It's time for everyone's favorite Q&A session again, so let's not talk much and go straight to the dry goods
01 What should I do if the repetition rate of the plagiarism check results is too high?
Hello, I am currently a PhD student. I want to know if Turnitin's plagiarism check report is reliable? I checked my paper on different paid sites and the repetition rate was low, but Turnitin had a 23% repetition rate, should I be worried?
answer
Journal editors don't rely solely on the results of plagiarism checking software. Editors are also aware of the limitations of these tools, and most of the time they will not reject the manuscript simply because of the results given by the plagiarism checking software, unless the proportion is really too high, such as more than 30%.
In most cases, editors will consult with reviewers to decide whether or not to reject the manuscript for plagiarism. Journal editors also know that some content is difficult to rewrite, so they will be more accommodating to the content of that part, especially for the method chapter, and the general editor has a high acceptance of the content repetition rate of this part.
Therefore, rather than looking at the overall repetition rate, it is important to see which part of the paper has the most repetition. If you look closely at Turnitin's reports, you can see that duplicate content is flagged.
If it's in the methods section, there's nothing to worry about, but if it's mostly in the preface or discussion, you should try to rewrite it again. If the duplicate content is in the result section, it is more troublesome, and there should be no duplicate content in this section.
A 23% repetition rate isn't too high, but it's better to be on the safe side of rewriting the duplicate content.
02 The editor replied to the email like this, was I rejected or not?
我昨天收到期刊编辑的邮件，说我的论文被拒了：After careful consideration in the editorial board, we regret to inform you that your paper is rejected for publication as its present form.
但今天早上我又重看了一遍，发现了这句：We encourage you to resubmit the paper after revising it according to the reviewers' comments.
Now I don't understand a little bit, so that means my paper is not completely rejected?
answer
This is a rejection that is welcome to be revised and resubmitted, and can be resubmitted as a new manuscript, which is increasingly occurring on manuscripts that require time for overhaul.
In general, journal editors consider your paper to be meritorious, but don't want to rush you to complete the revisions within the deadline. You can make revisions based on your comments and then resubmit your manuscript, and when you resubmit, remember to provide the previous submission number and the point-by-point review reply. In short, you still have a chance!
03 Word Count怎么计算？
What is the number of words counted in Manuscript word count, including title, author, references, abstract, body, table?
answer
Manuscript word counts typically do not include pre-topics such as title, author, and abstract, as well as ending questions such as references and acknowledgments. The count includes the main text as well as tables, graphs, and headings.
Headings have their own word limit (e.g., 10-15 words maximum) and abstracts have word limits (around 200-250 words). However, the journal usually specifies this in its author guidelines. Therefore, you should check the guidelines.
Also in case your manuscript exceeds the word count, you should try to minimize it. However, if you have done your best and there is no further drop, you can proceed with the submission, but let the editor know in your cover letter. Editors can leave some leeway for initial commits, so it should be fine.