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ARS Home » Plains Area » Manhattan, Kansas » Center for Grain and Animal Health Research » Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research » Research » Publications at this Location » Publication #371855
Research Project: Sustainable Management Strategies for Stored-Product Insects

Location: Stored Product Insect and Engineering Research

Title: Scientific manuscripts and the peer review process

Author
item Arthur, Franklin

Submitted to: American Entomologist
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 7/14/2020
Publication Date: 12/11/2020
Citation: Arthur, F.H. 2020. Scientific manuscripts and the peer review process. American Entomologist. 66(4):36-40. https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/tmaa053.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/ae/tmaa053

Interpretive Summary: Writing and publishing the results of personal and cooperative research is part of the requirements and expectations of professional entomologists who are employed by research institutions. The expectations of writing and publishing research are as important today for Entomologists in research positions as it was 30-40 years ago. Authors need to be aware of the current journal review and submission processes, constraints on the time of editors and reviewers, and understand the limitations on journal editors and reviewers. This article briefly describes the components of a scientific paper, and presents some simple guidelines for manuscript construction. It must be emphasized that today it is ultimately the author's responsibility, not the journal editor or reviewer, for ensuring the quality of the manuscript.

Technical Abstract: This article describes the manuscript publication process as it today, provides brief guidelines for constructing the components of the manuscript, and suggests methods for perhaps minimizing rejections or major review recommendations by journal reviewers. Individual components of a scientific manuscript are discussed, and guidelines are given for constructing a manuscript so that it can be processed through a peer-reviewed publication system. Today editors have a difficult task in finding reviewers for journal submissions, and in turn reviewers are also frustrated when they receive poor quality manuscripts to review. Authors must understand the time constraints of editors and reviewers, and realize that a manuscript may be quickly rejected by editors if does not follow journal guidelines.