Writing academic articles can be a demanding task; even experienced writers (and editors!) make avoidable mistakes when working under pressure. Here are some of the common mistakes I have picked up while editing.
Not adhering to the journal’s guidelines
This is a major source of avoidable mistakes. This issue is often compounded by authors not knowing how to work with templates and MS Word style sheets.
I always make a checklist while reading through a journal’s guidelines and tick off the items as I go along. The checklist should include the following categories:
- Typography: page margins (usually 1″ or 2.4 cm), font type and size, line spacing (single or double), text justification (left or justified), headings (numbered, bold/italicised, title/sentence case)
- Title page: author details, author affiliations (include address, city, country), corresponding author (include contact details)
- Review process: separate title page for a double-blinded anonymous review
- Statements and declarations: added to the title page or at the end of the document (usually before the reference list), incomplete set of declarations (e.g., funding statement, conflicts of interest statement, data availability statement)
- Abstract: structured abstract or unstructured, word counts, graphical abstract options, keywords
- Word count: check if the word count includes the abstract, reference list, and tables/figures
Headings
Many heading errors can be avoided by using MS Word’s style sheet to format headings (H1, H2, and H3 etc.) and navigation panel (CTRL + F). I always check a paper’s heading structure before doing any editing. The navigation panel not only makes it easier to click through a document, it also makes it much easier to spot structural, numbering, and formatting issues.
Your checklist needs to include the following:
- Does the journal require numbered or unnumbered headings
- Is the journal’s numbering style non-standard (e.g., H1 headings that use Roman letters)
- What is the journal’s formatting style (full caps, title case (all major words capitalised), or sentence case (only first letter capitalised)
- Unnumbered headings can be bold (H1), bold italicised (H2), or italicised (H3).
Language preferences
If is very easy to miss some punctuation and spelling errors related to UK and US English. The first step is to change the document’s language preference setting in the task bar at the bottom of page. I also use the following checklist:
- Language preference (UK or US)
- Spelling and word choice (e.g., ‘colour’ vs ‘color’; ‘toward’ vs ‘towards)
- In the case of UK (-ise or -ize)
- Non-standard punctuation (e.g., UK English with double quotation marks)
Tables and figures
Tables and figures can be embedded in the manuscript, added after the references. Journals may also require authors to submit figures as separate files. The most frequent errors include the following:
- Inserting tables as images. Always provide tables in an editable format.
- Adding a table’s caption to the table, usually in the first row. Table captions should be placed on a separate line above the table.
- Using different font sizes in figures. Figures should have a uniform appearance in terms of font type and font size.
References
Most journals have their preferred reference style (e.g., APA, Harvard, or CMOS), although many simply require authors to pick a style and apply it consistently throughout their text. However, all in-text citations need to be in the reference list, and all references need to be cited in the text.
The following errors occur fairly frequently:
- In-text citations that are not included in the reference list and vice versa
- In-text citations with incorrect dates
- Two or more references that have the same in-text citation (e.g., Smith et al., 2020)
Key takeaway
First impressions count in an environment where editors-in-chief and reviews need to evaluate hundreds of submissions.