Don'ts
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Provide insufficient theoretical foundations. Data lose their meaning if the relationship between variables is not adequately presented.
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Use subjects or variables in the research that are not representative of the subjects or variables described in the theory.
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Provide insufficient explanation or definition of the concepts used. It's important for the reader to know what is meant.
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Provide insufficient clarification of the reasoning behind methods and procedures. It is important to clarify why a certain plan or method was chosen and why this suits the research question.
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Write individual paragraphs that do not form a logical whole. Often, parts of an article are well written, but don't connect well with each other as far as content is concerned.
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Use amateurish tone and style. For tips, see the following section, "The Ten Commandments".
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Carry out research incorrectly. The publication is worthless the moment the procedure lacks legitimacy or validity.
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Be irrelevant for the discipline of the journal or insufficiently innovative to be interesting enough to be published.
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Lay too much emphasis on the methodical and technical components at the cost of interpreting and drawing meaning from the results.
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Have a weak conclusion. Strong conclusions connect logically and understandably with the research question and results.
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Use the same data/research results in a slightly differently manner in various publications to increase the chance of publication.
This section is based on:
R. L. Daft, Why I recommend that your manuscript be rejected and what you can do about it, in: L.L. cummings and P.J. Frost, Publishing in the organizational sciences (1995, Sage Publications)
