How to submit a research paper

Find the right journal

Before you submit, identify a journal that best fits the topic and scope of your paper.  Browse our wide range of journals to choose from. Read the aims and scope for the journals you shortlist for inspiration, and explore recent articles to ensure alignment with your research.

Prepare your paper for submission

Take a look at our tutorial on how to prepare your paper for publication. This will provide useful tips on how to optimise what you have. Make sure your paper adheres to the journal’s instructions for authors and editorial policies. Ensure your references are up to date and in the correct format, which for Premier Science is the Vancouver System. Accurate formatting and compliance increase your chances of a successful peer review.

Submit your paper

Be sure to include a good cover letter. You must also declare:

• Any conflicts of interest
• Funding sources
• Ethical approvals (if applicable)

The submission process will guide you through the relevant information to provide. Watch this video on how to submit a paper. Once submitted, your paper will be considered by an editor as part of an initial screening. If it passes this initial screening, it will be sent for peer review by experts in the field. If deemed unsuitable for publication in your chosen journal, the editor may suggest you transfer your submission to a more suitable journal via an article transfer service.

Track your paper

After submission, you can track your paper using the same system you used to submit it using your unique reference number. If reviewers are invited, the status of your paper will update to reflect this. You can also see peer reviews in the system as soon as they have been submitted by reviewers.

Revise your paper

If you get a revised decision, pay careful attention to the feedback. When submitting a revision, you will need to provide:

• A revised version – clean i.e. with tracked changes accepted
• A response to reviewers (a point-by-point rebuttal to each piece of feedback)
• A revised version – with tracked changes

Post acceptance

Following acceptance, we conduct “post-acceptance technical checks, to ensure a complete set of files and information needed to take an article through production.

Production Central, who manage copy editing, typesetting and proofing of your manuscript, will be in touch by email. Respond to any queries you receive promptly to avoid delay in the publication of your manuscript.

Share and promote

You will be informed about the publication of your paper online via email. Once informed, you can find the link to your paper and use tools on the right-handright hand side of the page to share and promote it via email and social media. Promoting your paper in this way will enhance its visibility to a wider audience, boost downloads and potential citations. This will help you build and develop your reputation and allow you to move forward in your career.