Preparing to publish a scientific manuscript in a journal is a time- and effort-intensive process. A research manuscript assumes great Wissenschaftliches Lektorat as the culmination of years of study invested by a researcher. It also holds great potential as the communication of the next important scientific breakthrough. Journals often reject manuscripts that contain errors of language, formatting, proofreading, or data. Therefore, it is extremely essential to ensure that your research manuscript is well written, well edited, well structured, and error-free. Researchers often seek the help of professionals who offer scientific editing and scientific proofreading services. The process of scientific editing involves checking a research manuscript for all language, technical, and structural issues as well as implementing journal formatting guidelines, if any. Scientific proofreading involves a thorough check of the manuscript for grammar, consistency, typographical errors, etc. Thus, both scientific editing and proofreading can have a positive impact on the overall quality of a research manuscript and help improve a researcher’s chances of acceptance for publication.
To begin with, it is essential to ensure that your manuscript reflects native English standards. Poor English can delay the publication of research. ESL (English-as-a-second-language) authors often find it difficult to produce manuscripts with native-level English. Seeking the help of professional scientific editing services can help you overcome this barrier and ensure that the level of English in your manuscript meets the standards required by international journals.
What does poor English entail?
It covers errors of spelling, grammar, and punctuation as well as poor sentence construction, the use of unidiomatic expressions, or a writing style that deviates from its purpose of clearly conveying the substance of the paper. Anything that disables a reader from clearly understanding the meaning the author intends to convey can be attributed to poor use of language or an incorrect writing style. A few instances of language or typographical errors are acceptable, but too many errors are bound to discourage a reader from sustaining an interest in reading the whole manuscript. They also discourage a reviewer from assessing the paper. This is where a scientific editing service can step in to enable effective scientific communication, by ensuring that the manuscript is free of all errors and is written in an engaging manner.
Scientific editing and proofreading can also help you improve other parts of your manuscript. For example, a scientific manuscript is bound to contain supporting data in the form of figures, tables, graphs, etc. in the process of writing a manuscript and presenting data, an author may miss out on double checking figures and tables in his manuscript. The most common errors in figures and tables are using them inappropriately, in accurate or ineffective presentation of data in tables and figures, and lack of consistency between the tables and figures in a manuscript. Ensuring that your manuscript is edited and proofread by experts will also help you present tables and figures effectively.
In addition to helping improve the overall quality of language as well as the manner in which information is presented in a research manuscript, scientific editing and proofreading can also help eliminate other errors such as incorrect punctuation (e.g., with the use of commas and brackets to set off additional information within text), inaccurate symbols (e.g., using the numeral zero instead of the degree symbol), or inconsistent use of capitalization with section headings.
Writing a research manuscript is an effort-intensive process. However, in addition to writing a manuscript, it is also essential to ensure that it is edited and proofread to ensure that the essence of the research is conveyed effectively and clearly. A well- written, error-free research manuscript is not only reader-friendly but also makes a great first impression on the journal reviewers, thereby improving the author’s chances of acceptance for publication.
My name is Jayashree R and I am admittedly a word addict, ever enthralled by the infinite potential of words to enable people to reach out, express, forge relationships, and build our own languages, histories, and futures.
As a BELS-certified editor, I have helped Wissenschaftliches Lektorat authors develop effective, publication-ready manuscripts. And now, as a content writer, I thrive in the engaging universe of words to create compelling communication materials.