Publication of research in international journals is an integral part of a scientist's scientific activity. The most prestigious publication is considered to be publication in rating publications, peer-reviewed in the global databases Scopus and Web of Science. These authoritative platforms are the gold standard in the international scientific community. Strict selection criteria make the publication process long and complicated. How long does it take to place an article in Scopus or Web of Science? How to speed up the publication process? Let's consider these questions in this article.
Timing of publication in international ranking journals
Publication in Scopus or Web of Science is considered a mark of quality and a significant achievement in a scientist's career with the further prospect of receiving grants and funding for future projects.
Meeting the highest quality standards set by international platforms requires time and a lot of resources. Careful selection of materials, selection of articles by reviewers and a long process of indexing in databases make the short-term publication process impossible.
On average, it takes 6 to 12 months to go through all stages of publishing a scientific article in reputable journals.
Criteria that affect the timing of publication of the article:
The main factors that have a direct impact on the time frame for posting a research paper are:
Frequency of issues of a particular journal
All international authoritative publications can be divided into 4 main groups according to the periods of formation of issues with published articles:
- monthly
- quarterly
- semi-annual issue
- formation of issues once a year
Stage of the publication process
All articles placed in ranked journals go through several stages of selection before publication:
- submission of the article to the journal's editorial board
- search for reviewers specializing in the research topic
- the review process itself
- submission of the results of the scientific work evaluation to the journal editorial board
- making a decision of the editorial board regarding the placement of the article in the publication
- publication of scientific work
- indexing of the article in the database
Number of reviewers involved in the work of article verification
For qualitative peer review, the editorial board invites reviewers with extensive experience in a particular field of knowledge and strong authority in scientific circles. These may be professors of higher educational institutions of the leading universities of the world, doctors of sciences with a large baggage of knowledge and reputation in academic circles, researchers with a high h-index.The speed of selection and evaluation of scientific papers depends on the number of invited reviewers.
Selection of a publication
Each scholarly journal is governed by internal processes and deadlines for processing incoming scholarly submissions to the editorial office. Some journals have less stringent requirements and higher throughput. Other journals are characterized by more stringent requirements and high selectivity of published papers. Due to the great competition and limitation on the number of articles placed in the issue, the best research is favored.
Field of science
The field of knowledge has a direct impact on the speed of processing submissions to the editorial office. The more complex the discipline, the more time is required to assess the novelty, quality and relevance of the research.
How to speed up the process of publishing an article in the international databases Scopus and Web of Science?
We suggest to familiarize with some simple steps that will help you to avoid a long wait for publication of your scientific work:
- choosing a suitable journal to publish your paper is the first thing you should pay attention to. An unsuitable journal is 99% likely to refuse publication, which will lead to loss of valuable time.
- make sure that you fulfill all the requirements set by the editorial board of the publication in terms of formatting, content, and translation of the article, so that you will be able to make as few edits as possible later, if any
- if publication in Scopus or Web of Science is needed as soon as possible, choose editions that produce monthly or quarterly issues
- familiarize yourself with the peer review policy before submitting a paper to a journal. Choose a publication with a simplified editorial policy
- to influence the speed of article publication, contact experts in scientometrics.
Scientific Publications specialists have been working with scientists all over the world for more than 8 years and help to make the process of publishing in international services Scopus and Web of Science as fast and less complicated as possible. We know all the subtleties of publishing in international databases and will help to speed up the process of placing your article in rating publications.
