How to Publish a Research Paper?

Publishing your research paper is an absolute honor for you as an author. It acknowledges the work you have done in your field. It’s an opportunity to showcase your hard work, expertise, and knowledge in the field to the entire world. So, as a scholar, you’ll never want to go when it’s time to publish research papers.

Usually, a research paper is published in five steps –

1. Selecting a journal
2. Writing your paper
3. Submitting and revising the paper
4. Peer review
5. Production/publication

Let’s learn each step of how to publish research paper for better understanding:

Step 1: Selecting a Journal

First, let’s clarify the difference between journal and research paper. Journal is a scholarly publication that features articles/papers from experts, professionals, and researchers. It gives your work the recognition it deserves. A research paper, on the other hand, is a comprehensive study of a specific topic.

So, take your time and choose a good journal for your research paper publication.

Note that your paper must fit the scope of the journal you have chosen. You must also look for a journal that’s well-recognized and reputable. Check whether they are backed up with professional editors and other benchmarks like regular audience, reach, etc.

It’s also good to scrutinize the content that they publish and learn about the quality and relevance. Ask the publisher whether they provide any special tools and technologies to the authors.

Once you find fast publishing Scopus journals for your research paper publication, start writing your paper.

Suggestion: We recommend preparing a checklist for your research paper requirements. That’ll make it easy for you to calibrate the preconditions of the journal later.

Step 2: Writing Your Paper

When writing a research paper, read the assignment guidelines and the writing prompt. Go through all the technical requirements, like the format, citations, spacing, and lengths.

Once done, choose a topic that evokes your interest. Then, prepare a thesis statement and start with your preliminary research. You can either do your research online or through traditional methods like libraries. For better research, stay updated with any upcoming regional or international conference alerts.

You must always choose credible sources to do your research. Also, write a research paper outline and then its first draft. Make sure to be concise with the sentences and keep the paragraphs connected.

Lastly, cite your sources to validate the data. You can decide on the citation style, either MLA or APA, as per the research paper you are writing.

Step 3: Revising and Submitting the Research Paper

Now that you are done with the writing part proofread the research paper thoroughly. Revise it for any grammatical mistakes, errors, wrong information, formatting issues, or inconsistencies. Before submitting, read your work aloud and check if it sticks to the style guide.

Next, submit the paper to the journal that you have selected. The submission requirements differ from journal to journal. However, most of them have a full-fledged guide to the instructions. So, read it thoroughly. You must also navigate the journal’s submission system.

Lastly, give a final review of your research paper and submit it.

Also Read: How to publish journal in Scopus

 Step 4: Peer Review

Peer review is a process where your scholarly work is checked by experts in the same field. It’s best for judging the quality, authenticity, and validity of the research paper.

The purpose of the peer review is to filter out irrelevant content from the journal. It ensures that only high-quality research work is published in the journal.

During the peer review process, experts read the manuscripts to ensure that it’s well-written. They check for any plagiarized content taken from self write-ups or other papers.

Some experts re-read the manuscript and take notes accordingly. They can judge the research paper based on the following questions:

• Does the research content have archival value?
• Is the research relevant as per the journal criterias?
• Is the manuscript clear, concise and balanced?
• Is the research focused on the topic?
• Is the impact of results clearly mentioned?
• Does the research paper have the correct tables, figures, and data?
• Does the research paper have relevant statistics?
• Did the author mention the citations?

Once the research paper is scrutinized, experts write a review on it. They summarize their impression of the research and mention the strengths/weaknesses of the manuscript.

Lastly, they make a letter of recommendation as per their verdict. The research paper can be accepted, rejected, revised, or transferred as per the LOR.

Also Read: Where to publish research paper in India

Step 5: Production

If your research paper gets accepted by the peers, congratulations, your paper will now be published in the journal. Now, you must be wondering how can I publish a research paper. Well, after peer approval, your job is done. The publishers will handle the rest.

They will ask for your publishing rights before featuring it in the journal. So, make sure you are aware of their copyright guidelines.

Depending on the journal, you can either:

• Transfer the copyright and make them the owner of your work

Or

• Grant them a license to publish.

If you follow the above-mentioned steps, your research paper will be published successfully. We hope now you know the process of how to publish a paper in brief.

Please follow and like us: