How to Publish Successfully in a Good Peer-Reviewed Journal

Dr. Parag Budukh, Ph.D. | Apr 28, 2025

Introduction 

Publishing articles in high-quality peer-reviewed journals is always a top priority for researchers. Publishing in the right journal not only aids in disseminating the author’s research findings to a wider audience, but also increases the citation rate, and boosts the overall credibility of the publishing researcher along the way. Therefore, researchers must diligently choose their research topic and target journal. In this blog, we will explore how to successfully publish a research paper in a good peer-reviewed journal.

How to Choose the Right Journal

Below are some key factors (“journal submission tips”) to keep in mind while opting for a peer-reviewed journal:

  • Aims and Scope

It is a well-established fact that even the most groundbreaking studies can get rejected if they do not align with the journal's focus areas, as identified on the journal website. Therefore, all prospective authors should only submit to journals whose scope clearly aligns with that of the research topic under investigation. Not doing so can lead to guaranteed desk rejection.

  • Accepted Article Types

It is crucial to identify the various article types that the shortlisted journal considers for peer review. The most common article types include original research articles, reviews, case studies, technical reports, business reports, etc. Be mindful of any restrictions on word counts, the number of illustrations and references, and provisions for sharing supplementary files. Submitting to a journal that does not accommodate your article type can also lead to instant manuscript rejection.

  • Manuscript Submission Guidelines

Journal publishers always prescribe a set of rules to prospective manuscript authors. These rules constitute the submission guidelines for that particular journal. Authors are expected to ensure full compliance with the stipulated submission guidelines if they want their manuscripts to be considered for peer review. These guidelines cover formatting requirements, ethical considerations, journal policies, etc. Moreover, they tend to vary from journal to journal. Therefore, it is important to thoroughly review the submission guidelines for the target journal without making any assumptions based on guidelines that you may have come across elsewhere.   

  • Publication Mode

Understanding a journal’s publication mode is essential. This includes identifying whether it is print-only, print with an online PDF version, early access format (such as “online first” or “ahead of print”), or online-only—the most common format these days.

  • Access Type and Publication Fees

With open access journals, the entire content of the manuscript is freely available to all readers. To access the information, the reader does not need to pay or subscribe to the open access journal. This model is favored by many researchers as it increases the dissemination of their findings to a broader audience. Moreover, many open access journals also charge low-to-moderate article processing charges (APCs), thus enabling researchers to increase their global reach at a relatively affordable cost while ensuring wider visibility and accessibility of their work.

Did you know that Cureus Journals do not have any APCs? Cureus Journals only charge an editing fee if the submitted version of the manuscript has excessive errors that require the attention of a dedicated scientific editor. On the other hand, if manuscripts are significantly error-free, they qualify for zero editing fees. 

  • Copyright

Copyright may be retained either by the author or the publishing journal. A crucial consideration is whether the journal offers a Creative Commons (CC BY) license.

How to Draft a High-Quality Manuscript 

Many early-career researchers struggle to get their first manuscript published in a high-quality peer-reviewer journal. Moreover, many of them fail to realize that the barriers to publishing can be significantly reduced by giving yourself sufficient time to identify the research gap, formulate a good problem statement, conduct responsible research, draft your first manuscript, and address reviewers’ comments. Let us now consider these one by one. 

Identifying the Research Gap

  • Conduct a meticulous and comprehensive research survey to make sure you leave no stone unturned.
  • Besides accessing open access articles, be sure to review paywalled articles available through your institute’s subscription.
  • Refer to high-authority review articles, but do not rely on reviews alone.
  • Take notes along the way and find out what is known already.
  • Start identifying the key researchers in your field and go through their published articles.
  • Pay special attention to study limitations. 
  • Finally, make sure you also study articles presenting opposing views without any bias.
  • Start identifying the missing links or gaps in research.
  • Bonus Tip: Use advanced filters during literature survey, go through the most recent publications and preprints, and review future directions in published studies.

Formulating a Good Problem Statement

  • After identifying the research gap, focus on converting it into a problem statement—something that is likely to provide an intelligent solution to a burning yet unaddressed question from your field of study.
  • Make sure the problem statement is meaningful and non-frivolous.
  • Ensure you have the right tools and techniques to address the issue at hand.
  • Seek help from collaborators to increase the depth and overall reach of your study—sometimes, collaborative approaches provide better solutions to unaddressed problems.  
  • Bonus Tip: Formulate a narrowed down, logical, and ethical real-world problem statement and make sure it hasn’t been addressed already by other researchers from your field.  

Conducting Responsible Research

  • Design and conduct experiments by using the appropriate methods, controls, etc.
  • Show research integrity and stay miles away from data/image manipulation and data/image fabrication.
  • Seek committee approvals as and when required.
  • Solicit advice from advisors, collaborators, and laboratory co-workers if feeling stuck.
  • Ensure equipment calibration, retain all raw data as well as experimental records, and maintain a dated laboratory notebook.
  • Do not ignore or underestimate any unusual trends that may emerge during the course of experiments, as these may lead to novel discoveries. 
  • Make sure your experiments are reproducible.
  • Bonus Tip: Cross-verify critical findings with independent replicates, take regular back ups of all digital data, and discuss your results in detail during meetings to address shortcomings, if any, at an early stage. 

Drafting Your First Manuscript

  • Review the author or manuscript submission guidelines for your target journal and ensure full compliance.
  • Follow the prescribed manuscript submission format (e.g., Abstract, Introduction, Materials and Methods, Results, Discussion, Conclusion, and References)  
  • Say no to plagiarism.
  • Respect intellectual property rights. 
  • Avoid citing your own work unless absolutely required.
  • Do not participate in or organize citation cartels.
  • Pay special attention to the material and methods or research methods section of your manuscript—will others be able to accurately reproduce your experiments?
  • Interpret with caution—do not overstate your results and make sure you openly document any existing study limitations.  
  • Declare conflicts of interest, if any, and include all other relevant disclosures.
  • Draft using error-free language, use the right units, abbreviate appropriately, and hire the services of a good scientific editing firm if required.
  • Ensure that all co-authors agree with the findings stated in the study and avoid authorship disputes.   
  • Bonus Tip: If your target journal has separate Results and Discussion sections, then do not interpret your results in the Results section! This is a common mistake that early-career researchers make. Just state your results in the Results section and move on. You can comment on your results in the Discussion section that follows.  

Addressing Reviewers’ Comments

  • Reviewers’ comments add value to your manuscript and to your research—do not shy away from addressing them in a timely manner. 
  • If required (and scientifically appropriate), write to the journal editor if you do not agree with the reviewers’ comments, providing the necessary evidence to support your case. 
  • Never pick up a quarrel with the reviewers and/or write to the journal editor using abusive language.
  • Address all reviewer comments professionally and politely, and with scientific rigor (“The point is well taken,” “Thank you for the critical feedback,” “However, the authors disagree with this suggestion for the following reasons…, ” etc.)
  • Bonus Tip: Consult all authors listed on the manuscript before submitting a formal reply.

Finally, make sure you check out the most common reasons for manuscript rejection before you start working on your first manuscript. In fact, Cureus Journals recommend undertaking this at the very beginning of your research journey to ensure end-to-end compliance.    

Conclusion  

Publishing your research successfully in a good peer-reviewed journal requires careful planning, from identifying the research gap to studying the most common reasons for manuscript rejection. By conducting responsible research, following manuscript submission guidelines, and refining your research based on referee feedback, you can increase your chances of acceptance and peer recognition.