Through the editor’s eyes: How to avoid desk rejects

Desk-reject is a nightmare of many researchers, do you agree?

To help authors reduce the risk of early rejection in the future, we organized the workshop “Fit or no fit — that’s the editor’s question!”. Our colleague, Nazir Jogezai, invited participants to look at the editorial decision-making process from the editor’s point of view — the stage at which a manuscript is either sent out for a peer review or declined right away. We discussed what editors expect from submissions and how to write a strong cover letter. The workshop also introduced a practical tool designed to help authors realistically assess whether their manuscript is a good match for a journal before submission — the Journal Fit Checklist. This checklist sparked particular interest among participants:

• “I especially appreciate useful tips for submitting an article to the journal and a Journal Fit Checklist. JFC is an excellent tool!”

• “A great value of the workshop is to see the reviewing procedure through the eyes of the editor.”

• “The workshop was exceptionally clear, structured, and very practical.”

This workshop was the final event of 2025. Thank you for being with us throughout the year! We are already preparing for the new semester. The new program of events will be available on our website very soon.

Season greetings, and best wishes for a successful and inspiring New Year!