Guest Post: Some Research by a Visiting Scholar

[This post is by visiting scholar Fan Xiaohui (Sophie Fan), who has been working with me. Although the post regards papers by Chinese authors, many points in it also apply to papers by other researchers. Thank you, Sophie! —Barbara]  

Recently I surveyed editors-in-chief of some American medical journals. The purpose was to understand better the editors' perceptions of papers submitted by Chinese researchers.

The editors most often ranked importance of topic, research methodology, or novelty of topic as the top strength. The 3 flaws most commonly ranked first were poor language use, unoriginality of the topic, and poor presentation of the results.

The editors indicated that the best parts of Chinese authors' papers tended to be methods, results, and tables and figures. The discussion was the section most often ranked first with regard to having problems.

My study also supports the observation that in recent years American medical journals have received an increasing number of papers from China. However, among the journals studied, the acceptance rate of Chinese submissions was relatively low.

The editors gave Chinese authors some valuable suggestions:

• Originality of research: Do not just duplicate with large numbers of subjects others' studies.
• Language: Ask an English-language consultant or a scientist with excellent English to edit the final version of the paper.
• Results: Report findings honestly, clearly, and in your own words.
• Discussion sections: Try to generalize the findings to have meaning for a worldwide readership.
• Author-editor communication: Do not be afraid to request clarification if you are unsure what the editor is asking.