Desk Rejections: Why, How, and What Next?

Desk rejection is the rejection of a manuscript before external peer review. Technical deficiencies, poor writing, lack of adherence to journal’s requirements regarding the formatting of the manuscript, the work being out of scope for the journal, and nonadherence to the ethical requirements of scientific writing are the common reasons for the desk rejection of a manuscript, which otherwise would be subjected to peer review. Desk rejections can occur at multiple stages such as at the time of technical checks by the journal staff, by the editor-in-chief before assigning it to a handling editor, or by the handling editor before peer review. It is important for the authors to have a thorough knowledge of the manuscript processing flow and appreciate the reasons for desk rejections. Upon facing such rejections, of the several recourses available to authors, a well-structured rebuttal may lead to a review of the original decision.