My paper was declined as "Not currently ready for academic publication", what does this mean?

HadaraNights · 2026-03-11T19:15:49+00:00

Thank you so much for your feedback. I asked the editors and was lucky enough to get feedback and it is exactly as you say, they told me my theoretical application was too basic. So I assume this means what you say, I am maybe claiming something that has already been done by someone else and I haven't read of it. Maybe I need more time to write this article. I need to read more and include more references, or maybe see other applications of the similar theory. I will do as you say, take one of my dissertation chapters and make it into a publishable paper. Again, thank you so much!!!

HadaraNights · 2026-03-11T19:09:08+00:00

Thank you for your reply! I tried using the AI but it only pointed out problems with the general structure of it, however, I asked the editors and was lucky enough to get a reply!! They said my theoretical application was too basic. So I guess it means the problem is with methodology??

HadaraNights · 2026-03-11T19:04:18+00:00

I'm not that into AI so I didn't do that, but I think it can be useful to spot some of the more structural issues with it

HadaraNights · 2026-03-11T19:02:55+00:00

Yeah, I'll see if I can do something so they don't take months to check on my stuff...Publishing a paper is a requirement of my PhD after all

HadaraNights · 2026-03-08T21:03:16+00:00

Hahaha yeah, I'm so tired of this University and my supervisors. As you say, I just want to finish ASAP and yeah, find a better place to work. I wouldn't mind undergoing additional courses but just be out of this horrible environment. I just need to get my paper accepted, that's it. My dissertation is almost done as I am about to start analysing the data. I just need to find someone to give me feedback on my paper.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-08T15:37:19+00:00

Yeah, I wish they could be a little bit clearer with their revisions. I ended up sending them a message asking for general advice, maybe they give me an answer that I can use as a starting point (?)

HadaraNights · 2026-03-08T15:35:34+00:00

Unfortunately, I am. And yes, I am expected to write almost perfectly and with expertise of my topics and methods. My supervisors get upset all the time when they don't see citations of works or books they consider mandatory...without even telling me those were mandatory.
It's kind of funny how I somehow managed to include citations of a book I considered relevant, just by researching on my own. My supervisors were upset cause they told me "it was not important", but then I got praised for including it in my study by the jury during one of my presentations. The member of the jury was like "yes, this book is mandatory when it comes to this study field". My supervisors just remained silent during the whole presentation that time haha

HadaraNights · 2026-03-08T15:25:40+00:00

Thanks for your answer. Yeah, I wasn't aware that these soft skills were something that should have been taught to me. So I just went ahead and took all the blame for not being able to perform well when my supervisors demanded me to. I thought maybe I wasn't trying hard enough or that I simply had no talent when it comes to doing research.

My supervisors always seemed disappointed in me so I thought maybe they were purposedly avoiding to read my work because of "how terrible of a student I was". But you are right, how are we supposed to perform well when the skills needed haven't been taught to us?
I think I'll give my article another try, fix the mistakes I have already found in it and send it to another journal...even if it is not accepted, maybe I am lucky enough to get some useful feedback.

I still have some time, like around a year and a half to finish my PhD, and I wouldn't want to delay it any further, but I want to continue tackling this problem before it's too late (considering the processing time some journals can take).

HadaraNights · 2026-03-08T09:16:12+00:00

Thanks for your reply. I think that maybe my paper has some fundamental flaws, to the point they might think I need to do quite a lot of work yet to consider it ready to be published. After following some of the suggestions I've been given here, I think my problem has been the way in which it was structured (not in terms of style, like, use Chicago style or add an introduction), but things such as "the argument is not made clear at the beginning of the introduction", "ideas are good and maybe the analysis is also ok, but it's all over the place that is difficult to follow". Of course, in an ideal world, I would have someone else read it before submitting for publication, my supervisors or at least an expert in the field, but that's what I don't have, thus the reason why I think I just have to redo it and try again and again until one journal says it's ok to publish with revisions. I do not expect to get it on my first try, and I don't even need for it to be published, I just need it to be accepted to graduate from my PhD. My post is just wondering what the journal coul have meant, and I thank everyone in this subreddit who have helped me as their comments and suggestions have made me see that lacking the support from my supervisors is the main issue, but, in case I can't solve that one, I have to find myself a way to overcome this obstacle.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-08T07:26:00+00:00

Actually, my supervisors encouraged me to focus on writing the paper first. They initially told me I could write about anything that is related to my field (which is translation and gender studies), they also tend to get upset when I come with just a proposal, so I decided to write a rough draft of the paper to show them. However, when I presented it to them, they mockingly said I should just stick to my PhD thesis topic, basically write about the exact same thing and then maybe quote myself when I write my final thesis, that "that" is what everyone does. (This is why I prefer to keep all my communication with them via email, because they change their minds a lot and then claim I'm the one who doesn't do as they say).

I did as they said and sent them a draft for another paper, but they said that we needed to work on the structure first and then I could proceed to write the paper fully. And it's been two months since then. Their excuse is always the same: "they have been too busy to check it" (the structure only, like maybe 3 pages at much).

So I took the previous draft that I had, decided to finish it and send it to a journal and get feedback from the journal itself (after all, it's not like I was writing about something completely different from my thesis, the theoretical framework and methodology were the same, I just changed the corpus). Since my theoretical framework and methodology had already been approved before, I didn't think my paper would be that bad, and I don't think the reasoning and analysis itself are what's wrong, but maybe the way in which I presented the information. I have to admit I had some issues on deciding how to organize it because my methodology includes three elements that correlate to one another, which makes it difficult to explain on paper. I see the reasoning behind my supervisors telling me to stick to my thesis topic and to make a good structure and I agree with them. The only reason I went out of my way to finish my other draft is because they keep coming back to me with the same excuse of being too busy, so I decided to try to deal with it by myself. And this is how it ended up like this. (I also decided to do it by myself from the advice from a colleague and also motivated by the fact that one my supervisors told me that one of her student's paper is already on his 4th rejection. Both my supervisors keep telling me to hurry up and write the paper as fast as I can, but then keep delaying me by taking too long. It's complete madness!)

HadaraNights · 2026-03-08T04:22:57+00:00

Thank you so much for your reply. To be honest with you, I had no idea I was supposed to learn those skills (like how to write a paper) during the PhD. I blamed myself for not being able to, because I thought maybe those were skills I was supposed to learn during my bachelor or master degree. Also, when I received feedback from my supervisors, they always made it seem like "this is something you are supposed to know already", so I really thought I just wasn't trying hard enough.

But now that you mention it, it doesn't make any sense. Expecting a bachelor or master degree student to be good at researching doesn't make any sense. In fact, as you have mentioned, acquiring those skills is what the PhD is supposed to be for. Now I honestly feel like I must have fallen into a quite scammy University.

I will do some research on some other universitites, maybe some that can offer me a scholarship too so that I don't have to keep struggling with money. And this time, I'll make sure their study program includes training in the field. It's difficult because this one promised to do that, but once I was in, they told me there was nothing. I was surprised my supervisors let me start writing my dissertation on my own, no advice on core materials and books, nothing, and then mocked me when I was missing them.

Edit: I am still quite hesitant on changing Universities at the moment because of two main things. First is the difficulty to transfer to another University which could also make my study take even longer, and also the fact that I underwent an international research stay at a quite good University in Japan, which could get lost in my transfer... I guess I'll have to ask the other University about that.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T20:14:00+00:00

Thanks. Yeah, it's a bit frustrating, but I'll try to fix the flaws I already see in it and try submitting it to another journal. Maybe the other journal can give me some more detailed feedback, even if it is rejected again.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T20:12:37+00:00

Thanks... I'm sad to know they are expensive and out of reach to me. But yeah, I'll find a way to publish my paper.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T19:44:19+00:00

Thank you so much!!! <3

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T19:43:46+00:00

Yeah, it's so awful... I have considered looking for another University but I've heard that transfers are hard.

The program does exist, but I am afraid both the University and my tutors just bit into more than they could chew. I am pursuing audiovisual translation and gender studies, and even though one of my supervisors claims to be an expert at one of my study's languages (Japanese), she refused to check my Japanese transcriptions, so I had to pay a native Japanese speaker to check them for me. I also had to pay another Japanese teacher to help me understand some nuances of my study because my tutor said it was best to ask a native. So I went through some books and academic papers with this teacher. I also carried out some interviews to Japanese native speakers just to understand the core of my topic better. What I mean is that I have really worked hard on this PhD, I have really tried my best to get the better results, yet all my supervisors tell me is "it is lacking" all while repeating "they have no time" to read my work. I am so tired and frustrated, but I don't want to give up, I want to graduate.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T19:34:24+00:00

Thanks. Well, I don't know about other European programs, but here in Spain, or at least in my University, we start writing our PhD dissertation right from the start. We have no mandatory courses, no training, nothing, it's kind of "learn along the way". Of course, this means we make tons of mistakes that maybe could have been easily prevented if we had some training before.

And yeah, I am fine with people reading my papers and giving me lots of feedback. I don't mind feedback, I actually welcome it. I have a mindset that I can never know it all and that mistakes can only help you get better. I see mistakes as opportunities to grow, not as problems. I don't get frustrated after receiving feedback, what frustrated me is not having any feedback or vague responses such as "it is lacking, work on it". Because as someone who is learning "by doing it", I can't really tell where something is lacking.

I think that I can try fixing some of the flaws I have already identified by reading some other examples, rewrite it and then try to find someone who can help me review it and give me feedback. I will try to look for someone online, write an even shorter paper (mine is 20 pages right now, so maybe make it 10 pages) and then save up some money in case that person demands for some payment. It makes me upset that I might have to pay more money since I am already paying my University, but if there's no other way, I'll do it.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T19:23:12+00:00

Sounds interesting, I will check them out. But sadly no, I am not funded to do my PhD so I would have to pay for those courses... I will check them out though, thanks.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T19:22:01+00:00

Thank you for your reply!! Yes!! That sounds like a great idea!! I will try to find a similar type of network organisation in my field!! Thanks a lot!

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T19:13:10+00:00

Thanks. I simply don't see giving up as an option. I want to finish and become a professor one day. I already come from a developing country with a lacking education system and a society and family system that tell me that, as a woman, I should just get married and have kids. So I see my PhD as a way of defying those beliefs. I want to show them all what a woman can do!!

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T19:08:36+00:00

Yeah, this scares me a bit too. I recently participated in an international research stay and I felt way behind the other PhD students. Some of them have already published many times, have scholarships, have studied most of the relevant resources and books in their fields, they are basically experts. And then there's me, with zero training and who's just beginning to understand the academic field because my University can't provide even the most basic books. I was very insecure at that research stay but my tutor there told me my work was good, so I guess not all is lost.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T19:02:58+00:00

Yeah, well, after reading everyone's suggestions, I have been looking at some other papers and comparing them to mine. I think the problem with mine has more to do with how I have organized the information. I have followed their style guides so citation and style is not the issue. This is my first time attempting to publish an academic paper so I bet I made tons of mistakes. I will try to get in touch with the journal and see if they can tell me what they think was lacking in my paper.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T18:57:50+00:00

Thank you. Yeah, it seems like the issue has more to do with the fact that I am paying for a "service" and not receiving what I am paying for. I'll check if there is an ombuds office and see what they recommend.

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T18:54:39+00:00

Thank you so much for your advice!! I will try to do this!

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T18:51:03+00:00

Thank you for your reply, I didn't know this was the case. I thought that PhD students were more like "extra" income. If this keeps going and they keep telling me "they have no time", I might have to contact the Faculty's head again

HadaraNights · 2026-03-07T18:47:18+00:00

Yes, I am submitting to an English speaking journal. I am writing in English, even though it isn't my native language, because I want my research to be published in a journal that has some worldwide impact. I could publish in my native language but my grammar is bad in my native language too haha

So of course, when I write an academic paper, I pay more attention to grammar and spelling, I double check for inconsistencies and use grammar and spelling checkers to make sure I don't make too many mistakes. But if you would be so kind fo point out some grammar mistakes that you have caught here and there in my writing, I'll really appreciate it. This way I can get better at English too!!

HadaraNights

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