Rejection is common. Most peer-reviewed journals publish just a fraction of the submissions they receive. Very rarely are those published before the authors revise according to reviewer questions and suggestions, and the editor asks for formatting corrections per author instructions.

Desk Rejection

If a paper is rejected without being sent for peer review (desk rejection), there are are likely one or more factors. Some reasons for desk rejection can include:

  • Topic not appropriate or timely for the journal’s intended audience, or topic too narrow or broad
  • Topic or results not significant or novel; this does not include negative results, which can be just as impactful as expected results
  • Incorrect, flawed, or not well-described methodology
  • Missing data, ethical approval statement, or required reporting standards
  • Paper not formatted per author instructions; even journals accepting “format-free” initial submissions will still value a cleanly and consistently formatted manuscript
  • Language/writing is not sufficient for review; ask for internal peer or editor review before submitting
  • Tracked changes, edits, comments between authors have not been removed before submission

Peer-review Rejection

Rejection after peer review does not imply that the work has no value. Before submitting a rejected paper elsewhere, it may be helpful to consider:

  • Review comments and suggestions objectively and revise accordingly
  • Reformat per instructions of the next journal; if a manuscript is carefully formatted but not according to the current journal’s instructions, it’s an indication that the manuscript was rejected elsewhere, and no revisions were made or attention was not paid to current author instructions. This may raise questions about the paper’s suitability and/or the authors’ dedication to their writing.

For more in-depth review of manuscript rejection, there are a number of articles and blogs online, many from reviewers’ and editors’ perspectives. Here are several that are quite helpful:

Ali MJ. The science and philosophy of manuscript rejection. Indian J Ophthalmol 2021 Jul;69(7):1934-5. PMID: PMC8374804 

An article originally published by JAMA in 1975 was republished in 2025: Attributes of a rejected manuscript. JAMA 2025 Apr 8;333(14):1266. doi: 10.1011/jama.2024.18788

In-depth review of the psychology of and coping mechanisms for rejection: Argan M, et al. What does rejection look like? A photovoice study on emotions and coping regarding manuscript rejection. Curr Psychol 2023 Jan;16:1-19. PMCID: PMC9842215