready, double-check each file and start uploading them. If you notice any discrepancies at this point, stop. Don’t move forward, thinking it’ll be okay if something is off. It might be, but if not, you and all the co-authors may receive a colorful letter from the editor detailing your mistakes. Not the best look.
Once everything is uploaded, you’ll be asked to finalize submitting the manuscript. The website will compile a PDF version for you to review. Download it and check it. Send it to the co-authors that you are working most closely with. It’s preferable to have everyone’s go-ahead before hitting that submit button.
Once you do, hold your breath, knock on wood, and click submit.
Wait
With submitting a manuscript done, it’s time to wait. It can take anywhere from a couple days to a couple months to get the first response from the journal. Try not to fixate on your manuscript in the meantime. Easier said than done, of course. 
The First Response
So, you check your email, and, lo and behold, you’ve got a response! As you anxiously open the email, you’ll be confronted with one of three outcomes: Acceptance, Rejection, or Revisions Needed.
Acceptance
Celebrate, you made it! The editors will likely have you finalize a few details to confirm that everything is correct, particularly author and funding information, but otherwise you’re done.
Rejection
This isn’t the best outcome, but it isn’t the end of the road! The editor will likely explain why your paper was rejected. Take that into consideration as you prepare to submit to the next journal on your list.
Revisions needed
You’re more likely to receive this response when submitting a manuscript than an outright acceptance on the first attempt, so don’t fret; this is a good sign, even if they require substantive editing.
You will receive a list of questions and comments from each reviewer. Answer their questions in the document they provide in addition to making the requisite changes in the manuscript.
Once you’ve got everything done, share it with your collaborators, upload, and submit! You’ll eventually get an email saying your manuscript was accepted or rejected. We’re hoping for the former!
Conclusion
We hope that this guide to submitting a manuscript will prove helpful. It’s a tedious process that requires painstaking attention to detail, so take your time and do it carefully.
If you already have a lot on your plate and this seems like too much, don’t be afraid to seek out help with publication. At The Med Writers, we provide an entire range of medical publication support services, including manuscript submission. Contact us today and let us help you get published.