STRATEGIES FOR PREPARING

ENGLISH MANUSCRIPT: A ROAD TO

PUBLICATION IN THE
INTERNATIONAL-INDEXED AND/OR
REPUTABLE JOURNALS OF ARTS &
HUMANITIES
 LETTERS FROM EDITAGE INSIGHTS
21 Februari 2018 09.41
Dear Muhammad Ali Pawiro,
I’m Andrea Hayward from Editage Insights. I’m writing to you because you told us that
your paper just got rejected by a journal. I’m sorry to hear this! I understand that it
must have been a tough blow and that it’s a lot to deal with by yourself. But the good
part is that you are not alone. I am here to help you get through this challenging
stage!
Even great minds like Albert Einstein, Sir Tim Hunt, and Richard Thaler, all of whom
have won the Nobel Prize, have had their papers rejected at least once in their
careers. And look how things turned around for them!
Warm regards,
Andrea Hayward
Publication Coach
Editage Insights
 22 Februari 2018 09.41
Dear Muhammad Ali Pawiro,
Rejection can be a positive thing! Sure, that seems like an incredible
assertion, and since you’re a researcher, I’m going to need something
concrete to convince you! So how about I direct you to a research paper!
A study published in Science indicates that papers that are rejected
before they get published may actually attract more citations when they
are eventually published. This study found that citation counts for papers
that had been previously rejected were higher than that for papers
published without facing any rejection. And this held true regardless of
journal impact factor!
Warm regards,
Andrea Hayward
Publication Coach
 23 Februari 2018 09.41
Dear Muhammad Ali Pawiro,
I’ve listed below some of the common reasons for journal rejection. Go through them
carefully, ask yourself the adjoining questions and check if any of these apply to your
own paper.
1. Lack of originality, novelty, or significance: Are your results generalizable? Do they
have clinical, theoretical, or practical implications?
2. Mismatch with the journal’s scope: Is your paper relevant or of interest to the
journal’s readers? Does the journal publish the type of article-format that you have
submitted?
3. Flaws appropriate method and statistical analysis?
4. Poor writing the study design: Are the data you have presented complete and
reliable? Did you choose the ting and organization: Does your paper follow the
IMRAD format or the most suitable format for the type of paper you submitted?
5. Inadequate polishing of the manuscript: Are your title and abstract persuasive
enough? Does your paper contain grammatical or spelling errors? Are your tables,
figures and graphs accurate and appropriately presented?
Warm regards,
Andrea Hayward
 24 Februari 2018 09.41
Dear Muhammad Ali Pawiro,
But before you prepare yourself to revise your paper and find a new journal to submit
to, there’s another set of rejection reasons that you need to be aware of.
1. The journal could have too many submissions: The volume of papers being
submitted to journals every year has been drastically increasing. Highly sought after
journals might end up rejecting even high-quality papers simply because they attract
a larger pool of high-quality papers. They might also have space constraints.
2. The journal might have stringent acceptance criteria: Acceptance criteria vary
widely across journals. Some journals’ policies might dictate that any manuscript
requiring major revisions should be rejected. Other journals might choose to
complete another round of peer review if they are unsure of the manuscript's
quality.
3. The journal editor might be looking for something specific at that time: If the
journal editor is interested in a specific trending topic around the time that you
submit your paper, your paper might simply be rejected just because it doesn’t quite
fit.
4. The journal may have received more than one paper on the same topic: In such
a case, the journal may choose to publish only one of the manuscripts submitted and
will reject the other because it’s too similar.
 1. Abstract
 Model of Informative Abstract (Zoltan 2005)
(1. Background, 2. Purpose, 3. Methods, 4. Results, 5. Conclusions)
Components
Of Scientific (1) Metalinguistics awareness contributes to effective writing at university.
Writing is a meaning-making process where linguistic, cognitive, social and
Paper creative factors are at play. University students need to master the skills of
academic writing not only for getting their degree but also for their future
career. It is also significant for lecturers to know who our students are, how
they think and how we can best assist them. (2) This study examines first-year
undergraduate Australian and international engineering students as writers of
academic texts in a multicultural setting at the University of Adelaide. (3) A
Abstract questionnaire and interviews were used to collect data about students’ level of
metalinguistic awareness, their attitudes toward, expectations for, assumptions
Introduction about and motivation for writing. (4) The preliminary results of the research
Materials show that students from different cultures initially have different concepts
about the academic genres and handle writing with different learning and
Results writing styles, but those with a more developed metalanguage are more
confident and motivated. (5) The conclusion can also be drawn that students’s
Discussion level of motivation for academic writing positively correlates with their
opinion about themselves as writers. Following an in-depth multi-dimensional
analysis of preliminary research results, some recommendations for writing
instruction will also be presented.

(usually in present, present perfect or simple past tense)
The purpose of this study is
to investigate the effects of
... on ...
The goals of this study are
to determine ...
The primary purpose of this
study is to determine ...
This study is specifically
concerned with the effect of
... on ...
 LANGUAGE OF ABSTRACT
Introduction
This study is an initial
attempt to investigate the
relationship ...
This study has two major
purposes: (1) to investigate ...
(2) to demonstrate ...
The aim of this study is to
identify the characteristics of
...
The major objective of this
study is to ...
The aim/topic/goal of the
present paper is to
This paper discusses /
describes / analyses / studies
/ focuses on / deals with ...
This study / experiment /
research / survey was aimed
at developing / improving /
testing ...
The project was designed to
...
  LANGUAGE OF ABSTRACT
Materials and Methods
(in past tense)
This study was conducted in ... / at ... Using local and national data, this study was designed
to investigate.
The empirical part of this study was conducted in May 2016.
This questionnaire investigated how companies view
their ...
Data for this study / research were collected / gathered / A questionnaire was distributed/mailed/sent to ...
obtained from / by / through / with the help of / among ...
The subjects of this study were ... Respondents fill a form / indicated their preferences /
rated each item.
The subjects were randomly selected ... Responses were made on a 5-point Likert scale ranging
from ... to ...
The sample was selected from ...
The response rate was ...
Twenty companies served as subjects in a study designed
All 59 subjects participated in the study.
to investigate ...
Six groups, each consisting of ..., were formed to ... Interviews were conducted by/with ...

Twenty companies were selected for this investigation. The interviews were recorded on audiotape.
  LANGUAGE OF ABSTRACT
Conclusions
(in simple present or past tense)
1. These results suggest that ...

2. The results show that/reveal ...

3. It was concluded that ...

4. This study / survey shows / supports / questions / implies / indicates ...

5. On the basis of the results of this research, it can be concluded that ...

6. The results provide some support for ...(ing)...

7. The results did not support the expectations that ...

8. These data support the view that ...

 2. Introduction
Here you introduce the problems
and questions you addressed in
conducting your experiment (i.e.,
why did you do it?). Again, you
must make a statement which
encompasses your hypothesis. You
may also want to state the
question(s) you are trying to
answer. Address previous
experimental results that
proceeded your work.
3. Materials
List all major items used to carry
out your experiment. How did you
set up your experiment? How
many experimental groups did
you have? How did you measure
the effect you studied? These and
any other methods should be
explicitly stated or referenced.
Again, anything that is different
from previously published methods
should be explicitly stated.
 4. Results 5. Discussion

Here is where you show the data that In this section, you should
you collected. Results are usually
shown in tables or graphs (figures). All
critically examine your results
Figures that are presented must have and interpret the trends in the
a caption or a title placed above it data. Do your results support
that describes its contents. Tables your hypothesis? Were your
and Figures are numbered
consecutively throughout a lab report questions answered? What
or scientific paper. The title should new questions come to mind
give enough information to allow the after examining the results?
table to be understandable apart
from the text. You should also write a
brief statement about the trends you
see in your results.
 FORMALITY IN ENGLISH
Formal English
1. Longer/more complex sentence
Punctuation, proper grammar, and correct sentence structure are very
important.
• A formal sentence you might see in an • A less formal way to express the same
academic journal: idea:

Research has shown that learning a Learning another language can

second language, in addition to improve your career and social
leading to expanded career and life. Some people also say it can
social opportunities, can also
expand the reasoning capability of make you smarter, but others
the brain, although this finding is disagree.
disputed by
some scientists.
 FORMALITY IN ENGLISH
2. Larger and less common words
A formal sentence you might see in an • Some less formal words and their formal
economic report: equivalents:

 The economy is currently quite Less Formal More Formal

robust; nevertheless, some
specialists predict an imminent
recession. Help Assistance
Buy Purchase
A simpler, less formal way to say
the same thing: Need Require
Get Obtain
The economy is very strong right Next/later Subsequently
now, but some specialists say we'll Also/plus Moreover
have a recession soon. Whole Entire
Enough Sufficient
 FORMALITY IN ENGLISH

3. Avoid phrasal verbs 4. Avoid contractions

• I'm, you're, can't, don't, wasn't, it's...
• The price went up. • The shipment hasn't arrived.
 The price rose/increased.  The shipment has not arrived.

• The client asked for a contract. • They're manufactured in China.

 The client requested a contract.  They are manufactured in China.

• The problems have come back. • He's the director of marketing.

 The problems have returned.  He is the director of marketing.

• We will cut down on spending. • We'd like to inform you...

 We will reduce spending.  We would like to inform you...

 The company's employees.

 SAMPLE OF GRAMMATICAL ERRORS
DOCUMENT SCORE Punctuation 16
HS 0 48 of 100 Misuse of Semicolons, Quotation 12
Issues found Marks, etc.
in this text Punctuation in Compound/Complex 3
138 Sentences
Comma Misuse within Clauses 1
Plagiarism
8%
Sentence Structure 2
Contextual Spelling 29
Misplaced Words or Phrases 2
Misspelled Words 22
Confused Words 7 Style 44
Grammar 47
Passive Voice Misuse 23
Incorrect Noun Number 26 Wordy Sentences 19
Determiner Use (a/an/the/this, etc.) 13 Improper Formatting 1
Wrong or Missing Prepositions 4 Unclear Reference 1
Faulty Subject-Verb Agreement 4
Vocabulary enhancement No errors
TERIMAKASIH