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Top 10 Reasons for Article Rejection

Top 10 Reasons for Article Rejection

Posted by Admin | August 23, 2008 | Comments (8)

We all know how frustrating it can be to have articles rejected or rewrites requested. Below are the most common reasons articles are sent back for rewrites and/or rejected:
  • Does not follow the style guidelines
  • Same and/or similar wording/content as other articles
  • Stating the obvious or giving generally well-known information
  • Insufficient content
  • Poor grammar and repeated spelling errors (especially if we see this as a continued pattern)
  • Article does not accurately answer the question put forth in the title
  • Illogical and/or conflicting advice
  • Stilted or superfluous prose
  • Personal stories
  • Articles that essentially say, "Do an Internet search"
One of the best ways to speed up the review process and reduce rejections is to follow the style guidelines.

Demand Studios has an overall Style Guide, as well as guidelines that apply to the article format you are working on. Please familiarize yourself with all of these documents before you start writing.

For any style issues not addressed in the Demand Studios Style Guide, please refer to AP Style, the standard style guide in the journalism industry.If you do not currently own an AP Stylebook, the Associated Press website also has an online style guide available for subscription. Of course, the Demand Studio Style Guidelines have the most common references to the AP Stylebook listed.

8 Comments

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Anonymous
Sep 1, 3:44 AM

In the spirit of helping other writers complete articles faster and with an emphasis on maintaining adherence to the Style Guide, I would like to share some easy tips for configuring Microsoft Word to assist in you in editing before you submit your article. First, it’s easier and safer to write in Microsoft Word, and then paste into the template. If your internet connection suffers a glitch, you still have your article. Open Microsoft Word (gee, this almost sounds like a how-to article) and open your Grammar dialogue box. I’m running Word 2007, so it’s a little different but you will find the grammar/spelling function by selecting “Tool>Options>Spelling and Grammar” on older versions or “Review>Spelling and Grammar” on the newer versions. Once this dialogue window opens, select “Options” and you will find a large list of grammar options available to you. For most web writing – Active Voice is encouraged, so be sure to select the box that catches any Passive Voice in your article. In addition, you may choose to catch double spaces after a period…single spaces are desirable in most writing you’re submitting and you can catch split infinitives and a host of other grammar no-no’s, including the use of First Person. Run every article through the checker before pasting into the template. I hope this helps someone. G

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Anonymous
Sep 1, 11:53 AM

Is there a way writers can challenge a rejection if an editor clearly is just rejecting an article because they've had a bad day and the article does not fall into one of the above-metnioned categories? Thanks.

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Anonymous
Sep 1, 6:38 PM

Thanks for the blog Demand Studios and all of the information now and in the future. Thanks GT! While I've always written in Word, did not know about the 'passive voice' catcher... excellent advice! I will use it often. Chrisitne

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Anonymous
Sep 2, 2:26 PM

In light of the many issues writers face with unclear or unfounded rewrite requests, perhaps it would be a good idea to raise the limit on the number of rewrites on one article. If writers are given more than one chance to sort out and comply with an edit request, it would go a long way in improving goodwill. I understand that this may create more work, but we have no way of contacting the editor directly for clarification. We simply try to do what we think the editor wants and keep our fingers crossed that we guessed correctly.

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Anonymous
Sep 2, 4:18 PM

Right on, Elizabeth! Or should I say "write on"? Many times the rewrite suggestions are vague. I once got "Needs to be written better" and that was it. Gee, thanks.

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Anonymous
Sep 3, 7:35 AM

Yes, these vague comments can put a writer into a tailspin. If raising the limit on rewrites is not feasible, how about an email/message system? The way it is set up now, we can only communicate by piggybacking comments onto an article submission. While this new feature is great, it means that everything on the writer's end must be communicated through the rewrite submission. If a writer doesn't understand the edits, he will simply get the article rejected. If there was some type of system through the dashboard, no one would have to give out a private email and we could really communicate with one another. If this is not feasible, I hope that the higher ups will routinely review the rewrite comments to identify editors who are not constructive.

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Anonymous
Sep 6, 2:22 PM

Hmmm, what's going on with the editors and the rude comments? I agree that revision comments can be very vague. I've only had a few of my articles returned for minor revisions. I think the team of editors need to realize that there are a lot of budding writers on here, and it sounds like their comments are more harsh rather than constructive. This isn't The New Yorker.

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Anonymous
Sep 6, 2:24 PM

Some of the reasons why my articles have been rejected have been a bit lame (and very vague). I agree. I think we should be able to challenge if an article is rejected.

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