Peer Review Process and Dealing With Journal Rejection — Addressing the Issues Faced by Early-Stage Researchers in Korea

Pusan, South Korea: Following the recent success of the author workshop at POSTECH, which introduced researchers to international publishing, Enago conducted another workshop at Pusan National University. Unlike the previous one, which was targeted toward experienced researchers, the primary focus of this workshop was to guide students and early-stage researchers on the steps to be followed to avoid journal rejection and provide valuable tips on how to revise a paper after it has been rejected by a journal. The lecture was enthusiastically attended by early-stage researchers, professors, and students.

Dr. Hyeon Soo Kim, Vice Dean of Korea University’s College of Medicine, conducted the workshop, which commenced with an introduction to academic publishing and a brief explanation of the peer review process. In his academic career, Dr. Kim has published more than 60 articles in distinguished journals such as Scientific Reports, PLoS ONE, Journal of Biological Chemistry, Molecular Endocrinology, and others. He has also been awarded the “Excellent Young Scientist Award” at the scientific meeting of the Korean Society for Cell biology. As part of the workshops, Dr. Kim discussed the steps researchers should follow to avoid rejection from international journals. The workshop primarily focused on how rejection letters should be processed and how authors should respond to reviewer comments. At the end of the workshop, the attendees were also encouraged to clarify their doubts during the Q&A session.

This workshop is the latest in a series of author learning initiatives conducted by Enago to augment its award-winning editing and publication support services. Enago’s workshops are the natural outgrowth for a company that has been catering to the needs of ESL authors for more than a decade.

“The aim of all of our workshops is simple: to help authors get published,” said Pranjal Thapliyal, Country Manager, Crimson Interactive Korea. “This workshop was another successful step toward fulfilling that mission. The attendees were primarily young researchers—both graduate and post-graduate students—and they were particularly surprised to learn the extent to which journal rejection is prevalent in top-tier journals. While the workshop was well received by the participants, our goal is not just to receive positive reviews. We are driven to help ESL authors bridge the gap between research and publication. We are excited to continue hosting similar workshops to share knowledge about the challenging process of international publication.”