Investigating the reasons for rejecting articles in the journals of the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences

Despite the importance of publishing articles for disseminating science and improving the quantitative and qualitative level of universities, faculty members face many challenges related to the lack of acceptance of articles and their frequent rejection by reputable scientific research journals. The purpose of this study is to determine the causes of rejecting article by University of Medical Sciences journals.

 This descriptive-analytical study was conducted on 125 rejected articles in 7 scientific-research journals of Mashhad University of Medical Sciences during one year (2017-2018). The articles that were rejected after being in the review process and in accordance with the opinion of the reviewer and the editor were selected. The articles were reviewed using the review checklist and the recorded comments of the reviewers. The data was entered into SPSS software and analyzed..

 88/4% of the reasons for rejecting the articles before review based on the opinion of the editors was that they were not in the scope of the journal. After review according to the opinions of the reviewers and the editor, 23% of the reasons for rejection were related to the lack of innovation and repetitiveness of the subject, 14.85% of the results were weak, 13.50% were problems in methodology, and 10.8% were poor writing and problems in sampling.

Before submitting an article to a journal, authors should pay attention to the scope of the journal in order to avoid rapid rejection of the submitted manuscript. Choosing topics based on research priorities, paying attention to methodological aspects and correct writing of the article can increase the chances of accepting the articles.