10 tips for writing a truly terrible journal article

In this fun but informative post, Editor Bert Blocken highlights some of the major mistakes early career researchers make when preparing and submitting a manuscript to a scientific journal. At a time when publication pressure and the quantity of publications are increasing, but the average quality of publications seems to be decreasing, guidance for early career researchers on how to write journal articles is increasingly relevant. Several best practice guidelines and rules have been published before. This article takes a different approach, by highlighting 10 things you should certainly NOT do. I’ve based them on my experiences in the exact sciences/engineering fields, but some of them may well hold true, whatever your discipline.status: publishe