Submitting a paper to a peer-reviewed journal

I have just spent an unproductive 2 hours rejecting papers submitted to Minerals Engineering, even before the peer-review process.

Please, please, authors, before you submit a paper to any peer-reviewed journal read the Guide for Authors first, and make sure that the paper is in the required format, with respect to length, figures, tables and references. Then ask yourself three very important questions:

1. Is the paper original?
2. Is it innovative?
3. Is it of generic interest- i.e. if it is a report on a particular ore or operation, will the findings be of use to workers not involved with that specific ore or operation?

If your answer to any of these questions is 'no' then please save your time, and that of the journal editor, by not submitting it.