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Criteria for Desk Rejection (Reject Without Review)


We reserve the right to withdraw papers with the following attributes:

  • Content
    • Topics outside the scope of the Transportation Research Board
    • Papers that do not demonstrate a clear connection to, and application for, transportation
    • Endorsement or promotion of a commercial product
  • Writing
    • Writing that cannot be understood by a native English speaker
    • Inappropriate or offensive language
    • Unclear or confusing paper organization
    • Missing coauthors in the submission system
  • Paper word count, including, but not limited to these examples:
    • More than 7500 words, excluding figures
    • Figures and Tables not embedded in text
    • Tables and text converted to figures to circumvent the word count
    • Multiple tables combined into one to circumvent the word count
    • Papers divided into parts to circumvent the word count

Fragmented or Redundant Publication

The TRB Annual Meeting does not have any limits on the number of submissions that can be submitted or published by an author. However, the following bullet points outline situations where the Paper Review Coordinator may choose to desk reject a paper if the research does not make a substantial contribution on its own or otherwise seems to be broken into pieces or redundant.

  • Breaking a single piece of work into many papers that are derived from the same or similar hypothesis dilutes the information and makes it difficult for reviewers and readers to assess the advances that may have been made.
  • A Paper Review Coordinator may desk reject papers with similar hypotheses, methodologies, or results; papers that are redundant in that there is significant overlap; and papers with limited practical application or appeal.
  • Papers submitted for review should stand on their own; papers submitted as Part I, Part II, etc., will not be accepted for review.
  • The TRB follows guidance from the Committee on Publication Ethics. Please refer to the following case study on “Salami Publication.”