Rejections are inevitable but can push researchers to better research papers
This week is Peer Review Week, with a theme of quality in peer review, and we are sharing some experiences of peer review from people in the AuthorAID network. In this post, accountancy graduate student King Carl Tornam Duho discusses getting over the fear of rejection and recognizing how peer review can help improve quality.
My greatest fear as a budding academic was the hurdle of peer review and possible rejection. In 2015, when I was still doing my undergraduate programme, I discussed with one of the professors in my university how I could avoid rejections. He explained to me how inevitable rejections are and there is the need to just keep determined, work hard and aim for novelty in my research outputs.
Years later, after I started writing academic articles for journal publication, I came to realize the importance of peer review. I would not say rejections are sweet, but I can also attest to the fact that the peer reviews have improved my articles significantly. Peer review pushed me to search for solutions to problems that I may not normally aim at solving.
I have been motivated to also contribute to the review process while ensuring the quality I enjoyed from others.
King Carl Tornam Duho is a research consultant at the IMANI Center for Policy and Education and graduate student in the Department of Accounting at the University of Ghana