Biology Reference
In-Depth Information
page (which usually includes the article title; authors' names, order, and contact information;
three or so key words which will be used for Internet search engine purposes; and an abbre-
viated title); (3) the actual manuscript; (4) each figure (graphs, photographs, drawings) sepa-
rately; (5) tables; and (6) sometimes the bibliography separate from the manuscript. The
author guidelines for each particular journal will direct you as to exactly what is required.
See
Table 17.8
.
A cover letter to the editor may not be specifically requested, but you should do one
anyway. Essentially, this is your opportunity to “sell” your article to the editor and tell
her why your article should be considered for publication in their journal. It should be
short, sweet, and to the point. Find out who the editor is and make sure you spell their
name correctly and address them appropriately, e.g., Dr. Jane Smith. If you have color
figures, this would be a good time to mention it. You also should be ingratiating in the
letter. You are asking the editor to consider your manuscript and you need to succinctly
explain why your manuscript is worthy of publication in their journal. An example sen-
tence would be similar to, “We appreciate the opportunity to submit our manuscript for
consideration to the Journal of Amazing Things and look forward to receiving your
comments” and so on. Your cover letter should be no longer than one page. You should
also mention which author will be the corresponding author at this point, that is, the
person who will receive all relevant correspondence from the journal. This may not neces-
sarily be the first author
d
all authors can decide amongst themselves who wants this
designation.
Once your manuscript is ready and you have gone over it for the seemingly thousandth
time, set aside some time for the submission process. The system may ask you to suggest
reviewers for your article based on the subject matter. This is obviously no guarantee as to
which three or four individuals will actually review your manuscript, but it will help give
the editor an idea of who may be appropriate given the particular topic. You will receive
a confirmation number of your submission and sometimes an automatically generated e-
mail. The systemwill also generate a PDF file that combines all uploaded files. Save this digi-
tally. At this point, you will need to familiarize yourself with three things: (1) patience; (2)
receiving constructive criticism; and (3) rejection. It may be several months before you
receive the reviewer comments from the editor, so set your manuscript aside and start
working on other things!
The Decision Letter
Some time after you have submitted your manuscript and you are just beginning to
wonder whatever happened with it, you or the corresponding author will receive an e-
mail with the decision letter. This is always an exciting (and sometimes scary) day. The
letter will contain the comments of the editor and anonymous reviewers. The editor will
inform you if your manuscript was or will be (1) accepted, with minimal revisions; (2)
reconsidered for publication if significant revisions are made; (3) not accepted because
formatting guidelines were not followed; (4) not accepted because it is not suitable for
publication in that particular journal; (5) not accepted because it is not a scientifically sound
manuscript
d
there are major methodological changes that must be made; or (6) some
combination of points 3
e
5.
