The end of the year is a crucial period for academics. With the holiday season and the beginning of the new year approaching, researchers are often seeking to finalise manuscript submissions and meet official deadlines. These end-of-year deadlines may be in accordance with annual reviews, grant reporting, PhD milestones, or calendar-year open access budgets.

However, co-authors, reviewers, and institutional offices can be harder to reach in December, so late submissions can stall. Preparing your research paper for submission can be made easier by following specific steps, but if you are trying to meet end-of-year deadlines, this task comes with extra considerations.

In this article, we prepare you to successfully complete your research paper submission during a period where timing matters most. 

Countdown from early November to mid-December: what to do and when 

If you are aiming for a December submission, by the beginning of November your research manuscript should be nearing completion. Rather than performing structural rewrites or seeking additional data, the coming weeks should be dedicated to finalising, formatting, and polishing before paper submission.

Weeks 1–2

This period needs to include finalising the content of your research manuscript. This part of your manuscript is the most important. Your research must be accurate and ethically sound for it to pass initial screening checks and subsequent peer review, should it be accepted.

If you co-authored the paper with other researchers, this is the time to get their sign-off. This is an official confirmation from every listed author of the research paper, verifying that they have reviewed the contents and are happy to share accountability for the submission.

Week 3

Once the content has been checked and approved, the next step is formatting to your target journal’s guidelines.  

Journals often provide free manuscript templates that you can download and use during the preparation of your paper. The earlier you start following the relevant template guidelines, the better. Writing in a blank document and then translating the contents over to a formatted manuscript template could result in inconsistencies.  

It is vital that your target journal’s guidelines are followed correctly. Any inconsistencies in your submission will only result in delays. In some cases, this could mean the difference between meeting those end-of-year deadlines or not.

Week 4

The last step in preparing for an end-of-year manuscript submission is a language polish including final checks. This is where you proofread your paper for spelling and grammar errors, awkward phrasing, missing references, and numerical inconsistencies.  

If English is your second language or you are targeting a high-impact journal, using dedicated professional academic services can get your manuscript to a publishable standard.  

Language issues are a common cause of desk rejection, and final polishing is often the first step cut when authors are under time pressure. MDPI Author Services offers English editing with turnaround times ranging from 1 day (Rapid) to 5 days (Standard/Academic).

Commonly missed items in a submission 

Editors tend to notice commonly missed items in author submissions. These include but are not limited to: 

• Formatting. 

• Co-author sign-off. 

• Necessary statements, such as conflict of interest statements. 

• References. 

• Cover letter. 

For more information on what items should be included in your submission, see our more in-depth guide on preparing your research paper for submission.

Year-end pitfalls and what to expect 

The academic year-end is always a complicated period for academics. You may be juggling teaching responsibilities with mounting deadlines for your own research. In addition, the chances of co-authors or editorial offices being unavailable only increases the closer to the holidays you get.  

Certain journals may have busier submission periods during late November, so this could mean waiting longer to receive an editorial receipt of your submission, desk-rejection notice, or reviewer assignment. 

Whilst you have no control over workflows during these periods, you do have control over how you prepare. By creating and sticking to a regimented schedule for finalising, formatting, and polishing your research paper, as well as taking advantage of professional academic editing services, you give yourself the best chance of meeting any end-of-year deadlines. 

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