16/06/2026
You’re not getting rejected because your results and methods are not interesting. You’re getting rejected because your novelty is unclear
(Let’s fix that!)
Novelty is not:
- “No one has done exactly this before.”
- “We used a slightly different parameter.”
- “We added more data to an old idea.”
Novelty is ONE clear, new thing in your work.
- New problem.
- New solution.
- New combination.
- New insight.
If you can’t say it in one sentence, you don’t have it yet.
From my experience, there are 3 types of novelty that get you published
1. New solution → Old problem
“We apply X (new method/technology) to improve Y (known problem).”
2. Old solution → New problem
“We take X (known method/technology) into Y (new context/field).”
3. New insight → Known area
“We show something counterintuitive / previously unquantified about X.”
If your paper is:
Old solution → Old problem → “with more data”
That’s not novelty. That’s a lab report.
Make sure that you clearly articulate the novelty of your work in abstract & introduction.
So:
- Don’t hide your novelty in the discussion.
- Don’t wrap it in 3 paragraphs of “In recent years…”
- Don’t make them dig for it.
Put it front and centre, particularly in:
- Last paragraph of your intro
- Core state,emt of your abstract
- First/second paragraph of your cover letter
Your paper doesn’t need 20 “contributions”.
It needs ONE unforgettable novelty statement.
Write that first.
Then write your paper around
