A Step-by-Step Guide to Journal Editing

Publication is the lifeblood of academics and researchers. As you advance in your career, publication in reputable journals is a key step to getting where you want to go. So how can one go about getting their work published in a reputable journal? Of course, conducting high-quality research is the first step. However, that’s not enough to get your paper published. More than three million papers are submitted annually to academic journals. Many of them contain interesting or even groundbreaking research. One of the main criteria for getting your article published is the writing quality. You need to clearly communicate to your fellow researchers and academics. That’s why we’re going to explain each step necessary to perform journal editing.

What is Journal Editing?
To put it simply, journal editing is the process of preparing your article for publication in an academic or professional journal. Once you have written your rough draft, it is time to begin the journal editing process. However, you shouldn’t just dive in. You need a plan. Journal editing is an intensive process, as shown by the existence of many academic journal editors, journal editing services, and scientific manuscript editing services that perform journal editing full time. Here are a few things you’ll need to get started:

1. A copy of the Author Guide or instructions for authors published by the journal, if available
2. Knowledge of the journal’s word or page requirements (minimum and maximum count)
3. An understanding of the citation style used by the journal you want to submit your work to (MLA, APA, Chicago)

Many reputable journals have author guides ready-made for article submission, as they maintain strict guidelines for how articles should be written and formatted. Author guides can usually be found on a journal’s website, but if you don’t see any instructions, don’t hesitate to reach out and email the journal before you begin the process of journal editing. You’ll definitely need to know if there are any word minimums or maximums and what citation style is preferred, so ask about that too. Some academic journals don’t have a required citation style. If that’s the case, then you should choose a style that you are familiar with and that is appropriate to your academic discipline.

How Do I Begin Journal Editing?
Once you know the basic requirements of the journal you will submit your article to, it’s time to get started. Journal article editing consists of:

• Content editing- analyze and revise the content of your paper
• Citation management- ensure that citations are where they should be and are accurate
• Formatting- make your paper look pretty
• Proofreading- give your paper a final review to check for any technical errors

You should begin the process of journal editing by editing the content of your work. Many professional academic journal editors and journal editing services recommend making a reverse outline of your paper if you are editing your own work. A reverse outline is exactly what it sounds like. Instead of making an outline before you write, you should read your paper and make an outline as you go. Write down your hypothesis/thesis statement and then the main ideas of the paragraphs in each of your sections. The end result should be a clear roadmap. Most writers identify errors or confusing points in this process, which is the main objective of making a reverse outline. Use this to help you go back and refine the organization and content of your paper.

Of course, if you find it difficult to review your own work objectively, there are numerous journal editing services available online. If your research is highly specialized, you may need to look for a scientific manuscript editing service for editing assistance.

Next Steps: Citation Management and Formatting
Once you’re satisfied with the content of your article, it’s time to work on your citations and formatting. There are citation generator tools online that can help you with this aspect. However, it’s always a good idea to double-check your work, so you can refer to the relevant online style manual when you aren’t sure how to properly format your citations. You should only work on your citations when content editing has been finalized. Otherwise, it’s easy to forget to add or delete something from the references/works cited section of your paper.

When your content is edited and all of your citations are in order, it’s time to move on to formatting. Many citation guides have their own rules for formatting. If the journal you will submit to does not have its own formatting guide but instructs you to use APA style citation, for example, you can refer to the APA Manual of Style to see how headings should be formatted. Go through your paper section by section to make sure that headlines are bold, centered, italicized, or numbered as necessary.

Final Steps: Proofreading and Submission
Once you’ve completed your formatting and your references are in order, it’s time for the final step of journal editing: proofreading. Proofreading involves a careful review of each line of your article to ensure there are no typographical, spelling, punctuation, or grammatical errors. You should never just run a spell check and call it a day. Many minor errors can slip past even the best automated spell-checking programs and increase your chances of being rejected. This is why journal editing services often hire proofreaders in addition to academic journal editors. The more people read your paper before submission, the lower the likelihood of a mistake slipping past. Once you have finished proofreading and are sure your article is the best it can be, you’re done with journal editing. It’s time to submit it to the academic journal you have chosen, and hope for the best!

If the process of journal editing sounds like a lot of work, that’s because it is. It’s one reason that journal editing services and scientific manuscript editing services have become so popular. In addition to the benefit of having another set of eyes reviewing your work, having someone else do journal editing for your article can save you a lot of time. Whether you do your own journal editing or hire a journal editing service, make sure that you prepare your article as carefully as possible to increase your chances of being accepted.