It is sad to see authors who, after investing so much time and energy into their study, accept that their work will be evaluated more based on stylistic or grammatical issues than on its scientific quality.
Competent researchers are aware that successfully conveying your findings is just as crucial as doing sound scientific research. You may also read this post on the top ten techniques to enhance technical writing, which will help you eliminate the issues that arise most frequently and offer advice on identifying and fixing them.
Here in collaboration with the WritingAPaper writers, we gathered some frequent research writing errors you should avoid saving needless rejections if you are going to begin writing an academic paper:
1. Don’t place too much focus on the significance of the issue you’re trying to fix
The entire paper’s tone is established in the beginning. Authors frequently use this section to discuss the study’s goals and outline the issue it is trying to solve. However, many authors make the severe error of leaving it up to the reviewer to comprehend “why” the problem is so crucial and challenging.
To give their work a strong beginning, authors must assume the duty of persuading the reviewer of the seriousness of the issue. Use evidence to demonstrate the significance of the case, the limitations of the proposed solutions, and the complexity of the challenge at hand. Similarly to this, simply outlining the problem’s remedy is insufficient. Give specific justifications for why your proposal is so persuasive.
Another effective strategy for capturing the reviewer’s interest is to describe the shortcomings of the present solution and the difficulties encountered in finding a remedy. For instance, a strong argument for your answer might be made by demonstrating the influence of any improvements you make to an existing solution on the final result.
2. A poorly organized paper
It is harder to keep readers interested until the end of a research paper, the lengthier it is. It’s simple to veer off into unrelated contemplation.
According to the best essay writing services, a good research paper must have a compelling research topic. Even though you might wish to share some insightful concepts, it’s preferable to postpone them until another time if they don’t directly address the solution to your research topic. Responding to each research question in a separate article is recommended if a project permits you to examine many research topics.
People will quickly lose interest in your work if you include unnecessary details like why you chose a particular piece of software to construct your pie charts or explain the basics of a subject when the bulk of your readers are already knowledgeable about it.
Projects are often started for operational reasons rather than required to further scientific understanding in specific fields. As a result, the key research issue for papers based on such initiatives should be stated as the paper’s central thesis.
A distinct, original research question expresses a strong perspective on a narrowly defined subject. It should either further the discussion of the subject among scientists or challenge accepted wisdom. Authors must remember that their inquiry should be compelling to people studying the same subject. Hypotheses like “we studied if providing a newborn a checklist of vaccines encourages couples to return to the same clinic for vaccinations” are excellent examples.
All supporting arguments should respond to this main research question and present a thorough investigation and an engaging topic for debate. This keeps the document cohesive and gives your thoughts a sense of logic.
Although IMRAD (Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion) is the recommended framework for scientific papers, you should verify the journal’s particular criteria in the author’s recommendations area.
When submitting articles, writers frequently forget to include the research topic or phrase it in a way that is too general. Another frequent problem that might lessen the effect of the article is mixing up the points between parts. If you become confused, the initial graphic should be a helpful guide.
In addition to structure, authors must accurately recognize their research limits and ensure that their discussion answers the research topic.
It is strongly advised that non-native speakers have their articles reviewed by a native speaker or hire one of the best writing services at least once before submission. Receiving a paper rejection is usually only acceptable if your study contains a serious flaw that you were unaware of at the time, which justifies conducting more in-depth research on the topic. It is a waste of time for you, the reviewers, and the publication where you submitted the work if your manuscript is rejected because of grammatical, paper-style, LaTeX, or acknowledgment problems, as well as because you neglected to mention the most recent research.
3. Incorrectly citing the sources
This can be interpreted in many different ways. Many academics neglect to provide pertinent references that strengthen their main points in the introduction and debate.
In other cases, reviewers reject articles that cite sources from a long time ago since it is doubtful that there hasn’t been any advancement in a particular field of science in a few years. Thus, citing more recent research is a terrific approach to ensure that your article is up to date and contributes to the ongoing discussion of the subject you are discussing. Add a couple more recent references from reputable periodicals to demonstrate your familiarity with current events and gain favor with your audience.
Nobody wants to go through the difficult peer review procedure again. It’s very uncommon to see writers casually omitting crucial research references (sometimes on purpose) or giving false information when referencing earlier references. For instance, your work can be rejected if you suggest an innovative new approach to tackle a problem but fail to understand that an existing solution can also solve it.
4. Failing to provide relevant figures and tables in your article
Using words to sum up, everything might be tedious and may not help you communicate your findings or facts as clearly as a table or a chart. You may further develop and emphasize your results section by including figures and tables. Without that, it will likely be the shortest part of your manuscript.
When it comes to the fundamental formatting guidelines for figures and tables, authors frequently err. Figures and tables, for instance, should be referenced using (Figure 1) or (Fig. 1) rather than (See Figure 1 attached) and should be numbered in the same order that they appear in your text. The same is true for tables. Your tables and numbers should also be clear to understand.
The primary guideline is that tables present the experimental results, while figures offer a better visualization when comparing the experimental results with theoretical/calculated values or previous works. If you are unsure which way to represent your data, tables, or figures, follow this rule. No matter your decision, don’t repeat anything you’ve already said in the book.
Here are some simple suggestions for making your statistics and tables more understandable:
- Avoid using congested plots. Limit the number of data sets per figure to 3–4, and carefully select your scales.
- Axis labels should be the appropriate size.
- Ensure your symbols are legible and make it simple to identify different data types.
- Do not include long, uninteresting tables; have them as extra content if necessary.
Although getting into the specifics of LaTeX issues or certain grammatical faults might make the list of research writing blunders rather long-winded, those are relevant topics to cover in subsequent postings.
