Before you submit, read it like Reviewer 2

You have probably spent much more time thinking about your study than the person who will eventually review it.

That creates a problem.

Things that feel obvious to you may not be obvious to someone seeing the work for the first time. A research question can sound clear after months of working on a topic, while a reviewer reads it once and immediately asks:

“What exactly are you trying to find out?”

Before you submit a proposal, thesis or manuscript, here are five things worth checking.

1. Is it a research question, or still a topic?

There is a difference between:

Maternal healthcare utilization among adolescents

and:

What factors influence maternal healthcare utilization among adolescent mothers in [setting]?

The first tells us what the study is about. The second starts to tell us what the study is trying to find out.

A useful test is whether someone could reasonably design a study from your question.

2. Do your objectives actually answer the question?

Objectives can each sound sensible and still fail to work together.

Try this:

Imagine that you completed every objective successfully.

Would you now be able to answer your main research question?

If not, something may be missing, duplicated or pointing in a different direction.

3. Are you claiming more than your design can show?

Small wording choices matter.

Terms such as effect, impact, causes, determines and leads to suggest a particular kind of inference.

If your study is designed to examine associations, experiences, perceptions or patterns, make sure your title, question and objectives do not quietly promise a causal answer the design cannot provide.

The problem is not using strong methods language.

The problem is using language that does not match the study you are actually proposing.

4. Are your important concepts clear enough?

Researchers frequently use terms such as:

These can all be legitimate concepts.

But Reviewer 2 may still ask:

“What do you mean by that here?”

Your research question does not need to contain the entire protocol. It does need enough precision for a reader to understand the phenomenon you intend to study.

5. Can someone understand the study without you explaining it?

This may be the hardest test.

Give someone only your:

title + research question + objectives

Then take away all the explanations you would normally give them.

Does the study still make sense?

If it needs a five-minute verbal explanation before the pieces connect, some of that clarity probably needs to be built into the research itself.

So we built Reviewer 2

Sometimes you need another pair of eyes before the actual reviewer gets involved. Reviewer 2 is a free Methods Bench pre-submission check. Submit your:

• •Research title
• •Research question
• •Research objectives

Reviewer 2 will show you what may be flagged, why it could matter, and what you could improve.

Free • No sign-up

Check your research

One question for this week

Before you submit anything, ask:

“If Reviewer 2 saw only my title, research question and objectives, would they understand exactly what study I am trying to do?”

If you are not sure, start there.

Methods Bench Research support from idea to evidence.