Identifying Writing Factors Influencing the Acceptance of Research Papers in English-Language Journals
Subject Areas : Journal of Studies in Learning and Teaching English
Shahrzad Chahardahcherik
1
,
Mohammad Bavali
2
,
Leila Akbarpour
3
1 - Department of Foreign Languages, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
2 - Department of Foreign Languages, Shiraz branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
3 - Department of English Language, Shiraz Branch, Islamic Azad University, Shiraz, Iran
Keywords: acceptance, rejection, validation, academic reviewers, editorial practice, revision, nonnative-English-speaker scientific writing,
Abstract :
The pressure on non-native Ph.D. scholars to publish their research in English journals has recently been enhanced. Existing academic literature highlights several factors influencing research paper acceptance within various specialized fields. This study aimed to understand the participants' past experiences in publishing in English journals in terms of revision requirements and outright rejection of papers through a quantitative-descriptive survey-based design. The study offered valuable insights that helped develop resources and support tailored to their training requirements. To elicit the students’ perceptions, 300 Iranian doctoral students from several subfields of the engineering discipline responded to the validated version of a questionnaire developed by Moreno (2011). Descriptive statistics including frequency and valid percentage as well as qualitative interpretations were employed for data analysis. The construct validity of the adapted questionnaire was assessed by confirmatory factor analysis with Amos 25. The results revealed that the outright rejection by journal editors had to do with not following the writing conventions expected by the journal and the supposed flaws in certain areas of the research such as design, method, and statistical tests. The students were required to revise the formal features of their writing as expected by the journal and alter the design and methods used before the final acceptance of papers. The most difficult sections of the paper were the Introduction, Correspondence with reviewers, Theoretical framework, and Methods. Most Iranian researchers confirmed their feeling of being disadvantaged in the publishing process.
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