Journal publication is an essential part of an academic career today. Publications are the metric by which one’s career is often judged by both employers, reviewers, grantors, or potential employers. Publications are also critical to maintaining one’s network with peers, to be updated about each other’s work. In medical science, for instance, publications are the main means for the entire medical fraternity to learn about new experimentations, new lines of treatments, clinical training, etc.
However, even the best academician struggles to get publications. This is because journal publication is an exercise by itself that requires time and expertise. In today’s world of competitive publications, most authors face journal rejections even for the best of the projects. The reasons for rejection may vary from poor writing skills, incomplete information, the publication not fitting the requirements of the journal, or any other such reasons not directly related to the actual act of the research undertaken. This is why more and more academicians are resorting to publication support services to handle their authorship.
What are the services offered?
Depending on the kind of package you choose to subscribe to, publication support services offer the following services:
Journal selection: This is the most critical decision belying any act of getting published. Most articles are refused by journals because they do not consider it to fit their target audience of objectives. A professional service that can help you decide which journal is best suited for your publication is a boon as it is not possible for any individual to keep track of all the journals in one’s field.
Technical review: This is akin to a peer review before submission. The technical review involves experts from the related field who help fine-tune a publication. These experts can pre-empt any issue that peer review may highlight and helps you draft a more comprehensive submission.
Journal submission guidance: All journals have specifications that you must abide by. These including formatting norms, guidelines for tables and charts, referencing, etc. Often authors fail to abide by all these conditions leading to rejection on technical grounds. Publication support services help you customize your article as per the requirement of each specific journal. They also help you with the submission process that too often has detailed processes.
Plagiarism check: This is a critical factor in the modern world of publication which is very strongly coming down on plagiarism. Not all acts of plagiarism are intentional; many authors do not recognize that quoting from one’s own previous publication is considered self-plagiarism! A professional plagiarism check helps correct one’s inadvertent mistakes.
Abstracts and highlights: Often journals require abstracts and highlights along with keywords for the articles. These are a very specific type of content development that is best done by professionals who understand these better.
Resubmission: in case a journal sends back an article with editorial suggestions from peer review, publication support services help rework the submission as per the review comments.