Reasons for Journal Rejection: An Analysis of 600 Manuscripts

Abstract

The rejection of manuscripts by journals is clearly the norm in the social sciences. For example, in 1976 about 700 manuscripts were submitted to theAmerican Economic Reviewand more than 500 were rejected; theAmerican Sociological Reviewrejected more than 500 of about 600 submitted; and of the 525 manuscripts reviewed by theAmerican Political Science Review, almost 500 were rejected. To be sure, these are the top journals in their disciplines; but other respectable journals display the same pattern for that year: theSouthern Economic Journalturned down well over 400 of the 500 manuscripts received; theSocial Science Quarterlyrejected about 425 of the almost 500 received; and theAmerican Journal of Political Sciencereceived about 320 and rejected 270. That a perusal of the editorial reports of other journals would yield comparable findings is documented by a survey of 72 economics journals which collectively reported a rejection rate of 77 percent.