How to write and publish a scientific paper - Barbara Gastel, Robert A. Day 2022

The essentials: content, organization, and clarity
How to write science in english as a foreign language
Scientific style

Editors of good English-language journals want to publish the best science in the world, and many are eager to include work from a wide range of countries. Therefore, they often are willing to devote extra effort to publishing papers by nonnative speakers of English (Iverson 2002). For example, they sometimes supplement peer reviewers’ comments with detailed guidance of their own, and they sometimes allot extra staff time to copyediting papers that have good content but problems in English-language expression.

Thus, for nonnative as well as native-English-speaking scientists, the editor and the author are allies. Do not be intimidated if you are a nonnative speaker of English. If your research is of high quality and wide interest, editors of good English-language journals will want to publish it. Of course, you will have to do your part.

Your part consists mainly of submitting an informative, well-organized, clearly written paper. Some nonnative speakers worry that their English seems unpolished or clumsy. In fact, some focus so much on making the English beautiful that they neglect more basic aspects. Although good English is certainly desirable, you need not agonize over fine points of style. If your paper is informative, well organized, and clear, the editor and peer reviewers can soundly evaluate your research. And then if your paper is accepted, a copy editor at the journal can readily correct occasional problems with grammar or other aspects of expression.

However, if important information is missing, if a paper is poorly organized, or if wording is unclear, the editor and peer reviewers might not be able to understand the paper well enough to evaluate the research. Even if they wish to publish the research, much difficult work may be needed to make the paper publishable. If the journal lacks the resources for this extra work, it might not be able to publish the paper. Even if it has such resources, such major difficulties may delay the paper’s publication.

A copy editor at the journal may query you (ask you questions) if items in your paper are unclear or if the copy editor is uncertain whether proposed changes would retain your intended meaning. Reply to queries promptly. If you do not understand a query, ask for clarification. Also, do not assume that copy editors are right because they are experts in English. They might have misunderstood you, and you are responsible for ensuring that your published paper is accurate.