Medical Proofreading and Editing Service
Categories Scientific Communication

How to Get the Best Out of Your Medical Proofreading and Editing Service?

It’s necessary to review your work before submitting to the journal. Now, you can either request your department head or a colleague to review your manuscript or take help of the professional medical editing and proofreading services. For many researchers, such professional medical proofreading services are economical because it enhances the quality of the research document.

But, before you submit your document to the professional editing and proofreading services, look at these suggestions on how to get the best out of their service:

Send your best document:

Professional editors are busy people. They have to pay attention to other’s documents as well and can devote only a part of their time to yours. So, it is good if you fix everything you can in the document before giving it to the editor. For example, missing/extra spaces, heading style, and consistency of the references’ list. This will help the editor stay focused and address the issues you can’t.

Tell your issues in advance:

If you have any issue with the terminology used in the document or the structure of the sentences, inform your editors in advance. This way the editor won’t waste his time looking for the problems but offer you the solution straight away.

Ask questions:

Majority of the medical editing services offer a facility to address the author’s questions regarding the edited document. Use this facility to seek answers to your queries and to learn from the editor. This will help you prepare your future manuscripts.

Provide the necessary information:

Give your editor all the information he needs for an effective edit. For example, the format of the document as per the journal guidelines, the name of your target journal, the recommended word count, and your contribution to the manuscript.

Provide your feedback:

If the editor misunderstood a technical term or has not adhered to certain conventions of your field, write to him about this. The editors welcome the suggestions from the authors. Also, if you do not agree with the changes he made, communicate such concerns to him. This will help him clarify why he made the change and you may agree with his logical explanation.

However, don’t criticise the editor even if you don’t agree with his viewpoint. If you appreciate his work, tell the editor about it. Consequently, he will take extra care to give a consistently good service to you in the future.

Remember, preparing a manuscript is a continuous process. It may not be possible to prepare publication-ready document after just one round of editing.  Therefore, view your relationship with the editor as long-term and collaborative rather than a onetime transaction. Cooperate with your editor through multiple rounds of edits to get the best results. Finally, you can also take the help of your editor to answer the comments or the questions of the peer reviewers after submission.

Submitting your Research Paper
Categories Scientific Communication

Dos and Don’ts when Submitting your Research Paper

Do you think journal publication is an easy process?

You write a research paper, submit it to the journal office and Voila! The editors will publish your paper.

If you think so, you are mistaken. Submitting your paper for publication in your desired journal can be tedious as many things need to be taken care of.

Therefore, we are here to make your journal publication easy and successful through our publication support services experts. By keeping in mind a checklist of do’s and don’ts when submitting your paper, you can register as a good author in the eyes of the journal editors.

Do’s

  • Examine the scope of the journal and the description of its contents. The Homepage of the journal gives you an idea of its scope. Still, you must scroll through the articles published in the journal and see whether they match yours. If in doubt, send the title and the abstract of your paper to the journal office for their quick opinion.
  • Read the “Instructions for Authors” section carefully.
  • Evaluate the format of your paper. Do not keep the formatting for the last stage. Give regards to the appropriate format as per the journal guidelines right from the beginning to reduce your burden.
  • Clarify with your journal about the expenses on paper submission, coloured photos, or reprint charges.
  • Write an appropriate cover letter. A cover letter is not only for saying you are submitting a paper, but it should also contain a summary of your novel findings and why you consider your work as appropriate for the journal. Do not forget to cross-check that you address the editor of that journal only where you are submitting your paper.
  • Make sure you submit all the required items with your paper at the journal office.
  • Enlist the name of your English-speaking colleague if you take his help in preparing your manuscript.
  • Proofread your manuscript several times before you submit.
  • Include the names of all the authors with their comments on the manuscript before submitting. Set a deadline for all the co-authors to give their comments on the manuscript.

Don’ts

  • Assume things and sit back after submitting. After submitting your paper, wait for few days. If you don’t get an acknowledgement about the reception of your paper, email the journal office. Similarly, if you get no status update on your paper in 6 weeks to two months, contact the journal office.
  • Take the reviewer’s comments personally. Peer reviewers are not your critic but help to give your research paper a finishing touch. Usually, they don’t use personal language to comment on your paper but sometimes it slips through. So, don’t take their comments to heart.
  • Delay the revision of your paper. Most journals follow a two-month rule where they require you to submit your revised paper. Take the reviewer’s comments seriously and make the necessary changes as early as possible.
  • Confuse the editors and the reviewers with your revisions. Thank them for their suggestions and respond to each point in a clear and logical way so that they don’t have to fish about whether or not you adequately addressed the issues.
  • Include the data that has been published previously except when citing their reference.
  • Rely heavily on the grammar and plagiarism checking tools. Use a human eye for the second opinion.