I'm getting ready to submit a paper to a journal
Choose a journal that fits, submit cleanly, and know what to expect once the paper is under review.
In short
Start here, today. Look at the reference list of your draft and note which journals appear most often. Pick three, open their last two issues, and ask honestly whether your paper would sit comfortably next to those articles. This takes about 30 minutes.
After that, work through these steps. Choose one to jump to it.
Step by step
Tick each step as you finish it. Open a step for the how.
0 of 7 steps done
Shortlist journals by fit
Read the aims and scope page, then skim the titles and abstracts from the last year or so. Ask who reads this journal and whether they're the people you want to reach. Note any published turnaround times, open access costs, and whether your funder or university requires open access or will pay the fees.
Check the journal is trustworthy
Run any journal you don't already know through the Think. Check. Submit. checklist. Warning signs include unsolicited invitations, promises of review in days, vague or unverifiable editorial boards, and fees mentioned before anything else. Your subject librarian can help you check a journal you're unsure about.
Follow the author guidelines exactly
Read the guidelines in full and turn them into a checklist: word limit and what counts towards it, reference style, figure formats, anonymisation for blind review, and the statements on data, ethics, funding and conflicts of interest. Editors notice when guidelines have been ignored, and some journals return papers without review for it.
Settle authorship before you submit
Confirm who is on the paper, in what order, and who will be the corresponding author. Every author should see and approve the final version before it goes in. If none of this has been discussed yet, read the authorship guide first.
Write a short cover letter
Address the editor by name if you can find it. Say in two or three sentences what the paper does and why it fits this journal, and confirm it isn't under consideration elsewhere. If the system lets you suggest reviewers, suggest people who know the area well and have no conflict of interest with you or your co-authors.
Know what happens next
The editor first decides whether to send the paper out for review at all. If it goes out, reviewers can take anywhere from a few weeks to several months, and the decision usually comes as accept, minor revisions, major revisions or reject, with some journals also offering reject and resubmit. Log the submission in your Waiting-For list with a follow-up date; if the journal's stated timeline passes, a polite query to the editorial office is fine.
Respond to reviewers point by point
Let the comments sit for a day or two before you reply. Then build a response table with each comment, what you changed and where, or a courteous, reasoned explanation where you disagree. You don't have to do everything reviewers ask, but you do have to answer every point, and the Feedback Tracker helps you keep it organised.
Words you can use
Is this you? Signs to look for
- You have a draft, or a chapter that could become one, and no idea where to send it.
- A journal you've never heard of has emailed to invite you to submit.
- The author guidelines run to several pages and you can't tell which parts matter.
- You submitted months ago and the status still says “under review”.
Why this happens
Publishing runs on rules that most supervisors learned by trial and error and rarely spell out. Journals differ in scope, readership, speed, formatting and open access fees. A poor choice costs months, either through a desk rejection because the paper didn't fit or through a long review at a journal that was never likely to say yes.
The process is also slower than most people expect. Review commonly takes months, and a first decision of “major revisions” is normal and usually good news. Very few papers are accepted without changes.
Meanwhile, predatory journals target new researchers with flattering invitations, promise fast publication and charge fees with little or no real peer review. Work published there can be hard to retract and republish elsewhere, so it is worth checking before you submit, not after.
Worth a look (5)
- Think. Check. Submit.A checklist for deciding whether a journal is trustworthy.
- Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, by Wendy Laura BelcherA workbook that takes a draft through to submission, including choosing a journal.
- Writing for Peer Reviewed Journals, by Pat Thomson and Barbara KamlerClear on how journals work and how to write for a particular readership.
- Open policy finderCheck a journal's open access policies, including which version of your paper you can share and where. It replaced Sherpa Romeo, so older guides may still use that name.
- DOAJ (Directory of Open Access Journals)A curated list of peer-reviewed open access journals in every field. Use it to find journals to read and to check that a journal you're considering is legitimate.
When to bring someone in
Your supervisor and co-authors should help you choose the journal, since they often know editors' preferences and realistic timelines. A subject librarian can help you assess a journal and explain open access options and fees. If you plan to include the paper in your thesis, check your graduate school's rules on published and co-authored work before you sign a copyright agreement.
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