The fate of manuscripts rejected by the Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.

Abstract

Objectives: The aim of this study was to evaluate the fate of the articles after they were rejected from the Turkish Journal of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation (Turk J Phys Med Rehab).

Materials and methods: Between January 2016 and December 2021, rejected manuscripts by the Turk J Phys Med Rehab were retrospectively analyzed and whether these rejected articles were published in another journal was identified. For the manuscripts published elsewhere, article type, change in the article name, and the number and order of authors were noted. The index of the new journal, the impact factor for SCI-E journals and journal quartile were recorded. Whether the journal was a national journal/international journal, a specialty or non-specialty journal, and whether the impact factors were higher, lower, or the same as Turk J Phys Med Rehab were evaluated.

Results: Totally, 76% of 1,051 rejected articles were accepted for publication in another journal, after an average of 13.73 months. The name of the article, the order of the authors, and the number of the authors remained unchanged in 71.4%, 79.3%, and 80.8% of the articles, respectively. A total of 69.9% of the journals were non-specialty journals and 61.8% were general international medical journals. In addition, 32.6% of the journals were included in the SCI-E, and 70.9% of the articles in SCI-E were included in the Q4 and Q3 scope. The impact factor with 51.9% were lower or the same with the Turk J Phys Med Rehab.

Conclusion: Our study results showed that a high percentage of the articles rejected by the Turk J Phys Med Rehab found a place in another journal later, and that non-specialty journals that accept general articles were more prominent in the selection of journal. The fact that an article rejected from a journal can be corrected and amended in accordance with valuable reviewer comments by improving its academic quality and seeking success in other journals may be promising for researchers who submit their articles to journals.