So, Congratulations !! You’ve written your scientific paper, proof-read it thoroughly and now you’re ready to show off your hard work to the world. But here comes the biggest step of all. Getting it published.
TARGET A JOURNAL
I can’t stress this point enough. You have to be very clear on which journal or journals you have a better chance at. There are a plethora of journals present on the web, but not all are widely recognized or are credible enough. You may wish to submit your article to the top journals but these journals are usually very competitive and the projects that they publish tend to be ground-breaking studies with great significance. Don’t be heartbroken. Look for journals publishing papers relevant to your field. And, If you are just starting out on the writing your technical paper, choose your journal well before you start writing – the process will take a while and you don’t want to get to the end and find yourself having to a rewrite to fit your chosen journal’s specifications.
REGISTER YOUR ACCOUNT
Once you have chosen the journal, you should register for an account with the journal. It is free and should be done early as it takes a while. It lets you look up author guidelines on the word, formats. Do check if your manuscript fits the specified word and figure limit. If your paper fits these specifications you can start to look at other details like whether the article should be written in British or American English, how the reference list should be laid out, how figures should be saved as well as what resolution and size they should be.
COVER LETTER
Write a cover letter to suit your fantastic piece of scientific literature. Mention your email address, postal address with the date on the right-hand side. Important is to include the title of your manuscript along with a brief statement about why you think the paper is important and why the journal should publish it & summarize the main conclusions of the paper. The letter should be short and succinct so aim for about half a page to a page of text then sign the letter off with your signature and full name (typed out).
OTHER IMPORTANT INFO.
After you have your text and cover letter ready you have to note down some more information in an old school notepad before you start the submission process This may include;
Full names (including any middle initials) of co-authors, as well as their institutional postal and e-mail address.
A list of keywords or index terms that relate to your article which can be used by future readers to search for your article.
Bullet points highlighting the key features/findings of your article. These should be short.
Attach a list of potential reviewers for your manuscript, whom you believe to be suitable for your paper’s peer-to-peer review, including their full names, e-mail address, institution and institution postal address. They should be experts in their fields or if you are unsure who to put down, see who you frequently reference as they are likely to be the experts in your field.
Note down any conflicts of interest with potential reviewers. As reviewers should have no financial interest in the paper, no prior knowledge of your submission, should not have recently collaborated with any of the authors and should often not be at the same institution as any of the authors on your manuscript it is a good idea to jot down the names of anyone who fulfils this category who may well be considered an expert in your field by the journal editor.
Provide written proof from owners of any copyrighted material you might have used in your paper, that you have permission to reproduce the material.
Information on any grants received which relate to the project and their unique numbers.
The number of words and figures in your article.
So, finally it has taken up shape properly and you’ve proof-read it, checked thoroughly for any missing files, attached all relevant information and necessarily ticked off all the check-boxes. SUBMIT IT.
And, oh yes, do remember to thank everybody involved with you in this process, everybody who has guided you or helped you via a proper email with an attached copy of your final submitted paper. You might have to lend their help again to address comments raised during the review process.
Best Wishes!!