best journals for publishing research paper

• Research Process

How to Choose a Journal to Submit an Article

• 3 minute read
• 86.7K views

Table of Contents

After so much effort bringing together the perfect article, finding the best scientific journal to submit it to becomes the next big challenge. Which one will bring the deserved awareness to your research? Which one will enhance the visibility of your work? Which one is the benchmark in your investigation field? Choosing the right journal for publication might end up being more complicated than you think.

Article publishing. Why is it important?

The saying “publish or perish” might sound familiar to you – since a researcher’s recognition and career often depend on article publishing. But that doesn’t mean diving into the first chance that comes along. From aims to scope, values and ethical practice, there are many things to take into account before choosing a journal to submit an article. If you’re submitting a paper instead of an article, it is equally important to find the right journal for your paper .

Choosing a Journal for Publication

Elsevier offers a wide range of distinguished journals, and choosing the best one to publish your research paper is much easier with our support and guidance. Using the JournalFinder , you can match your manuscript and learn more about each journal available. Powered by the Elsevier Fingerprint Engine™, JournalFinder uses smart search technology and field-of-research specific vocabularies to match your paper to the most appropriate scientific journals in a few simple steps:

1) Enter the title and abstract of your paper

2) Find journals that are best suited for your publication

3) Ultimately, the editor will decide on how well your article matches the journal

To Find Out More About a Journal

In article publishing, choosing a journal for publication is a strategically important step to give your work the opportunity to shine and attract the attention of the right people. Thus, it is not a decision to make without spending some time researching the best available publications out there. Make sure to follow these tips to get even closer to the perfect journal for you:

• Read the journal’s aims and scope to make sure it is a match.
• Check whether you can submit an article – some journals are invitation-only.
• CiteScore metrics – helps to measure journal citation impact. Free, comprehensive, transparent and current metrics calculated using data from Scopus®, the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.
• SJR – or SCImago Journal Rank, is based on the concept of a transfer of prestige between journals via their citation links.
• SNIP – or Source Normalized Impact per Paper, is a sophisticated metric that accounts for field-specific differences in citation practices.
• JIF – or Journal Impact Factor is calculated by Clarivate Analytics as the average of the sum of the citations received in a given year to a journal’s previous two years of publications, divided by the sum of “citable” publications in the previous two years.
• H-index – Although originally conceived as an author-level metric, the H-index has been being applied to higher-order aggregations of research publications, including journals.
• Impact: Number of times an average paper in this journal is cited.
• Speed: The average number of weeks it takes for an article to be reviewed. Essentially, the average number of weeks it takes for an article to reach key publication points in the production process.
• Reach: The number of downloads at the country/regional level over the last five full years available. The number of primary corresponding authors at the country/regional level, over the last five full years available.

Language Editing Services by Elsevier Author Services

Through our L anguage Editing Services , we correct proofreading errors, check for grammar and syntax to make your paper sound natural and professional. So that editors and reviewers can understand the science behind your manuscript. With more than a hundred years of experience in publishing, Elsevier today is trusted by millions of authors around the world.

Find more about How to choose a journal for your article? on Pinterest

• Manuscript Preparation

How to write your references quickly and easily

• Publication Process

How to Write a Journal Article from a Thesis

You may also like.

Descriptive Research Design and Its Myriad Uses

Five Common Mistakes to Avoid When Writing a Biomedical Research Paper

Making Technical Writing in Environmental Engineering Accessible

To Err is Not Human: The Dangers of AI-assisted Academic Writing

When Data Speak, Listen: Importance of Data Collection and Analysis Methods

Choosing the Right Research Methodology: A Guide for Researchers

Why is data validation important in research?

Writing a good review article

Input your search keywords and press Enter.

How to find the right journal for your research (using actual data)

Joanna Wilkinson

Want to help your research flourish? We share tips for using publisher-neutral data and statistics to find the right journal for your research paper.

The right journal helps your research flourish. It puts you in the best position to reach a relevant and engaged audience, and can extend the impact of your paper through a high-quality publishing process.

Unfortunately, finding the right journal is a particular pain point for inexperienced authors and those who publish on interdisciplinary topics. The sheer number of journals published today is one reason for this. More than 42,000 active scholarly peer-reviewed journals were published in 2018 alone, and there’s been accelerated growth of more than 5% in recent years.

The overwhelming growth in journals has left many researchers struggling to find the best home for their manuscripts which can be a daunting prospect after several long months producing research. Submitting to the wrong journal can hinder the impact of your manuscript. It could even result in a series of rejections, stalling both your research and career. Conversely, the right journal can help you showcase your research to the world in an environment consistent with your values.

Keep reading to learn how solutions like Journal Citation Reports ™ (JCR) and Master Journal List   can help you find the right journal for your research in the fastest possible time.

What to look for in a journal and why

To find the right journal for your research paper, it’s important to consider what you need and want out of the publishing process.

The goal for many researchers is to find a prestigious, peer-reviewed journal to publish in. This might be one that can support an application for tenure, promotion or future funding. It’s not always that simple, however. If your research is in a specialized field, you may want to avoid a journal with a multidisciplinary focus. And if you have ground-breaking results, you may want to pay attention to journals with a speedy review process and frequent publication schedule. Moreover, you may want to publish your paper as open access so that it’s accessible to everyone—and your institution or funder may also require this.

With so many points to consider, it’s good practice to have a journal in mind before you start writing. We published an earlier post to help you with this: Find top journals in a research field, step-by-step guide . Check it out to discover where the top researchers in your field are publishing.

Already written your manuscript? No problem: this blog will help you use publisher-neutral data and statistics to choose the right journal for your paper.

First stop: Manuscript Matcher in the Master Journal List

Master Journal List Manuscript Matcher is the ultimate place to begin your search for journals. It is a free tool that helps you narrow down your journal options based on your research topic and goals.

Pairing your research with a journal

Manuscript Matcher, also available via EndNote™ , provides a list of relevant journals indexed in the Web of Science™ . First, you’ll want to input your title and abstract (or keywords, if you prefer). You can then filter your results using the options shown on the left-hand sidebar, or simply click on the profile page of any journal listed.

Each journal page details the journal’s coverage in the Web of Science. Where available, it may also display a wealth of information, including:

• open access information (including whether a journal is Gold OA)
• the journal’s aims and scope
• download statistics
• average number of weeks from submission to publication, and
• peer review information (including type and policy)

Ready to try Manuscript Matcher? Follow this link .

Identify the journals that are a good topical fit for your research using Manuscript Matcher. You can then move to Journal Citation Reports to understand their citation impact, audience and open access statistics.

Find the right journal with Journal Citation Reports

Journal Citation Reports   is the most powerful solution for journal intelligence. It uses transparent, publisher-neutral data and statistics to provide unique insight into a journal’s role and influence. This will help you produce a definitive list of journals best-placed to publish your findings, and more.

Three data points exist on every journal page to help you assess a journal as a home for your research. These are: citation metrics, article relevance and audience.

Citation Metrics

The Journal Impact Factor™ (JIF) is included as part of the rich array of citation metrics offered on each journal page. It shows how often a journal’s recently published material is cited on average.

Learn how the JIF is calculated in this guide .

It’s important to note that the JIF has its limitations and no researcher should depend on the impact factor alone when assessing the usefulness or prestige of a journal. Journal Citation Reports helps you understand the context of a journal’s JIF and how to use the metric responsibly.

The JCR Trend Graph, for example, places the JIF in the context of time and subject category performance. Citation behavior varies across disciplines, and journals in JCR may be placed across multiple subject categories depending on the scope of their content. The Trend Graph shows you how the journal performs against others in the same subject category. It also gives you an understanding of how stable that performance is year-on-year.

You can learn more about this here .

The 2021 JCR release introduced a new, field-normalized metric for measuring the citation impact of a journal’s recent publications. By normalizing for different fields of research and their widely varying rates of publication and citation, the Journal Citation Indicator provides a single journal-level metric that can be easily interpreted and compared across disciplines. Learn more about the Journal Citation Indicator here .

Article relevance

The Contributing Items section in JCR demonstrates whether the journal is a good match for your paper. It can also validate the information you found in the Manuscript Matcher. You can view the full list in the Web of Science by selecting “Show all.”

JCR helps you understand the scholarly community engaging with a journal on both a country and an institutional level. This information provides insight on where in the world your own paper might have an impact if published in that particular journal. It also gives you a sense of general readership, and who you might be talking to if you choose that journal.

Start using Journal Citation Reports today .

Ready to find the right journal for your paper?

The expansion of scholarly journals in previous years has made it difficult for researchers to choose the right journal for their research. This isn’t a good position to be in when you’ve spent many long months preparing your research for the world. Journal Citation Reports , Manuscript Matcher by Master Journal List  and the Web of Science  are all products dedicated to helping you find the right home for your paper. Try them out today and help your research flourish.

Stay connected

Want to learn more?  You can also read related articles in our Research Smarter series,  with guidance on finding the relevant papers for your research  and how you can save hundreds of hours in the writing process . You can also read about the 2022 JCR release here . Finally, subscribe to receive our latest news, resources and events to help make your research journey a smart one.

Subscribe to receive regular updates on how to research smarter

Related posts

Unlocking u.k. research excellence: key insights from the research professional news live summit.

For better insights, assess research performance at the department level

Getting the Full Picture: Institutional unification in the Web of Science

When you choose to publish with PLOS, your research makes an impact. Make your work accessible to all, without restrictions, and accelerate scientific discovery with options like preprints and published peer review that make your work more Open.

• PLOS Biology
• PLOS Climate
• PLOS Complex Systems
• PLOS Computational Biology
• PLOS Digital Health
• PLOS Genetics
• PLOS Global Public Health
• PLOS Medicine
• PLOS Mental Health
• PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases
• PLOS Pathogens
• PLOS Sustainability and Transformation
• PLOS Collections

How to Choose the Journal That’s Right for Your Study

How to identify and assess potential journals

There’s a lot to consider when deciding where to submit your work. Learn how to choose a journal that will help your study reach its audience, while reflecting your values as a researcher.

Why journal selection matters

Choosing a journal that’s right for your research can be more complex than it seems. You want to publish in a journal that will help your study to reach its intended audience. Your research has a better chance of attracting readers, accumulating citations, and impacting the field when your colleagues can easily find it. For some types of research, a more specific publication might be the best fit, while for others, reaching a wide audience is key. Also, you want to publish in a journal that matches your scientific values and principles of integrity.

1. Determining what you need from a journal

Start by thinking about your research and how it might best reach its intended readers. Consider your values and expectations. Take a moment to answer the following questions:

• What is the topic of your study?
• Is your article specialized or interdisciplinary?
• Is your article an incremental finding, or potentially considered a big breakthrough?
• Who is your audience? Does your article have a broad potential readership, or will it be of interest only to experts in a narrow area of study? How will readers discover your study?
• Does your funding come with any special requirements for publication (for example, some funders may stipulate that you publish the work under an Open Access license)
• How do you plan to share your study? Is it important to you to have the option to post a preprint, or publish your peer reviews
• Does the journal uphold the highest values of ethics and integrity? Are you prepared to meet journal requirements for licensing, published data, and ethical disclosures?
• What is your budget for publishing? 

Taking advantage of transfers

Submitting to a highly selective journal means your chances of acceptance are lower, and you should honestly assess your work against their subjective selection criteria. But that doesn’t mean publication will necessarily be delayed if your manuscript isn’t accepted. Many highly selective journals offer facilitated transfers to a journal whose scope and readership more closely match your study, so that you can try your luck at a top-tier journal without losing too much time.

2. Identifying potential journals

If you’re getting ready to submit a research article you’ve probably been working in the field for a number of years, and already have a few favorite publications. Still, it can be worth taking a moment to review the landscape and see what’s new. Established journals are constantly evolving and adjusting their scope, and new journals are starting all the time. Here are a few easy ways to discover new publishing opportunities:

• Online search. For a look at journals on the rise in your field, try searching for related articles published in the past 1-2 years. To find journals that are expanding into your field, search Call for Papers in your subject area. Review the publisher’s website to learn more about how your article will fit at the journal. (Journal blogs can also be a great source of information!)
• Word of mouth. Check-in with colleagues, labmates, mentors or collaborators. What do they see as the exciting journals in your discipline?
• Journal finding tools. Many websites track journal metrics and performance, including factors like speed, acceptance rate, and compliance with Open Science policies. Check out Think. Check. Submit.

In a 2020 survey of new PLOS ONE authors we asked which information sources authors used to identify potential journals for their manuscripts. Here’s what they had to say:

3. Deciding whether a particular journal may be right for your specific study

Next, evaluate the journals on your list against the needs you’ve identified for your study, together with your coauthors. Which journals best fit your target audience, topic, level of specialization, and funder requirements? If you’re unsure about fit, check the journal website and see if you can answer the following questions:

• What topics are within the journal’s scope?
• Who serves on the editorial board?
• Is the journal indexed in the databases that are standard in your field?
• Does the journal uphold the highest values of ethics and integrity?

Also consider:

• Will the journal provide article-level metrics, so you can track the impact of your specific study?
• Does the journal charge an APC, and how much is it? Are your publication fees already covered by a regional fee structure or institutional partnership agreement?
• Are there any additional fees (for example, for color figures or extra pages)?
• Does the journal offer the particular type of article that you have written? For example, do they publish meta-analysis, negative results, review articles, or protocols?

Avoiding predatory journals

Predatory journals accept articles solely for monetary gain and do not offer a real peer review process. Spotting predatory journals can be difficult, but there are some ground rules to help you get started. Look at the journal’s website: Is the peer review process clearly described? Is the editorial board listed? Is the journal indexed in databases like PubMed or Web of Science? If not, steer clear… 

The website Think. Check. Submit. can be helpful

The Dos and Don’ts of Journal Selection

• Take the time to investigate options that may be new to you
• Choose your first and second choice journals with care, taking the needs of your readers and funders for this specific study into account, as well as the type of article you’ve written, and journal scope and requirements
• Watchout for potential predatory journals that charge fees without offering reliable peer review
• Discuss your needs and priorities with your coauthors and achieve consensus about your submission choice

Don’t

• Submit the same study to more than one journal at the same time
• Submit to journals that do not publish your type of study or article
• Just submit to the most prestigious journals in order (e.g. top general science journals, top journals in discipline, others)

Did you find this helpful? Share with your friends!

The contents of the Peer Review Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

The contents of the Writing Center are also available as a live, interactive training session, complete with slides, talking points, and activities. …

The discussion section contains the results and outcomes of a study. An effective discussion informs readers what can be learned from your…

Find the right journal

If you know the name of the journal you want to submit to, view all journals .

If you would like us to recommend the journal/s that are best suited to publish your article, use our Journal Suggester . All you need is an abstract or description of your article to find matching journals.

Tips for finding the right journal

Submitting a manuscript to unsuitable journals is a common mistake, and can cause journal editors to reject the manuscript before peer review. Choosing a relevant journal makes it more likely that your manuscript will be accepted. Some factors to consider are:

• The topics the journal publishes. If your research is applied, target a journal that publishes applied science; if it is clinical, target a clinical journal; if it is basic research, target a journal that publishes basic research. You may find it easier to browse a list of journals by subject area.
• The journal's audience. Will researchers in related fields be interested in your study? If so, a journal that covers a broad range of topics may be best. If only researchers in your field are likely to want to read your study, then a field-specific journal would be best.
• The types of articles the journal publishes. If you are looking to publish a review, case study or a theorem, ensure that your target journal accepts theses type of manuscripts.
• The reputation of the journal. A journal's Impact Factor is one measure of its reputation, but not always the most important. You should consider the prestige of the authors that publish in the journal and whether your research is of a similar level.
• What are your personal requirements: Does the journal usually publish articles quickly; is the "time to publication" important for you?

When looking for suitable journals in which to publish your own results, start with what you have read. You should already be familiar with published studies that are similar to yours. Which journal were those studies published in? The same journals may be appropriate for your manuscript, so make a list of them. If you need more journals to consider, you can do literature searches for other published articles in your field that are similar in scope and impact on the field, and see where they were published.

When you have a list of potential target journals, visit and read the websites for these journals. Every journal should have a page that provides instructions for authors, including information on many of the factors listed above.

Journals on your list that are not a match for your manuscript based on the factors listed above should be eliminated from consideration. Among the remaining journals, it is likely that one or more will stand out as a very good candidate. Consider if any additional experiments will give you a better chance of achieving publication in your top choice. If you are in a hurry to publish, consider which of the remaining journals offers rapid publication; if none do, consider which has the highest publication frequency. If your main goal is to reach as many readers as possible, strongly consider candidate journals that provide an open access option. Open access allows anyone to read your article, free of charge, online, which can make your article more likely to be read and cited.

When you have chosen the journal you think is the best fit for your study and your goals, it is usually a good idea to also identify your second- and third-choice journals. That way, if your paper is rejected from your first-choice journal, you can quickly submit to your second-choice journal.

How to Find the Right Journals to Publish Papers

According to an estimate, more than 70,000 research journals exist, growing at a rate of about 3.5% per year. More than 1,000 new journals were launched in 2014 alone. These numbers can make journal selection a daunting task. However, you can get help from various online tools to narrow down your search for the appropriate journal.

Find the Right Journal

One of the first steps in choosing the right journal is to know its scope and aim. This information is usually available on the journal’s website. It will also help you find the kind of articles the journal is interested in publishing. You can also read some of the articles the journal has published. Is there any similarity between those articles and your own manuscript? If not, it might not be the right journal for you.

You can also get information from your literature review . Look for journals, wherein the papers you cited have been published. It is likely that those journals may also be interested in your work. This approach can be helpful when journal’s scope does not give you enough details to decide whether that journal would be the right fit for your manuscript.

Related: Having difficulty finding the right open access journal? Check out the OAJF tool now!

You should also consider how long a journal takes to publish articles. With some journals, there can be a considerable delay between submission and publication. Your choice of the journal can also depend on the type of the audience you want to reach out. Based on your requirements, you may also look for a journal with broad scope, wider target audience and an online presence.

Platforms at a Glance

There are many tools and platforms for researchers to help them in their search for the right journal. Few of them are:

• Think.Check.Submit: It is a campaign to help researchers identify trusted journals for their research. The first step is to answer the starter questions that makes you “think” about your target journal. In the second step, you are linked to a “check” list of criteria. It is an effective way to filter out predatory journals in your selection process. In the end, you may “submit” your paper.
• Scopus: It is the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature such as scientific journals, books, and conference proceedings. It provides a comprehensive overview of the world’s research output in the fields of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, arts, and humanities. Scopus has indexed journals from more than 5,000 publishers. In order to be listed in Scopus , the journal must be approved by an independent advisory board. This process means that of almost 3,500 suggested journals per year, only about 750 will be added to Scopus.
• FindMyJournal: It helps researchers select the most appropriate journal to publish their manuscript. It uses a mathematical and objective algorithm to shortlist the best-matched journals. You can start your search by answering eleven questions. It currently, has over 29,000 journals in its database.
• DOAJ: It is considered to be the most authentic database of open access journals. Launched in 2003 at Lund University, Sweden, and contains ~9,000 open access journals covering all areas of science, technology, medicine, social science, and humanities.

Journal selection can be intimidating. There are thousands of active research journals. Choosing the right one can involve researching the scope of the journals you are interested in. The process has been made easier by research tools. Scopus and the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) can help you find legitimate journals. ThinkCheckSubmit can also help you avoid predatory publishers. FindMyJournal can almost automate the selection for you. With all these tools, the selection process can be streamlined.

Have you used any of these or other platforms in your search for the right journals? Do share your experience with us by leaving a comment below!

Rate this article Cancel Reply

Your email address will not be published.

Enago Academy's Most Popular Articles

• Publishing Research
• Selecting Journals

Electronic Journals vs Print Journals – Here’s How You Can Choose the Right Journal!

Scientific journals have been around since the inception of Royal Society’s Philosophical Transactions in 1665.…

How Are SCIE-Indexed Journals Different From SCI-Indexed Journals?

It is time to publish! My data collection and analysis are complete, and I have…

Digital Strategies to Find the Right Journal for Publishing Your Research

This checklist will assist researchers in identifying digital tools and initiatives to select the right…

• Global Japanese Webinars
• Old Webinars

論文を投稿するジャーナルを決める

ジャーナルの目的や注目度 ジャーナルの質の評価と重要指標について ジャーナル検索ツール オープンアクセス

Megajournals Vs. Regular Journals: How to Choose Wisely

We cannot discuss megajournals without discussing open-access (OA) publishing. OA provides free access to published…

Electronic Journals vs Print Journals – Here’s How You Can Choose the Right…

How to Select the Right Journal Database

Sign-up to read more

Subscribe for free to get unrestricted access to all our resources on research writing and academic publishing including:

• 2000+ blog articles
• 50+ Webinars
• 10+ Expert podcasts
• 50+ Infographics
• 10+ Checklists
• Research Guides

We hate spam too. We promise to protect your privacy and never spam you.

I am looking for Editing/ Proofreading services for my manuscript Tentative date of next journal submission:

What should universities' stance be on AI tools in research and academic writing?

Journal Finder

Enter the title and abstract of your unpublished article and find the most suited and relevant journal for your manuscript by the ScienceGate Journal Finder. The ScienceGate Journal Finder discovers among more than 88000 scholarly journals from 18000 well-known publishers around the world including Elsevier, Springer, Wiley, SAGE, IEEE, Emerald, and many more, all registered with the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).

ScienceGate Journal Finder gives you this feature to add, remove and sort your manuscript identified keywords regarding the relevancy. Exclusive matching functions are then applied to sort the recommended journal list according to the matching score.

You can also filter the results by Journal quartile, SJR, H-index, subject area, publication time range, and the open access policy, which helps you make the most informed decision for your paper publication.

Start Finding Journal

Export Citation Format

Share document.

How to Write and Publish a Research Paper for a Peer-Reviewed Journal

• Open access
• Published: 30 April 2020
• Volume 36 , pages 909–913, ( 2021 )

Cite this article

You have full access to this open access article

• Clara Busse   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0002-0178-1000 1 &
• Ella August   ORCID: orcid.org/0000-0001-5151-1036 1 , 2  

260k Accesses

15 Citations

705 Altmetric

Explore all metrics

Communicating research findings is an essential step in the research process. Often, peer-reviewed journals are the forum for such communication, yet many researchers are never taught how to write a publishable scientific paper. In this article, we explain the basic structure of a scientific paper and describe the information that should be included in each section. We also identify common pitfalls for each section and recommend strategies to avoid them. Further, we give advice about target journal selection and authorship. In the online resource 1 , we provide an example of a high-quality scientific paper, with annotations identifying the elements we describe in this article.

Similar content being viewed by others

Literature reviews as independent studies: guidelines for academic practice

Sascha Kraus, Matthias Breier, … João J. Ferreira

What is Qualitative in Research

Patrik Aspers & Ugo Corte

How to design bibliometric research: an overview and a framework proposal

Oğuzhan Öztürk, Rıdvan Kocaman & Dominik K. Kanbach

Avoid common mistakes on your manuscript.

Introduction

Writing a scientific paper is an important component of the research process, yet researchers often receive little formal training in scientific writing. This is especially true in low-resource settings. In this article, we explain why choosing a target journal is important, give advice about authorship, provide a basic structure for writing each section of a scientific paper, and describe common pitfalls and recommendations for each section. In the online resource 1 , we also include an annotated journal article that identifies the key elements and writing approaches that we detail here. Before you begin your research, make sure you have ethical clearance from all relevant ethical review boards.

Select a Target Journal Early in the Writing Process

We recommend that you select a “target journal” early in the writing process; a “target journal” is the journal to which you plan to submit your paper. Each journal has a set of core readers and you should tailor your writing to this readership. For example, if you plan to submit a manuscript about vaping during pregnancy to a pregnancy-focused journal, you will need to explain what vaping is because readers of this journal may not have a background in this topic. However, if you were to submit that same article to a tobacco journal, you would not need to provide as much background information about vaping.

Information about a journal’s core readership can be found on its website, usually in a section called “About this journal” or something similar. For example, the Journal of Cancer Education presents such information on the “Aims and Scope” page of its website, which can be found here: https://www.springer.com/journal/13187/aims-and-scope .

Peer reviewer guidelines from your target journal are an additional resource that can help you tailor your writing to the journal and provide additional advice about crafting an effective article [ 1 ]. These are not always available, but it is worth a quick web search to find out.

Identify Author Roles Early in the Process

Early in the writing process, identify authors, determine the order of authors, and discuss the responsibilities of each author. Standard author responsibilities have been identified by The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) [ 2 ]. To set clear expectations about each team member’s responsibilities and prevent errors in communication, we also suggest outlining more detailed roles, such as who will draft each section of the manuscript, write the abstract, submit the paper electronically, serve as corresponding author, and write the cover letter. It is best to formalize this agreement in writing after discussing it, circulating the document to the author team for approval. We suggest creating a title page on which all authors are listed in the agreed-upon order. It may be necessary to adjust authorship roles and order during the development of the paper. If a new author order is agreed upon, be sure to update the title page in the manuscript draft.

In the case where multiple papers will result from a single study, authors should discuss who will author each paper. Additionally, authors should agree on a deadline for each paper and the lead author should take responsibility for producing an initial draft by this deadline.

Structure of the Introduction Section

The introduction section should be approximately three to five paragraphs in length. Look at examples from your target journal to decide the appropriate length. This section should include the elements shown in Fig.  1 . Begin with a general context, narrowing to the specific focus of the paper. Include five main elements: why your research is important, what is already known about the topic, the “gap” or what is not yet known about the topic, why it is important to learn the new information that your research adds, and the specific research aim(s) that your paper addresses. Your research aim should address the gap you identified. Be sure to add enough background information to enable readers to understand your study. Table 1 provides common introduction section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

The main elements of the introduction section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Methods Section

The purpose of the methods section is twofold: to explain how the study was done in enough detail to enable its replication and to provide enough contextual detail to enable readers to understand and interpret the results. In general, the essential elements of a methods section are the following: a description of the setting and participants, the study design and timing, the recruitment and sampling, the data collection process, the dataset, the dependent and independent variables, the covariates, the analytic approach for each research objective, and the ethical approval. The hallmark of an exemplary methods section is the justification of why each method was used. Table 2 provides common methods section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Results Section

The focus of the results section should be associations, or lack thereof, rather than statistical tests. Two considerations should guide your writing here. First, the results should present answers to each part of the research aim. Second, return to the methods section to ensure that the analysis and variables for each result have been explained.

Begin the results section by describing the number of participants in the final sample and details such as the number who were approached to participate, the proportion who were eligible and who enrolled, and the number of participants who dropped out. The next part of the results should describe the participant characteristics. After that, you may organize your results by the aim or by putting the most exciting results first. Do not forget to report your non-significant associations. These are still findings.

Tables and figures capture the reader’s attention and efficiently communicate your main findings [ 3 ]. Each table and figure should have a clear message and should complement, rather than repeat, the text. Tables and figures should communicate all salient details necessary for a reader to understand the findings without consulting the text. Include information on comparisons and tests, as well as information about the sample and timing of the study in the title, legend, or in a footnote. Note that figures are often more visually interesting than tables, so if it is feasible to make a figure, make a figure. To avoid confusing the reader, either avoid abbreviations in tables and figures, or define them in a footnote. Note that there should not be citations in the results section and you should not interpret results here. Table 3 provides common results section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Discussion Section

Opposite the introduction section, the discussion should take the form of a right-side-up triangle beginning with interpretation of your results and moving to general implications (Fig.  2 ). This section typically begins with a restatement of the main findings, which can usually be accomplished with a few carefully-crafted sentences.

Major elements of the discussion section of an original research article. Often, the elements overlap

Next, interpret the meaning or explain the significance of your results, lifting the reader’s gaze from the study’s specific findings to more general applications. Then, compare these study findings with other research. Are these findings in agreement or disagreement with those from other studies? Does this study impart additional nuance to well-accepted theories? Situate your findings within the broader context of scientific literature, then explain the pathways or mechanisms that might give rise to, or explain, the results.

Journals vary in their approach to strengths and limitations sections: some are embedded paragraphs within the discussion section, while some mandate separate section headings. Keep in mind that every study has strengths and limitations. Candidly reporting yours helps readers to correctly interpret your research findings.

The next element of the discussion is a summary of the potential impacts and applications of the research. Should these results be used to optimally design an intervention? Does the work have implications for clinical protocols or public policy? These considerations will help the reader to further grasp the possible impacts of the presented work.

Finally, the discussion should conclude with specific suggestions for future work. Here, you have an opportunity to illuminate specific gaps in the literature that compel further study. Avoid the phrase “future research is necessary” because the recommendation is too general to be helpful to readers. Instead, provide substantive and specific recommendations for future studies. Table 4 provides common discussion section pitfalls and recommendations for addressing them.

Follow the Journal’s Author Guidelines

After you select a target journal, identify the journal’s author guidelines to guide the formatting of your manuscript and references. Author guidelines will often (but not always) include instructions for titles, cover letters, and other components of a manuscript submission. Read the guidelines carefully. If you do not follow the guidelines, your article will be sent back to you.

Finally, do not submit your paper to more than one journal at a time. Even if this is not explicitly stated in the author guidelines of your target journal, it is considered inappropriate and unprofessional.

Your title should invite readers to continue reading beyond the first page [ 4 , 5 ]. It should be informative and interesting. Consider describing the independent and dependent variables, the population and setting, the study design, the timing, and even the main result in your title. Because the focus of the paper can change as you write and revise, we recommend you wait until you have finished writing your paper before composing the title.

Be sure that the title is useful for potential readers searching for your topic. The keywords you select should complement those in your title to maximize the likelihood that a researcher will find your paper through a database search. Avoid using abbreviations in your title unless they are very well known, such as SNP, because it is more likely that someone will use a complete word rather than an abbreviation as a search term to help readers find your paper.

After you have written a complete draft, use the checklist (Fig. 3 ) below to guide your revisions and editing. Additional resources are available on writing the abstract and citing references [ 5 ]. When you feel that your work is ready, ask a trusted colleague or two to read the work and provide informal feedback. The box below provides a checklist that summarizes the key points offered in this article.

Checklist for manuscript quality

Data Availability

Michalek AM (2014) Down the rabbit hole…advice to reviewers. J Cancer Educ 29:4–5

Article   Google Scholar  

International Committee of Medical Journal Editors. Defining the role of authors and contributors: who is an author? http://www.icmje.org/recommendations/browse/roles-and-responsibilities/defining-the-role-of-authosrs-and-contributors.html . Accessed 15 January, 2020

Vetto JT (2014) Short and sweet: a short course on concise medical writing. J Cancer Educ 29(1):194–195

Brett M, Kording K (2017) Ten simple rules for structuring papers. PLoS ComputBiol. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pcbi.1005619

Lang TA (2017) Writing a better research article. J Public Health Emerg. https://doi.org/10.21037/jphe.2017.11.06

Download references

Acknowledgments

Ella August is grateful to the Sustainable Sciences Institute for mentoring her in training researchers on writing and publishing their research.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Maternal and Child Health, University of North Carolina Gillings School of Global Public Health, 135 Dauer Dr, 27599, Chapel Hill, NC, USA

Clara Busse & Ella August

Department of Epidemiology, University of Michigan School of Public Health, 1415 Washington Heights, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109-2029, USA

Ella August

You can also search for this author in PubMed   Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ella August .

Ethics declarations

Conflicts of interests.

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Additional information

Publisher’s note.

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Electronic supplementary material

(PDF 362 kb)

Rights and permissions

Open Access This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ .

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Busse, C., August, E. How to Write and Publish a Research Paper for a Peer-Reviewed Journal. J Canc Educ 36 , 909–913 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z

Download citation

Published : 30 April 2020

Issue Date : October 2021

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z

Share this article

Anyone you share the following link with will be able to read this content:

Sorry, a shareable link is not currently available for this article.

Provided by the Springer Nature SharedIt content-sharing initiative

• Manuscripts
• Scientific writing
• Find a journal
• Publish with us
• Track your research

Ask Yale Library

My Library Accounts

Find, Request, and Use

Help and Research Support

Visit and Study

Explore Collections

Choosing a Journal for Publication of an Article: Home

• Finding Journals
• Organizing Your Research
• Impact Factor Calculation
• Google Scholar's h5-index
• Scopus' SNIP
• Scopus' SJR
• Journal Publisher Copyright Policies & Self-Archiving
• International Impact Factor Services
• Selected Directories
• Selected Books and Articles
• Yale Libraries' Open Access Publishing Support
• Copyright Guidance
• Off-Campus Access (VPN)
• HIjacked Journals

General Research Tools

• Search Orbis Catalog
• Search Quicksearch
• Online Journals & Newspapers by Title
• Library Databases by Title
• All Subject Guides
• Get It @Yale
• Citation Management
• Off-Campus Access
• Using Sources

Cabell's Journalytics Medicine and Predatory Reports

The Yale Library's subscription is to Journalytics Medicine & Predatory Reports . 

Predatory Reports- Features profiles of 16,000 open access and commercial journals. 

Journalytics Medicine & Predatory Reports - Profiles of 7,000 journals across 37 medical disciplines.  

• Journal Citation Reports -176 subject categories for science and 56 for social science -Browse by subject category or search by known journal name -Find journals with the highest impact factors -Find ranking of journals in their subject category -Includes open access journals - Use Manuscript Matcher to find a suitable journal to publish in
• Google Scholar -Lists of 20 top publications for major disciplines; many subcategories in each discipline -h5-index values -Citations to top articles in each journal -Click on Metrics in stacked lines at top left -Includes Metrics for open access journals
• Scopus -Compare up to 10 journals from a search results list -Source-Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) -SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) -Impact per Publication (IPP) -Citations to journal and trends -Number of documents on topic in journal -% not cited -% reviews -On results page, click on Analyze Search Results. Click on Source. Next, click on Compare Journals and View SJR, IPP, and SNIP data -Includes open access journals
• CiteScore in Scopus -Metrics on over 22,000 serial titles in 330 disciplines -Use search at this link to find journal metrics in Scopus without doing a keyword search.
• Journal Guide -Enter keywords and click on Search. -Gives time from submission to acceptance for some journal choices. -For Journal Name searches gives some journal-provided acceptance rates
• JANE -Enter keywords -Click on Find Journals -Gives journal title suggestions with some article influence scores.
• Eigenfactor -Eigenfactor Score, a measure of the journal's importance to the scientific community. -Article Influence, a measure of the average influence, per article, of the papers in a journal; like impact factor -Search by journal name, journal subject category -Science, social science, and medical journals included -Older, mapping data available by field -Includes open access journals -From University of Washington
• Ulrichsweb -Use Advanced Search or ISSN for a title for more precise searching -Frequency of publication -Content type -Abstracting and indexing titles compilations -Demographics of audience -Brief reviews -Includes open access journals
• WorldCat -Union catalog for hundreds of libraries in the U.S. and other countries -Search by title (journal name) and find numbers of libraries worldwide with holdings
• Journal Reviewer -Turnaround time and review length given for many journals -772 journals are covered in the social sciences -Crowd-sourced content
• Publication Delays at PLOS and 3,475 Other Journals -From the Satoshi Village blog of Daniel Himmelstein -Covers science journals
• SciRev -Gives duration of 1st review and total handling time for submissions to science, social science, and humanities journals -Covers 850 journals -From Jeroen Smits and Janine Huisman.
• Match in EndNote Online -Sign up for a free (Yale) EndNote Online account and click on Match. -Type in title of paper and abstract and click on Find Journals - Based on Web of Science/Journal Citation Reports journals.
• Comparing Impact Factor and Scopus CiteScore This essay is written by Carl T. Bergstrom and Jevin West of Eigenfactor.
• Journal Targeter (Jot) A free online resource based on journals indexed by Medline. For biomedicine and medicinal botany manuscripts. Developed in consultation with Jane and Yale colleagues. Suggests journals based on title, abstract, references.

Publisher-Specific Resources

• Springer Use this resource to identify possible journals published by Springer.
• Wiley Try this resource if you'd like to identify possible journals published by Wiley.
• Elsevier This resource aids in helping to identify journals published by Elsevier.

Librarian for Life Sciences

• Next: Finding Journals >>
• Last Updated: Dec 18, 2023 9:55 AM
• URL: https://guides.library.yale.edu/articlepublishing

Site Navigation

P.O. BOX 208240 New Haven, CT 06250-8240 (203) 432-1775

Yale's Libraries

Bass Library

Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library

Classics Library

Cushing/Whitney Medical Library

Divinity Library

East Asia Library

Gilmore Music Library

Haas Family Arts Library

Lewis Walpole Library

Lillian Goldman Law Library

Marx Science and Social Science Library

Sterling Memorial Library

Yale Center for British Art

SUBSCRIBE TO OUR NEWSLETTER

@YALELIBRARY

Yale Library Instagram

Accessibility       Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion      Giving       Privacy and Data Use      Contact Our Web Team    

© 2022 Yale University Library • All Rights Reserved

• Locations and Hours

Search the Knowledgebase

•   Chat with Us M‑F, 9am‑5pm
•   Call Us (410) 955-3410
•   Email Us
•   Find an Expert
•   Report a Problem
•   Suggest a Purchase
•   Locations and Hours

Where is the best place to publish my research?

Identifying the best place to publish research involves consideration of many factors, including:

• Journal aim and scope
• Publication of similar work
• Journal rankings and measures of journal impact
• Demonstration of good publishing practices

Welch compiled the information below to help guide a researcher through the decision-making process.

 Think. Check. Submit.

“Think. Check. Submit. is a campaign to help researchers identify trusted journals for their research.  It is a simple checklist researchers can use to assess the credentials of a journal or publisher.”

 Retrieved from  http://thinkchecksubmit.org/about/

 Locating Journals

• Welch Medical Library Journals by Subject Select the subject to view available journals by subject. Journals are sorted according to the following journal rankings: Journal Impact Factor, Citescore, Scimago Journal & Country Rank, and Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP).
• Elsevier Journal Finder Enter the unpublished article’s title and abstract info into this tool to determine possible sites for publication. Note: Covers only journals published by Elsevier.
• Journal/Author Name Estimator Enter the unpublished article’s title and/or abstract to determine possible sites for publication. It only covers journals in MEDLINE, regardless of publisher.
• Springer Journal Suggester Enter the unpublished article’s title and abstract into this tool to determine possible sites for publication. Note: Covers only journals published by Springer.
• HelioBlast A search tool that allows you to paste in text and identify similar text in MEDLINE. Note: Only covers journals in MEDLINE.
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) Use the Browse Subjects feature, and select Journals to find quality Open Access Journals. Note: Covers only Open Access Journals.
• JANE Relies on data in PubMed to help you determine where to publish your research. Note: JANE tags journals indexed and found in MEDLINE and DOAJ.
• Edanz Journal Selector Allows you to search by keyword, journal name, abstract and more. Pulls results from publicly available data sources like Thomson Reuters’ annual Journal Citation Reports®.

Journal Metrics

• InCites™ Journal Citation Reports® Find a variety of metrics for journal quality, including impact factor, immediacy index, Eigenfactor score, and article influence score. Searchable by journal name and browsable by research category.
• SCImago Journal & Country Rank Access journal rankings based on citation data from the Scopus database. Journals can be grouped by major thematic areas and specific subject categories.
• Scopus In search results, click on the journal title to view journal metrics. Scopus will give you SJR (SCImago Journal Rank), IPP (Impact per Publication), and SNIP (Source Normalized Impact per Paper) measurements.
• Web of Science In search results, click on the journal title to view journal metrics. In Web of Science, view its IF (Impact Factor) and JCR (Journal Citation Reports) rankings.
• Eigenfactor Find an article’s Eigenfactor ®  and  Article Influence Score ®  to evaluate the influence of a journal.

General Information About Journals

• JHU Catalog (Catalyst) : Use the “Journal title” search in the catalog to determine if the JHU Libraries subscribe to a particular journal.
• Journals in PubMed and Other NCBI Databases : Search the catalog of the National Library of Medicine (NLM) for journals referenced by NCBI databases, including PubMed.  Each catalog record indicates key journal details, including ISSN, abbreviations, and whether its articles are currently indexed for MEDLINE.
• Ulrich's Periodical Directory : Search this comprehensive database of serial publications for key details about journals, including previous titles, publishers, ISSNs, URLs, indexing, and English versions of foreign titles.

  Search for Open Access Journals

• Enago Open Access Journal Finder : Paste in content from your publication to access a shortlist of quality Open Access Journals that are relevant to you. This tool searches against DOAJ’s list of journals.

Publishing in an Open Access Journal allows you to share your work widely and bypass permission and paywall barriers so the public has greater access to your work. However, predatory publishers, many disguised as Open Access Journals, may solicit you for your research. If you encounter a potential predatory publisher, take the time to analyze the journal or publisher before submitting work to make sure they are not a predatory journal or publisher. Use the Think.Check.Submit method to assess a potential journal.

You can also take the following steps:

• Search DOAJ and MEDLINE to see if the journal is listed
• Search Google for the journal/publisher
• Look up the location of the publisher to see what appears on a map
• Look for spelling errors on the publisher's website and in the solicitation email message
• Check the editorial board for names you may recognize
• Ask your Welch informationist

Navigation group

Home banner.

Where scientists empower society

Creating solutions for healthy lives on a healthy planet.

most-cited publisher

largest publisher

2.5 billion

article views and downloads

Main Content

• Editors and reviewers
• Collaborators

Find a journal

We have a home for your research. Our community led journals cover more than 1,500 academic disciplines and are some of the largest and most cited in their fields.

Submit your research

Start your submission and get more impact for your research by publishing with us.

Author guidelines

Ready to publish? Check our author guidelines for everything you need to know about submitting, from choosing a journal and section to preparing your manuscript.

Peer review

Our efficient collaborative peer review means you’ll get a decision on your manuscript in an average of 61 days.

Article publishing charges (APCs) apply to articles that are accepted for publication by our external and independent editorial boards

Press office

Visit our press office for key media contact information, as well as Frontiers’ media kit, including our embargo policy, logos, key facts, leadership bios, and imagery.

Institutional partnerships

Join more than 555 institutions around the world already benefiting from an institutional membership with Frontiers, including CERN, Max Planck Society, and the University of Oxford.

Publishing partnerships

Partner with Frontiers and make your society’s transition to open access a reality with our custom-built platform and publishing expertise.

Policy Labs

Connecting experts from business, science, and policy to strengthen the dialogue between scientific research and informed policymaking.

How we publish

All Frontiers journals are community-run and fully open access, so every research article we publish is immediately and permanently free to read.

Editor guidelines

Reviewing a manuscript? See our guidelines for everything you need to know about our peer review process.

Become an editor

Apply to join an editorial board and collaborate with an international team of carefully selected independent researchers.

My assignments

It’s easy to find and track your editorial assignments with our platform, 'My Frontiers' – saving you time to spend on your own research.

Chronic stress and inflammation linked to societal and environmental impacts in new study 

Scientists hypothesize that as-yet unrecognized inflammatory stress is spreading among people at unprecedented rates, affecting our cognitive ability to address climate change, war, and other critical issues.

Safeguarding peer review to ensure quality at scale

Making scientific research open has never been more important. But for research to be trusted, it must be of the highest quality. Facing an industry-wide rise in fraudulent science, Frontiers has increased its focus on safeguarding quality.

New ‘digital twin’ Earth technology could help predict water-based natural disasters before they strike

Scientists demonstrate the use of next-generation satellite data and advanced modeling to build virtual replicas of the terrestrial water cycle that can track water resources and create detailed simulations of flooding and other extreme events.

Tiny crustaceans discovered preying on live jellyfish during harsh Arctic night

Scientists used DNA metabarcoding to show for the first time that jellyfish are an important food for amphipods during the Arctic polar night in waters off Svalbard, at a time of year when other food resources are scarce.

Why studying astronauts’ microbiomes is crucial to ensure deep space mission success

In a new Frontiers’ guest editorial, Prof Dr Lembit Sihver, director of CRREAT at the Nuclear Physics Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences and his co-authors explore the impact the microbiome has on human health in space.

Cake and cookies may increase Alzheimer’s risk: Here are five Frontiers articles you won’t want to miss

At Frontiers, we bring some of the world’s best research to a global audience. But with tens of thousands of articles published each year, it’s impossible to cover all of them. Here are just five amazing papers you may have missed.

2024's top 10 tech-driven Research Topics

Frontiers has compiled a list of 10 Research Topics that embrace the potential of technology to advance scientific breakthroughs and change the world for the better.

Get the latest research updates, subscribe to our newsletter

You are using an outdated browser . Please upgrade your browser today !

How to Write and Publish a Research Paper in 7 Steps

What comes next after you're done with your research? Publishing the results in a journal of course! We tell you how to present your work in the best way possible.

This post is part of a series, which serves to provide hands-on information and resources for authors and editors.

Things have gotten busy in scholarly publishing: These days, a new article gets published in the 50,000 most important peer-reviewed journals every few seconds, while each one takes on average 40 minutes to read. Hundreds of thousands of papers reach the desks of editors and reviewers worldwide each year and 50% of all submissions end up rejected at some stage.

In a nutshell: there is a lot of competition, and the people who decide upon the fate of your manuscript are short on time and overworked. But there are ways to make their lives a little easier and improve your own chances of getting your work published!

Well, it may seem obvious, but before submitting an academic paper, always make sure that it is an excellent reflection of the research you have done and that you present it in the most professional way possible. Incomplete or poorly presented manuscripts can create a great deal of frustration and annoyance for editors who probably won’t even bother wasting the time of the reviewers!

This post will discuss 7 steps to the successful publication of your research paper:

• Check whether your research is publication-ready
• Choose an article type
• Choose a journal
• Construct your paper
• Decide the order of authors
• Check and double-check
• Submit your paper

1. Check Whether Your Research Is Publication-Ready

Should you publish your research at all?

If your work holds academic value – of course – a well-written scholarly article could open doors to your research community. However, if you are not yet sure, whether your research is ready for publication, here are some key questions to ask yourself depending on your field of expertise:

• Have you done or found something new and interesting? Something unique?
• Is the work directly related to a current hot topic?
• Have you checked the latest results or research in the field?
• Have you provided solutions to any difficult problems?
• Have the findings been verified?
• Have the appropriate controls been performed if required?
• Are your findings comprehensive?

If the answers to all relevant questions are “yes”, you need to prepare a good, strong manuscript. Remember, a research paper is only useful if it is clearly understood, reproducible and if it is read and used .

2. Choose An Article Type

The first step is to determine which type of paper is most appropriate for your work and what you want to achieve. The following list contains the most important, usually peer-reviewed article types in the natural sciences:

Full original research papers disseminate completed research findings. On average this type of paper is 8-10 pages long, contains five figures, and 25-30 references. Full original research papers are an important part of the process when developing your career.

Review papers present a critical synthesis of a specific research topic. These papers are usually much longer than original papers and will contain numerous references. More often than not, they will be commissioned by journal editors. Reviews present an excellent way to solidify your research career.

Letters, Rapid or Short Communications are often published for the quick and early communication of significant and original advances. They are much shorter than full articles and usually limited in length by the journal. Journals specifically dedicated to short communications or letters are also published in some fields. In these the authors can present short preliminary findings before developing a full-length paper.

3. Choose a Journal

Are you looking for the right place to publish your paper? Find out here whether a De Gruyter journal might be the right fit.

Submit to journals that you already read, that you have a good feel for. If you do so, you will have a better appreciation of both its culture and the requirements of the editors and reviewers.

Other factors to consider are:

• The specific subject area
• The aims and scope of the journal
• The type of manuscript you have written
• The significance of your work
• The reputation of the journal
• The reputation of the editors within the community
• The editorial/review and production speeds of the journal
• The community served by the journal
• The coverage and distribution
• The accessibility ( open access vs. closed access)

4. Construct Your Paper

Each element of a paper has its purpose, so you should make these sections easy to index and search.

Don’t forget that requirements can differ highly per publication, so always make sure to apply a journal’s specific instructions – or guide – for authors to your manuscript, even to the first draft (text layout, paper citation, nomenclature, figures and table, etc.) It will save you time, and the editor’s.

Also, even in these days of Internet-based publishing, space is still at a premium, so be as concise as possible. As a good journalist would say: “Never use three words when one will do!”

Let’s look at the typical structure of a full research paper, but bear in mind certain subject disciplines may have their own specific requirements so check the instructions for authors on the journal’s home page.

4.1 The Title

It’s important to use the title to tell the reader what your paper is all about! You want to attract their attention, a bit like a newspaper headline does. Be specific and to the point. Keep it informative and concise, and avoid jargon and abbreviations (unless they are universally recognized like DNA, for example).

4.2 The Abstract

This could be termed as the “advertisement” for your article. Make it interesting and easily understood without the reader having to read the whole article. Be accurate and specific, and keep it as brief and concise as possible. Some journals (particularly in the medical fields) will ask you to structure the abstract in distinct, labeled sections, which makes it even more accessible.

A clear abstract will influence whether or not your work is considered and whether an editor should invest more time on it or send it for review.

4.3 Keywords

Keywords are used by abstracting and indexing services, such as PubMed and Web of Science. They are the labels of your manuscript, which make it “searchable” online by other researchers.

Include words or phrases (usually 4-8) that are closely related to your topic but not “too niche” for anyone to find them. Make sure to only use established abbreviations. Think about what scientific terms and its variations your potential readers are likely to use and search for. You can also do a test run of your selected keywords in one of the common academic search engines. Do similar articles to your own appear? Yes? Then that’s a good sign.

4.4 Introduction

This first part of the main text should introduce the problem, as well as any existing solutions you are aware of and the main limitations. Also, state what you hope to achieve with your research.

Do not confuse the introduction with the results, discussion or conclusion.

4.5 Methods

Every research article should include a detailed Methods section (also referred to as “Materials and Methods”) to provide the reader with enough information to be able to judge whether the study is valid and reproducible.

Include detailed information so that a knowledgeable reader can reproduce the experiment. However, use references and supplementary materials to indicate previously published procedures.

4.6 Results

In this section, you will present the essential or primary results of your study. To display them in a comprehensible way, you should use subheadings as well as illustrations such as figures, graphs, tables and photos, as appropriate.

4.7 Discussion

Here you should tell your readers what the results mean .

Do state how the results relate to the study’s aims and hypotheses and how the findings relate to those of other studies. Explain all possible interpretations of your findings and the study’s limitations.

Do not make “grand statements” that are not supported by the data. Also, do not introduce any new results or terms. Moreover, do not ignore work that conflicts or disagrees with your findings. Instead …

Be brave! Address conflicting study results and convince the reader you are the one who is correct.

4.8 Conclusion

Your conclusion isn’t just a summary of what you’ve already written. It should take your paper one step further and answer any unresolved questions.

Sum up what you have shown in your study and indicate possible applications and extensions. The main question your conclusion should answer is: What do my results mean for the research field and my community?

4.9 Acknowledgments and Ethical Statements

It is extremely important to acknowledge anyone who has helped you with your paper, including researchers who supplied materials or reagents (e.g. vectors or antibodies); and anyone who helped with the writing or English, or offered critical comments about the content.

Learn more about academic integrity in our blog post “Scholarly Publication Ethics: 4 Common Mistakes You Want To Avoid” .

Remember to state why people have been acknowledged and ask their permission . Ensure that you acknowledge sources of funding, including any grant or reference numbers.

Furthermore, if you have worked with animals or humans, you need to include information about the ethical approval of your study and, if applicable, whether informed consent was given. Also, state whether you have any competing interests regarding the study (e.g. because of financial or personal relationships.)

4.10 References

The end is in sight, but don’t relax just yet!

De facto, there are often more mistakes in the references than in any other part of the manuscript. It is also one of the most annoying and time-consuming problems for editors.

Remember to cite the main scientific publications on which your work is based. But do not inflate the manuscript with too many references. Avoid excessive – and especially unnecessary – self-citations. Also, avoid excessive citations of publications from the same institute or region.

5. Decide the Order of Authors

In the sciences, the most common way to order the names of the authors is by relative contribution.

Generally, the first author conducts and/or supervises the data analysis and the proper presentation and interpretation of the results. They put the paper together and usually submit the paper to the journal.

Co-authors make intellectual contributions to the data analysis and contribute to data interpretation. They review each paper draft. All of them must be able to present the paper and its results, as well as to defend the implications and discuss study limitations.

Do not leave out authors who should be included or add “gift authors”, i.e. authors who did not contribute significantly.

6. Check and Double-Check

As a final step before submission, ask colleagues to read your work and be constructively critical .

Make sure that the paper is appropriate for the journal – take a last look at their aims and scope. Check if all of the requirements in the instructions for authors are met.

Ensure that the cited literature is balanced. Are the aims, purpose and significance of the results clear?

Conduct a final check for language, either by a native English speaker or an editing service.

7. Submit Your Paper

When you and your co-authors have double-, triple-, quadruple-checked the manuscript: submit it via e-mail or online submission system. Along with your manuscript, submit a cover letter, which highlights the reasons why your paper would appeal to the journal and which ensures that you have received approval of all authors for submission.

It is up to the editors and the peer-reviewers now to provide you with their (ideally constructive and helpful) comments and feedback. Time to take a breather!

If the paper gets rejected, do not despair – it happens to literally everybody. If the journal suggests major or minor revisions, take the chance to provide a thorough response and make improvements as you see fit. If the paper gets accepted, congrats!

It’s now time to get writing and share your hard work – good luck!

If you are interested, check out this related blog post

[Title Image by Nick Morrison via Unsplash]

David Sleeman

David Sleeman worked as Senior Journals Manager in the field of Physical Sciences at De Gruyter.

You might also be interested in

Academia & Publishing

Die Leipziger Buchmesse in der DDR: Ein Interview mit Patricia F. Blume

Wissenschaftspodcasts: ein blick hinter die kulissen mit nadine kreuzahler, how to get “networking” right as an academic, visit our shop.

De Gruyter publishes over 1,300 new book titles each year and more than 750 journals in the humanities, social sciences, medicine, mathematics, engineering, computer sciences, natural sciences, and law.

Pin It on Pinterest

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

• View all journals
• Explore content
• About the journal
• Publish with us
• Sign up for alerts

Collection  12 March 2023

Journal Top 100 - 2022

This collection highlights our most downloaded* research papers published in 2022. Featuring authors from around the world, these papers highlight valuable research from an international community.

You can also check out the Top 100 across various subject areas here .

*Data obtained from SN Insights, which is based on Digital Science’s Dimensions.

mRNA vaccine-induced antibodies more effective than natural immunity in neutralizing SARS-CoV-2 and its high affinity variants

• Dominic Esposito

Cats learn the names of their friend cats in their daily lives

• Saho Takagi
• Atsuko Saito
• Hika Kuroshima

Metformin administration is associated with enhanced response to transarterial chemoembolization for hepatocellular carcinoma in type 2 diabetes patients

• Woo Jin Jung
• Sangmi Jang
• Jin-Wook Kim

The impact of digital media on children’s intelligence while controlling for genetic differences in cognition and socioeconomic background

• Bruno Sauce
• Magnus Liebherr
• Torkel Klingberg

Life tables of annual life expectancy and mortality for companion dogs in the United Kingdom

• Kendy Tzu-yun Teng
• Dave C. Brodbelt
• Dan G. O’Neill

Bioarchaeological and palaeogenomic portrait of two Pompeians that died during the eruption of Vesuvius in 79 AD

• Gabriele Scorrano
• Serena Viva
• Fabio Macciardi

Reading on a smartphone affects sigh generation, brain activity, and comprehension

• Motoyasu Honma
• Yuri Masaoka
• Masahiko Izumizaki

Principal Component Analyses (PCA)-based findings in population genetic studies are highly biased and must be reevaluated

• Eran Elhaik

The determinants of COVID-19 morbidity and mortality across countries

• Dianna Chang
• Kelvin Jui Keng Tan

Birdsongs alleviate anxiety and paranoia in healthy participants

• J. Sundermann

Identification of ADS024, a newly characterized strain of Bacillus velezensis with direct Clostridiodes difficile killing and toxin degradation bio-activities

• Michelle M. O’Donnell
• James W. Hegarty
• Laurent Chesnel

Multiple sclerosis genetic and non-genetic factors interact through the transient transcriptome

• Renato Umeton
• Gianmarco Bellucci
• Giovanni Ristori

The effect of metformin on the survival of colorectal cancer patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus

• Zeinab Tarhini
• Kamelia Manceur
• Niki Christou

Chemical characterisation of the vapour emitted by an e-cigarette using a ceramic wick-based technology

• M. Isabel Pinto

Large-magnitude (VEI ≥ 7) ‘wet’ explosive silicic eruption preserved a Lower Miocene habitat at the Ipolytarnóc Fossil Site, North Hungary

• Dávid Karátson
• Imre Szarvas

Far-UVC (222 nm) efficiently inactivates an airborne pathogen in a room-sized chamber

• Waseem Hiwar
• Kenneth Wood

Low dose aspirin associated with greater bone mineral density in older adults

• Hongzhan Liu
• Xungang Xiao

First direct evidence of adult European eels migrating to their breeding place in the Sargasso Sea

• Rosalind M. Wright
• Adam T. Piper
• David Righton

Infections with the SARS-CoV-2 Delta variant exhibit fourfold increased viral loads in the upper airways compared to Alpha or non-variants of concern

• Christian J. H. von Wintersdorff
• Jozef Dingemans
• Paul H. M. Savelkoul

Inappropriate sinus tachycardia in post-COVID-19 syndrome

• Júlia Aranyó
• Victor Bazan
• Roger Villuendas

The microstructure and the origin of the Venus from Willendorf

• Gerhard W. Weber
• Alexander Lukeneder

COVID-19 reinfections among naturally infected and vaccinated individuals

• Sezanur Rahman
• M. Mahfuzur Rahman
• Mustafizur Rahman

Lockdown measures during the COVID-19 pandemic strongly impacted the circulation of respiratory pathogens in Southern China

• Heping Wang
• Yuejie Zheng
• Wenjian Wang

Alzheimer’s disease large-scale gene expression portrait identifies exercise as the top theoretical treatment

• Mason A. Hill
• Stephen C. Gammie

COVID-19 symptoms are reduced by targeted hydration of the nose, larynx and trachea

• Carolin Elizabeth George
• Gerhard Scheuch
• David A. Edwards

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein induces cognitive deficit and anxiety-like behavior in mouse via non-cell autonomous hippocampal neuronal death

• Junyoung Oh
• Woo-Hyun Cho
• Sung Joong Lee

Abdominal pain patterns during COVID-19: an observational study

• Alexandre Balaphas
• Kyriaki Gkoufa
• Christian Toso

Detection of human pathogenic bacteria in rectal DNA samples from Zalophus californianus in the Gulf of California, Mexico

• Francesco Cicala
• David Ramírez-Delgado
• Alexei F. Licea-Navarro

Industrialised fishing nations largely contribute to floating plastic pollution in the North Pacific subtropical gyre

• Laurent Lebreton
• Sarah-Jeanne Royer
• Matthias Egger

Hypertension and diabetes including their earlier stage are associated with increased risk of sudden cardiac arrest

• Seung Young Roh
• Young-Hoon Kim

Utility of an artificial intelligence system for classification of esophageal lesions when simulating its clinical use

• Ayaka Tajiri
• Ryu Ishihara
• Tomohiro Tada

Prevalence, age of decision, and interpersonal warmth judgements of childfree adults

• Zachary P. Neal
• Jennifer Watling Neal

Acute and protracted abstinence from methamphetamine bidirectionally changes intrinsic excitability of indirect pathway spiny projection neurons in the dorsomedial striatum

• Sanghoon Choi
• Steven M. Graves

Indeterminacy of cannabis impairment and ∆ 9 -tetrahydrocannabinol (∆ 9 -THC) levels in blood and breath

• Gregory T. Wurz
• Michael W. DeGregorio

High rates of plasmid cotransformation in E. coli overturn the clonality myth and reveal colony development

• Delia Tomoiaga
• Jaclyn Bubnell
• Paul Feinstein

Metformin sensitizes leukemic cells to cytotoxic lymphocytes by increasing expression of intercellular adhesion molecule-1 (ICAM-1)

• Nerea Allende-Vega
• Joaquin Marco Brualla
• Martin Villalba

Incorporation of machine learning and deep neural network approaches into a remote sensing-integrated crop model for the simulation of rice growth

• Seungtaek Jeong
• Jong-min Yeom

Perceiving societal pressure to be happy is linked to poor well-being, especially in happy nations

• Egon Dejonckheere
• Joshua J. Rhee
• Brock Bastian

The earliest Pleistocene record of a large-bodied hominin from the Levant supports two out-of-Africa dispersal events

• Alon Barash
• Miriam Belmaker

Generation mechanism and prediction of an observed extreme rogue wave

• Johannes Gemmrich

Fitness tracking reveals task-specific associations between memory, mental health, and physical activity

• Jeremy R. Manning
• Gina M. Notaro
• Paxton C. Fitzpatrick

Domestic dogs ( Canis familiaris ) grieve over the loss of a conspecific

• Stefania Uccheddu
• Lucia Ronconi
• Federica Pirrone

Human transgenerational observations of regular smoking before puberty on fat mass in grandchildren and great-grandchildren

• Jean Golding
• Steve Gregory
• Matthew Suderman

Chlamydia pneumoniae can infect the central nervous system via the olfactory and trigeminal nerves and contributes to Alzheimer’s disease risk

• Jenny A. K. Ekberg

Oxycodone/naloxone versus tapentadol in real-world chronic non-cancer pain management: an observational and pharmacogenetic study

• Jordi Barrachina
• Cesar Margarit
• Ana M. Peiró

Cooking methods are associated with inflammatory factors, renal function, and other hormones and nutritional biomarkers in older adults

• Montserrat Rodríguez-Ayala
• José Ramón Banegas
• Pilar Guallar-Castillón

Classification of pig calls produced from birth to slaughter according to their emotional valence and context of production

• Elodie F. Briefer
• Ciara C.-R. Sypherd
• Céline Tallet

Higher emotional awareness is associated with greater domain-general reflective tendencies

• Michelle Persich
• William D. S. Killgore

A large Megaraptoridae (Theropoda: Coelurosauria) from Upper Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) of Patagonia, Argentina

• Alexis M. Aranciaga Rolando
• Matias J. Motta
• Fernando E. Novas

Long COVID occurrence in COVID-19 survivors

• Aya Sugiyama
• Junko Tanaka

Water activated disposable paper battery

• Alexandre Poulin
• Xavier Aeby
• Gustav Nyström

Intestinal preservation in a birdlike dinosaur supports conservatism in digestive canal evolution among theropods

• Yichuan Liu

Antiviral effect of cetylpyridinium chloride in mouthwash on SARS-CoV-2

• Hirofumi Sawa

Evidence of an oceanic impact and megatsunami sedimentation in Chryse Planitia, Mars

• J. Alexis P. Rodriguez
• Darrel K. Robertson
• Mario Zarroca

Curcumin and metformin synergistically modulate peripheral and central immune mechanisms of pain

• Peththa Wadu Dasuni Wasana
• Pasarapa Towiwat

The first occurrence of an avian-style respiratory infection in a non-avian dinosaur

• D. Cary Woodruff
• Ewan D. S. Wolff
• Lawrence M. Witmer

Optimal linear estimation models predict 1400–2900 years of overlap between Homo sapiens and Neandertals prior to their disappearance from France and northern Spain

• Igor Djakovic
• Alastair Key
• Marie Soressi

The influence of time on the sensitivity of SARS-CoV-2 serological testing

• Arturo Torres Ortiz
• Fernanda Fenn Torrente
• Louis Grandjean

Online misinformation is linked to early COVID-19 vaccination hesitancy and refusal

• Francesco Pierri
• Brea L. Perry
• John Bryden

A distinct symptom pattern emerges for COVID-19 long-haul: a nationwide study

• Melissa D. Pinto
• Charles A. Downs
• Natalie Lambert

SARS-CoV-2-reactive IFN-γ-producing CD4 + and CD8 + T cells in blood do not correlate with clinical severity in unvaccinated critically ill COVID-19 patients

• Beatriz Olea
• Eliseo Albert
• David Navarro

Classification of 74 facial emoji’s emotional states on the valence-arousal axes

• Gaku Kutsuzawa
• Hiroyuki Umemura
• Yoshiyuki Kobayashi

The emergence of a new sex-system (XX/XY 1 Y 2 ) suggests a species complex in the “monotypic” rodent Oecomys auyantepui (Rodentia, Sigmodontinae)

• Willam Oliveira da Silva
• Celina Coelho Rosa
• Cleusa Yoshiko Nagamachi

Detection of COVID-19 using multimodal data from a wearable device: results from the first TemPredict Study

• Ashley E. Mason
• Frederick M. Hecht
• Benjamin L. Smarr

Spinal degeneration is associated with lumbar multifidus morphology in secondary care patients with low back or leg pain

• Jeffrey R. Cooley
• Tue S. Jensen
• Jeffrey J. Hebert

Phenomenology and content of the inhaled N , N -dimethyltryptamine ( N , N -DMT) experience

• David Wyndham Lawrence
• Robin Carhart-Harris
• Christopher Timmermann

A gigantic bizarre marine turtle (Testudines: Chelonioidea) from the Middle Campanian (Late Cretaceous) of South-western Europe

• Oscar Castillo-Visa
• Àngel H. Luján
• Albert Sellés

The first experience with fully endoscopic posterior cervical foraminotomy and discectomy for radiculopathy performed in Viet Duc University Hospital

• Son Ngoc Dinh
• Hung The Dinh

Mapping the “catscape” formed by a population of pet cats with outdoor access

• Richard Bischof
• Nina Rosita Hansen
• Torbjørn Haugaasen

Investigation of humans individual differences as predictors of their animal interaction styles, focused on the domestic cat

• Lauren R. Finka
• Lucia Ripari
• Marnie L. Brennan

Genesis of fecal floatation is causally linked to gut microbial colonization in mice

• Syed Mohammed Musheer Aalam
• Daphne Norma Crasta
• Nagarajan Kannan

Young children’s screen time during the first COVID-19 lockdown in 12 countries

• Christina Bergmann
• Nevena Dimitrova
• Nivedita Mani

Cichlids and stingrays can add and subtract ‘one’ in the number space from one to five

• V. Schluessel

Elevated estradiol levels in frozen embryo transfer have different effects on pregnancy outcomes depending on the stage of transferred embryos

• Liming Ruan

Group VR experiences can produce ego attenuation and connectedness comparable to psychedelics

• David R. Glowacki
• Rhoslyn Roebuck Williams
• Mike Chatziapostolou

New therizinosaurid dinosaur from the marine Osoushinai Formation (Upper Cretaceous, Japan) provides insight for function and evolution of therizinosaur claws

• Yoshitsugu Kobayashi
• Ryuji Takasaki
• Yoshinori Hikida

Smartphone-based ecological momentary assessment reveals mental health benefits of birdlife

• Ryan Hammoud
• Stefania Tognin
• Andrea Mechelli

Long-term outcomes of cataract surgery with toric intraocular lens implantation by the type of preoperative astigmatism

• Tetsuro Oshika
• Shinichiro Nakano
• Tsutomu Kaneko

Forest fire detection system using wireless sensor networks and machine learning

• Udaya Dampage
• Lumini Bandaranayake
• Bathiya Jayasanka

Misinformation of COVID-19 vaccines and vaccine hesitancy

• Sun Kyong Lee
• Juhyung Sun
• Shane Connelly

Deep language algorithms predict semantic comprehension from brain activity

• Charlotte Caucheteux
• Alexandre Gramfort
• Jean-Rémi King

Children with autism spectrum disorder show atypical electroencephalographic response to processing contextual incongruencies

• Amparo V. Márquez-García
• Vasily A. Vakorin
• Sam M. Doesburg

A generalizable one health framework for the control of zoonotic diseases

• Ria R. Ghai
• Ryan M. Wallace
• Casey Barton Behravesh

HS3ST2 expression induces the cell autonomous aggregation of tau

• M. B. Huynh
• N. Rebergue
• D. Papy-Garcia

Exceptional warming over the Barents area

• Ketil Isaksen
• Øyvind Nordli
• Tatiana Karandasheva

A new Early Cretaceous lizard in Myanmar amber with exceptionally preserved integument

• Andrej Čerňanský
• Edward L. Stanley
• Susan E. Evans

Coffee consumption and diabetic retinopathy in adults with diabetes mellitus

• Hak Jun Lee
• Daniel Duck-Jin Hwang

Shifts in the foraging tactics of crocodiles following invasion by toxic prey

• Abhilasha Aiyer
• Richard Shine
• Georgia Ward-Fear

Production of high loading insulin nanoparticles suitable for oral delivery by spray drying and freeze drying techniques

• Alberto Baldelli
• Anubhav Pratap-Singh

Cable news and COVID-19 vaccine uptake

• Matteo Pinna
• Christoph Goessmann

Estimating the time of last drinking from blood ethyl glucuronide and ethyl sulphate concentrations

• Zhongyuan Guo

COVID-19 infections in infants

• Małgorzata Sobolewska-Pilarczyk
• Maria Pokorska-Śpiewak
• Małgorzata Pawłowska

COVID-19 increases the risk for the onset of atrial fibrillation in hospitalized patients

• Jakob Wollborn
• Sergey Karamnov
• Jochen D. Muehlschlegel

Childhood temperament and adulthood personality differentially predict life outcomes

• Amanda J. Wright
• Joshua J. Jackson

Antivirus applied to JAR malware detection based on runtime behaviors

• Ricardo P. Pinheiro
• Sidney M. L. Lima
• Wellington P. dos Santos

Therapeutic enzyme engineering using a generative neural network

• Andrew Giessel
• Athanasios Dousis
• Stuart Licht

Identification of genes associated with human-canine communication in canine evolution

• Akiko Tonoike
• Ken-ichi Otaki
• Miho Nagasawa

Breath chemical markers of sexual arousal in humans

• G. Pugliese
• J. Williams

A 5-km-thick reservoir with > 380,000 km 3 of magma within the ancient Earth's crust

• Rais Latypov
• Sofya Chistyakova
• Mauritz van der Merwe

Return of large fin whale feeding aggregations to historical whaling grounds in the Southern Ocean

• Helena Herr
• Sacha Viquerat
• Bettina Meyer

Quick links

• Explore articles by subject
• Guide to authors
• Editorial policies

• PRO Courses Guides New Tech Help Pro Expert Videos About wikiHow Pro Upgrade Sign In
• EDIT Edit this Article
• EXPLORE Tech Help Pro About Us Random Article Quizzes Request a New Article Community Dashboard This Or That Game Popular Categories Arts and Entertainment Artwork Books Movies Computers and Electronics Computers Phone Skills Technology Hacks Health Men's Health Mental Health Women's Health Relationships Dating Love Relationship Issues Hobbies and Crafts Crafts Drawing Games Education & Communication Communication Skills Personal Development Studying Personal Care and Style Fashion Hair Care Personal Hygiene Youth Personal Care School Stuff Dating All Categories Arts and Entertainment Finance and Business Home and Garden Relationship Quizzes Cars & Other Vehicles Food and Entertaining Personal Care and Style Sports and Fitness Computers and Electronics Health Pets and Animals Travel Education & Communication Hobbies and Crafts Philosophy and Religion Work World Family Life Holidays and Traditions Relationships Youth
• Browse Articles
• Learn Something New
• Quizzes Hot
• This Or That Game New
• Train Your Brain
• Explore More
• Support wikiHow
• About wikiHow
• Log in / Sign up
• Education and Communications
• College University and Postgraduate
• Academic Writing
• Research Papers

How to Write and Publish Your Research in a Journal

Last Updated: February 26, 2024 Fact Checked

Choosing a Journal

Writing the research paper, editing & revising your paper, submitting your paper, navigating the peer review process, research paper help.

This article was co-authored by Matthew Snipp, PhD and by wikiHow staff writer, Cheyenne Main . C. Matthew Snipp is the Burnet C. and Mildred Finley Wohlford Professor of Humanities and Sciences in the Department of Sociology at Stanford University. He is also the Director for the Institute for Research in the Social Science’s Secure Data Center. He has been a Research Fellow at the U.S. Bureau of the Census and a Fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has published 3 books and over 70 articles and book chapters on demography, economic development, poverty and unemployment. He is also currently serving on the National Institute of Child Health and Development’s Population Science Subcommittee. He holds a Ph.D. in Sociology from the University of Wisconsin—Madison. There are 13 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. This article has been fact-checked, ensuring the accuracy of any cited facts and confirming the authority of its sources. This article has been viewed 695,206 times.

Publishing a research paper in a peer-reviewed journal allows you to network with other scholars, get your name and work into circulation, and further refine your ideas and research. Before submitting your paper, make sure it reflects all the work you’ve done and have several people read over it and make comments. Keep reading to learn how you can choose a journal, prepare your work for publication, submit it, and revise it after you get a response back.

Things You Should Know

• Create a list of journals you’d like to publish your work in and choose one that best aligns with your topic and your desired audience.
• Prepare your manuscript using the journal’s requirements and ask at least 2 professors or supervisors to review your paper.
• Write a cover letter that “sells” your manuscript, says how your research adds to your field and explains why you chose the specific journal you’re submitting to.

• Ask your professors or supervisors for well-respected journals that they’ve had good experiences publishing with and that they read regularly.
• Many journals also only accept specific formats, so by choosing a journal before you start, you can write your article to their specifications and increase your chances of being accepted.
• If you’ve already written a paper you’d like to publish, consider whether your research directly relates to a hot topic or area of research in the journals you’re looking into.

• Review the journal’s peer review policies and submission process to see if you’re comfortable creating or adjusting your work according to their standards.
• Open-access journals can increase your readership because anyone can access them.

• Scientific research papers: Instead of a “thesis,” you might write a “research objective” instead. This is where you state the purpose of your research.
• “This paper explores how George Washington’s experiences as a young officer may have shaped his views during difficult circumstances as a commanding officer.”
• “This paper contends that George Washington’s experiences as a young officer on the 1750s Pennsylvania frontier directly impacted his relationship with his Continental Army troops during the harsh winter at Valley Forge.”

• Scientific research papers: Include a “materials and methods” section with the step-by-step process you followed and the materials you used. [5] X Research source
• Read other research papers in your field to see how they’re written. Their format, writing style, subject matter, and vocabulary can help guide your own paper. [6] X Research source

• If you’re writing about George Washington’s experiences as a young officer, you might emphasize how this research changes our perspective of the first president of the U.S.
• Link this section to your thesis or research objective.
• If you’re writing a paper about ADHD, you might discuss other applications for your research.

• Scientific research papers: You might include your research and/or analytical methods, your main findings or results, and the significance or implications of your research.
• Try to get as many people as you can to read over your abstract and provide feedback before you submit your paper to a journal.

• They might also provide templates to help you structure your manuscript according to their specific guidelines. [11] X Research source

• Not all journal reviewers will be experts on your specific topic, so a non-expert “outsider’s perspective” can be valuable.

• If you have a paper on the purification of wastewater with fungi, you might use both the words “fungi” and “mushrooms.”
• Use software like iThenticate, Turnitin, or PlagScan to check for similarities between the submitted article and published material available online. [15] X Research source

• Header: Address the editor who will be reviewing your manuscript by their name, include the date of submission, and the journal you are submitting to.
• First paragraph: Include the title of your manuscript, the type of paper it is (like review, research, or case study), and the research question you wanted to answer and why.
• Second paragraph: Explain what was done in your research, your main findings, and why they are significant to your field.
• Third paragraph: Explain why the journal’s readers would be interested in your work and why your results are important to your field.
• Conclusion: State the author(s) and any journal requirements that your work complies with (like ethical standards”).
• “We confirm that this manuscript has not been published elsewhere and is not under consideration by another journal.”
• “All authors have approved the manuscript and agree with its submission to [insert the name of the target journal].”

• Submit your article to only one journal at a time.
• When submitting online, use your university email account. This connects you with a scholarly institution, which can add credibility to your work.

• Accept: Only minor adjustments are needed, based on the provided feedback by the reviewers. A first submission will rarely be accepted without any changes needed.
• Revise and Resubmit: Changes are needed before publication can be considered, but the journal is still very interested in your work.
• Reject and Resubmit: Extensive revisions are needed. Your work may not be acceptable for this journal, but they might also accept it if significant changes are made.
• Reject: The paper isn’t and won’t be suitable for this publication, but that doesn’t mean it might not work for another journal.

• Try organizing the reviewer comments by how easy it is to address them. That way, you can break your revisions down into more manageable parts.
• If you disagree with a comment made by a reviewer, try to provide an evidence-based explanation when you resubmit your paper.

• If you’re resubmitting your paper to the same journal, include a point-by-point response paper that talks about how you addressed all of the reviewers’ comments in your revision. [22] X Research source
• If you’re not sure which journal to submit to next, you might be able to ask the journal editor which publications they recommend.

Expert Q&A

You might also like.

• If reviewers suspect that your submitted manuscript plagiarizes another work, they may refer to a Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE) flowchart to see how to move forward. [23] X Research source Thanks Helpful 0 Not Helpful 0

• ↑ https://www.wiley.com/en-us/network/publishing/research-publishing/choosing-a-journal/6-steps-to-choosing-the-right-journal-for-your-research-infographic
• ↑ https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s13187-020-01751-z
• ↑ https://libguides.unomaha.edu/c.php?g=100510&p=651627
• ↑ http://www.canberra.edu.au/library/start-your-research/research_help/publishing-research
• ↑ https://writingcenter.fas.harvard.edu/conclusions
• ↑ https://writing.wisc.edu/handbook/assignments/writing-an-abstract-for-your-research-paper/
• ↑ https://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/book-authors-editors/your-publication-journey/manuscript-preparation
• ↑ https://apus.libanswers.com/writing/faq/2391
• ↑ https://academicguides.waldenu.edu/library/keyword/search-strategy
• ↑ https://ifis.libguides.com/journal-publishing-guide/submitting-your-paper
• ↑ https://www.springer.com/kr/authors-editors/authorandreviewertutorials/submitting-to-a-journal-and-peer-review/cover-letters/10285574
• ↑ http://www.apa.org/monitor/sep02/publish.aspx
• ↑ Matthew Snipp, PhD. Research Fellow, U.S. Bureau of the Census. Expert Interview. 26 March 2020.

About This Article

To publish a research paper, ask a colleague or professor to review your paper and give you feedback. Once you've revised your work, familiarize yourself with different academic journals so that you can choose the publication that best suits your paper. Make sure to look at the "Author's Guide" so you can format your paper according to the guidelines for that publication. Then, submit your paper and don't get discouraged if it is not accepted right away. You may need to revise your paper and try again. To learn about the different responses you might get from journals, see our reviewer's explanation below. Did this summary help you? Yes No

• Send fan mail to authors

Reader Success Stories

RAMDEV GOHIL

Oct 16, 2017

Did this article help you?

David Okandeji

Oct 23, 2019

Revati Joshi

Feb 13, 2017

Shahzad Khan

Jul 1, 2017

Apr 7, 2017

Featured Articles

Trending Articles

Watch Articles

• Terms of Use
• Privacy Policy
• Do Not Sell or Share My Info
• Not Selling Info

wikiHow Tech Help Pro:

Develop the tech skills you need for work and life

• Interesting
• Scholarships
• UGC-CARE Journals

Top 100 Journal Publications in the World 2024

Highest impact factor journals in the world

Table of contents

List of top 100 journals google scholar ranking, 10 reasons behind top 100 journals 2024.

The top scientific journals are a reliable source of information on the latest developments in engineering, science, and technology. The editors and peer-reviewers of the journal ensure that the published articles are original, accurate, and reliable. Every research scholar, academician, and scientist aspires to publish their research findings in the top journal publishers namely Science Magazine, Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Physical Review Letters. In this article, iLovePhD compiled the most influential journals in the world related to medical, engineering, and natural sciences.

iLovePhD compiled the top 100 scientific journals of 2024 based on Google Scholar citations. Key areas include medical, engineering, and natural sciences. Prestigious journals like Nature, NEJM, and Science dominate due to their impact, quality, and interdisciplinary reach. Conferences are also prominent for their field-specific influence and innovation. This independent list is a guide for researchers and academicians aiming to publish impactful work.

Google Scholar is a widely used platform for academic research and citation analysis. It provides a ranking system that measures the impact and influence of scholarly journals based on the number of citations received by their articles. The following list represents the top 100 journals based on the Google Scholar ranking.

The top 100 most influential and prestigious academic journals in 2024 – According to Google Scholar Rank are as follows.

Source: Google Scholar

• Impact: Journals have a significant impact on their respective fields.
• Quality of Research: Publishes high-quality, influential research.
• Global Reach: Recognized internationally for its contributions.
• Interdisciplinarity: Addresses multidisciplinary topics, fostering collaboration.
• Innovation: Pioneers in introducing and advancing new concepts and methodologies.
• Citation Metrics: Frequently cited by other researchers, indicating influence.
• Open Access: Journals embracing open access to promote the dissemination of knowledge.
• Field Leadership: Plays a central role in shaping and leading its field.
• Peer Review: Maintains rigorous peer-review processes to ensure research quality.
• Conference Impact: For conference entries, significant impact and contributions in the respective conference area.

I hope this article will help you to find the Top 100 journals related to medical, engineering, and natural sciences in the World.

Copyright Infringement Disclaimer:

The above list consists of the top 100 journals based on the Google Scholar ranking. These rankings are determined by the number of citations received by articles published in these journals. The list includes renowned publications such as Nature, The New England Journal of Medicine, and Science, which cover a wide range of scientific disciplines. It also includes conferences and specific fields of study, such as computer vision, machine learning, and chemistry. While efforts have been made to ensure the accuracy of the rankings, users are encouraged to verify the information independently, as the rankings may change over time. The provided copyright infringement disclaimer clarifies that the list is for informational purposes only and does not claim ownership or authorship of the mentioned journals. It also highlights that the use of the list is at the user’s own risk, and iLovePhD.com is not liable for any errors or damages arising from its use.

• 100 Top Journals
• computer science journals
• impact factor
• materials science journals
• medicine journals
• research publications
• Science Journals
• scientific journals
• Top 100 Journals
• Top Journals
• Top Publications
• various disciplines

Reviewer Three: Unveiling the World of Peer Review

15 secrets to completing your phd in 36 months, scientists are working on this in 2024 top 10 research areas revealed.

Hi, about 1 year ago I did a journal ranking of PubMed journals for 2020 (all of them by month). This was based on total articles. Now that Medline is scripted I was thinking of doing a 2021 ranking but with a medline percent added. Its another way to look at medical journals. Its doable because PubMed owns the field and it would be difficult to do another topic mapping (WOS, Scopus, etc.) Its also interesting to see the differences between those in my ranking and this list. I think looking at both help give the full picture. However, using the journal name without the ID is problematic for many reasons. Is it possible to add the journal ID? I also, recently pulled out 1.8 million lines of text from PubMed abstracts to see what the top sources were for Systematic Reviews. Would like to see some articles breaking out data like this because not many (anyone) is doing it.

How is the impact factor calculated and why are they not in order of highest to lowest impact factor?

Thankyou so Much

Good one. Thanks for sharing

LEAVE A REPLY Cancel reply

Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.

Notify me of follow-up comments by email.

Notify me of new posts by email.

Email Subscription

iLovePhD is a research education website to know updated research-related information. It helps researchers to find top journals for publishing research articles and get an easy manual for research tools. The main aim of this website is to help Ph.D. scholars who are working in various domains to get more valuable ideas to carry out their research. Learn the current groundbreaking research activities around the world, love the process of getting a Ph.D.

WhatsApp Channel

Join iLovePhD WhatsApp Channel Now!

Contact us: [email protected]

Copyright © 2019-2024 - iLovePhD

• Artificial intelligence

Explore millions of high-quality primary sources and images from around the world, including artworks, maps, photographs, and more.

Explore migration issues through a variety of media types

• Part of The Streets are Talking: Public Forms of Creative Expression from Around the World
• Part of The Journal of Economic Perspectives, Vol. 34, No. 1 (Winter 2020)
• Part of Cato Institute (Aug. 3, 2021)
• Part of University of California Press
• Part of Open: Smithsonian National Museum of African American History & Culture
• Part of Indiana Journal of Global Legal Studies, Vol. 19, No. 1 (Winter 2012)
• Part of R Street Institute (Nov. 1, 2020)
• Part of Leuven University Press
• Part of UN Secretary-General Papers: Ban Ki-moon (2007-2016)
• Part of Perspectives on Terrorism, Vol. 12, No. 4 (August 2018)
• Part of Leveraging Lives: Serbia and Illegal Tunisian Migration to Europe, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (Mar. 1, 2023)
• Part of UCL Press

Harness the power of visual materials—explore more than 3 million images now on JSTOR.

Enhance your scholarly research with underground newspapers, magazines, and journals.

Explore collections in the arts, sciences, and literature from the world’s leading museums, archives, and scholars.

• Submit Paper
• Check Paper Status
• Download Certificate/Paper

• --> --> --> --> --> E-mail [email protected] --> -->