The Ultimate Guide to Journal Submission and Publishing

Publishing a journal article with one of the best academic presses or research publications is one of the most significant accomplishments in a researcher’s career.

You’ve spent months (or years) working on your study, gone through several rounds of revisions and edits, and had your work peer-reviewed by others in your field. The culmination of all that hard work is publication. That’s why it’s so important to find the best journal to submit your paper to, so you can increase your chances of getting accepted and ensure your work gets the recognition it deserves.

If it’s your first time getting your work published, the academic publishing process can be daunting. Most new researchers don’t know how to publish an article, and sometimes there are so many steps involved that just knowing where to start feels overwhelming.

That’s why we’ve put together this ultimate guide to journal submission and academic publishing. Whether you’re trying to get your work featured in an independent journal or one of the many academic presses, this article walks you through everything you need to know to find the best fit and ensure your work meets their standards before you submit it for consideration.

What is A Journal Article

A journal article is a research-oriented manuscript that shares the findings of your studies. These articles are written by and for faculty, researchers or scholars, but, of course, anyone interested in the topic can read them provided they have access.

Another important thing to note is that journal articles are published as a part of an academic periodical or an academic journal. While these are similar and sometimes used interchangeably, there are some nuances between them to take into consideration.

Academic Periodical

An academic periodical is published at steady intervals and provides information to a larger audience. Their goal is to disseminate knowledge, and they often include opinions, stories, and news.

Academic Journal

Academic journals are more specific and tailored to a single discipline for a targeted audience. The focus for them is to present and highlight new research. Because of that, academic journals will include research summaries, reviews, and so on.

That said, just because something is in an academic journal doesn’t make it a journal article. For example, book reviews and editorials aren’t usually referred to as journal articles, but they may be published alongside them.

To add to the confusion, there are several names for the different academic journals, including:

• Academic journals
• Peer-reviewed journals
• Scholarly journals

At the end of the day, these are all similar terms, and you can use the one that works best.

For many academics, writing a journal article is a thrill as it’s the first step in sharing your research with the academic community. Answering challenging questions and engaging in ongoing scholarly debates with peers is fundamental to advancing our knowledge as a society.

This is why academics worldwide consider journal articles to be the backbone of academic publishing.

Types of Articles that Journals Publish

While they can be broken down into many kinds, there are five main types of articles that academic journals and academic presses publish:

1. Original Article

An original article or a research article is the most common type of journal manuscript in academic publishing. These articles are detailed studies, which are classified as primary literature. Original research articles are usually fairly short, with a word limit ranging from 3,000 to 6,000, like The Journal of Health Services Research & Policy. However, for some journals, like Frontiers in Neuroscience, the word limit can be as high as 12,000 words.

These articles will also follow specific formats, including a full Introduction, Methods, Results, and Discussion section.

1. Reviews

Review articles provide a comprehensive summary of research on a particular topic and offer professionals insight into the state of that specific field. Thought leaders and experts usually write them in a specific discipline after receiving an invitation from journal editors.

Review articles can be of varying lengths, depending on the journal and subject area, but they typically fall into three main categories, each of which has fairly standardised word counts:

• Literature reviews: Word count can range between 8,000 to 40,000.
• Systematic reviews: Word count is usually a maximum of 10,000.
• Shorter reviews: Word count is between 3,000 to 5,000.

1. Case Studies

A case study is a detailed study about a person, a group of people, or a unit. They report specific instances of exciting and complex phenomena based on the subjective experiences of the target population. A complete case study has a word count similar to an original article, but some can also be concise to raise awareness on a topic that lacks research.

In many cases, researchers write clinical case studies for medical studies, but they are used in other disciplines as well. For example, virologists use these to study ever-evolving diseases, some of which have never been seen before. Meanwhile, psychologists write them to highlight rare occurrences in nature, such as one woman born without her cerebellum.

1. Methodologies

Methodology articles explore advances in a method, test, or procedure. These methodologies do not need to be new, as researchers can explore better ways to improve an already-existing process. In either case, there should be some kind of advancement worth discussing and analysing.

This type of article typically has a maximum word count of 12,000, with no more than 15 Figures/Tables.

1. Commentaries

Commentaries are short articles (usually around 1,000-1,500 words long) that draw attention to or critique a previously published article, book, or report. They provide context from the author’s perspective and generally explain why they thought it was interesting for readers who may not have read the original publication yet.

When it comes to commentaries, they provide valuable insights, because they bring in another author’s perspective and opinion. Their viewpoint can differ significantly depending on their own experiences, thereby offering a fresh take on the subject at hand.

These are the main types of articles in academic publishing, and while we have defined them for you here precisely, many journals have different guidelines and preferences. As such, you should always make sure you read them, so you know their expectations beforehand. Addressing them and combing through with meticulous academic editing will help your article successfully pass through the submission process.

Now that you have some ideas on the types of academic articles, let’s discuss journal submission.

Journal Submission

In 2013, a study showed that 76% of manuscripts submitted to peer-reviewed journals published by the American Psychological Association failed to be published. Not to mention, top journals’ rejection rates were as high as 90% or more. To help boost your chance of success, you should begin with selecting the right journal.

The first step is determining which journal would be the best fit for your article. When it comes to publishing, academic journals exist in a variety of formats: print, online, subscription-based, open access, fees, no fees, and everything in between.

Beyond that, academic journals are published and funded by different types of academic publishers, each of which has its own unique goals and internal structures.

Types of Academic Publishers

Academic journals are published and funded through a variety of means. Since some have more funding than others, you will see higher fees as a result. We break down the different types of presses that publish academic journals for you here:

Commercial Publishers	University Presses	New University Presses (NUPs)	Academic-Led Presses (ALPs)
Commercial publishers do not affiliate themselves with any academic institution and are sometimes called independent publishers. They have a for-profit business model, so you may see higher fees.	University presses are attached to universities, which typically provide financial support. They might also have academic support, e.g., peer reviewers or editorial boards might be drawn from the university’s academic staff.	These are university presses established since the 1990s, often explicitly to publish open access books. In many other respects, they operate like a university press. However, NUPs are often library-led with the help of an editorial board.	Also called scholar-led presses, these presses are not affiliated with an institution and are run by academics. They are almost all not-for-profit. Any profits made will be reinvested into the press. As with NUPs, many of these exist to publish open access books.
Examples: Springer Nature, Taylor and Francis, Bloomsbury Publishing.	Examples: Cambridge University Press, Oxford University Press, Manchester University Press, Harvard University Press.	Examples: UCL Press, White Rose University Press, Huddersfield University Press, University of Westminster Press.	Examples: Open Book Publishers, Punctum books, Mattering Press, Meson press, Open Humanities Press.

In the age of information overload, it can be hard to decide what academic journal is best for your work. And with so many different academic journals funded by different kinds of academic presses and publishers, you have a lot of choices. It often boils down to a balancing act between all facets that make an article publishable:

• Quality content
• Reachability by readership size
• Editorial vision/interests

And so, choosing the most appropriate one can dramatically increase your chances of acceptance. It also ensures that your study reaches the right target audience.

Here are four tips for selecting the best academic journal for you:

1. Make a List of Available Journals

First, create a comprehensive list of available journals in your chosen subject area. You can do this in plenty of ways, like using your typical search engines, as well as academic search engines. Some examples for the latter include Google Scholar and Microsoft Academic.

Another option is to refer to scholarly databases, like the following:

• Ulrichsweb: A general database for periodicals across various disciplines.
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ): A community-curated online directory of peer-reviewed and open access journals.
• Scopus: The largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.
• Web of Science: One of the largest global citation databases.
• Academic Search (EBSCO): A full-text coverage database composed of academic journals, scholarly magazines, and newspaper articles.

While using the internet is a good start, you should also check with professionals and other experts in your discipline. Even asking around for advice or looking at where your peers are publishing can help you expand your list of options.

1. Consider Journal Reputation

When looking at your list of journals, don’t forget to take into account their reputation. Some elements you can look at to evaluate this include:

• Articles they published
• Authors previously published
• Aim and scope
• Mission statement
• Society that sponsors the journal

The published authors and sponsoring institutions lend strong credence to the journal’s overall quality. If the journal’s reputation and credibility are lacking, then that reflects poorly on you as well, so be sure to choose wisely.

1. Read Past Articles in the Journals

Look for journals that have already published topics that are relevant to yours. That way, you can guarantee your topic will be of interest to the editors. Another strategy is to look for journals where your paper can directly respond to something they previously published.

1. Understand Journal’s Submission Guidelines

Lastly, knowing the submission guidelines of journals and academic presses is a surefire way to maximise your chances of getting accepted. They write the guidelines for you as a means to help save their time and your time—so read them carefully.

Here are some examples of the submission procedures from four big publications, 2 of which are academic presses and 2 which are independent publishers.

	Duke University Press	Sage Publication	Cambridge University Press	Elsevier
Manuscript Word Count	Full-length articles should be between 8,000 to 10,000 words.All manuscripts must be no longer than 11,000.	Research articles and literature reviews should not exceed 10,000 words (excluding references).	Research articles can have up to a maximum of 14,000 words.	Full-length articles should not exceed 8,000 words (including tables, figures, and references).
Submission Policy	Blind Submission Policy.Authors must remove any identifying information throughout the manuscript.	Full contact details, including email, mailing address, and contact numbers, is a requirement.	You must provide an author biography on the first page of the manuscript.Names, institutional affiliations (including country) of all contributing authors are required.	As Elsevier uses a double-blind review, any identifying information about the author should not be part of the manuscript.
Submission Limit per Author	Only one submission per author every 24 months.	Sage Open will consider up to five articles submitted per author at one time.	Only one paper can be in submission per author at any one time.	Only one article will be considered for review per author at any one time.

Preparing and Submitting the Manuscript

After you’ve chosen the journal you want to publish in, the next step is to prepare your manuscript for initial submission. Before you send it off into the world of academic publishing, make sure your writing is as strong as it can be. While you can do these yourself, it’s always a good idea to employ the help of others.

Here’s a quick checklist for you to use when preparing and submitting your manuscript:

• Do you have the correct formatting style required by the journal for academic publishing?
• In addition to total word count, does the journal require a word count limit to specific sections of the manuscript?
• Did you proofread your manuscript?
• Were you able to secure copyright permission to all borrowed materials present in your manuscript, such as tables, figures, or photographs?
• Regarding submission policy, did you follow their rule about the author’s identifying information throughout your manuscript?
• Were you able to follow your journal’s submission guidelines?
• Have you included recommendations for future studies or potential peer reviewers?
• Do you have a cover letter to send before submitting your manuscript?

Keep these in mind when you’re revising your work to ensure a seamless submission process for your manuscript. Of course, all this is time-consuming and mentally draining, but by taking advantage of the right tools, you can save plenty of headaches and late nights.

Using tools like Flowcite’s Editing, Proofreading, Journal Matchmaking services hastens the process and makes it much easier for you to guarantee your work is top tier. Without services like these, you risk elongating the process and waiting several months to publish your journal article.

Journal Publication

Once you have submitted your manuscript, you have to monitor your journal publication application. As we discussed in our article on peer reviewing, the process differs from journal to journal.

Some expect you to send the article to peer reviewers yourself, while others will have their own board of peer reviewers go through your work too.

As your manuscript goes through the peer-review process, your peers will validate the claims and results of your study. Moreover, they will see to it that your paper is credible and written to a high quality. After this process, the author will revise the article and resubmit (sometimes a few times) until it’s ready for publication.

Address Reviewer Comments Meticulously

If a reviewer or an editor asks for major (or even minor) changes after reading your article, it’s important to take them seriously. Since they are academics in their own right, you need to treat their feedback with the respect and authority it deserves. In the realm of academic publishing, revisions are common, and refining a journal article can sometimes take months.

When you take their feedback and genuinely integrate it into your work, you’ll find the process much smoother, and hopefully faster as well.

Common Mistakes to Avoid

To further ensure that your article qualifies the standards expected in academic publishing, here are some common mistakes that you should be aware of:

• Data inconsistencies: This happens when figures given in text don’t match with figures in tables or when your numbers don’t add up.
• Duplicate submission: You want to ensure that your study gets published, but by sending the same manuscript to two different journals, you’re breaching publication ethics.
• Overstated conclusion: The data throughout the manuscript should support your conclusion and not exaggerate the results.
• Reckless questioning of copyeditors: Authors should avoid questioning the changes made by copy editors without first understanding the rationale behind them. Often, these changes are explained in the editor’s cover letter that comes with the revised manuscript.
• Missing or incomplete forms: A vital part of the publication process is for the author to be as transparent as possible regarding authorship, conflicts of interest, copyright clearances, and ethical board approval, among others. Failure to submit a complete form will lead to the delay of the publication process.

Ensuring that you avoid these mistakes will make the process of academic publishing less of a hassle for you, the reviewers, and the editor. The final piece of the puzzle is the actual cost of publishing a journal article, which can vary widely, as you’ll see.

Publication Cost

As noted earlier, not all academic journals have the same funds and resources. That means you can pay vastly different fees depending on where you intend to submit. In the table below, we compare the article processing charges and submission fees of three different academic publishers.

	Sage Publication	Cambridge University Press	Elsevier
Article Processing Charge (APC) (In US Dollars)	Ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 depending on the type of journal.	Standard APC is $3,255 (plus any applicable taxes).APCs are sensitive to the needs and requirements of different subject fields.	Fees range between $150 and $9,900 (excluding tax).The APC fee is on a journal basis.
Submission Fees (In US Dollars)	No charges for submitting a paper.	No charges for submitting a paper.	$175

Given that some academic journals have substantially higher fees, you need to make sure you’re being strategic in where you submit. If you fail to do so, then you’re wasting your time—and money. Academic presses expect high quality work and writing, so using proper formatting, correct grammar and punctuation, and making strong conclusions is the best way to make sure your journal articles are published.

If you’re still learning about the world of academic publishing, you’re probably overwhelmed by it, and that’s understandable. Luckily, you don’t have to do it alone; there are plenty of tools and resources out there to help you.

Make the process easier by using an integrated platform, such as Flowcite, to help you from writing to publishing. Our features can guarantee that your paper is appropriately formatted, peer-reviewed, and ready for submission to any academic presses you wish to publish in.

Flowcite: All-in-one Platform for Journal Submission and Publishing

As an academic researcher, you need to write stellar journal articles that meet the standards of journals in the hopes of getting published.

At Flowcite, we help you with formatting, citing, and editing your journal article. Our tools will help streamline the writing, research, and publication processes, so you can have more time to focus on what matters.

Our platform offers innovative solutions to make your academic workflow seamlessly. Some of our powerful features include:

• Integrated editing, proofreading, and journal matchmaking services can help make sure your article is ready for journal submission.
• Reduce your time spent waiting for peer-reviewed feedback by using our premium paper review services powered by Enago.
• Use AI-driven suggestions to master grammar, punctuation, and style.
• Our all-in-one service is made even more powerful with our partnerships with Enago, Scribendi, and UniCheck.

With Flowcite, you can save countless hours editing, revising, proofreading, and refining your work. By the end, your study will be ready for review, submission, and meet the high standards of academic presses everywhere.