Choose the Right Journal for Your Research

Submitting to journals misaligned with your research area guarantees desk rejection wasting 3-6 months. Verify alignment through multiple signals:

• Review recent publications: Read last 6 months of articles—do topics match yours? Are methodologies similar (empirical vs theoretical)?
• Check editorial board: Are experts in your subdomain listed? This indicates reviewer availability with appropriate expertise.
• Verify indexing requirements: Does your institution require Scopus/Web of Science indexing? Confirm journal database inclusion.
• Assess publication speed: Need rapid dissemination? Check average review times—IJCT offers 24-hour peer review for time-sensitive research.

Explore our guide comparing AI machine learning journals for specialized venue selection in neural networks and deep learning.

Read Author Guidelines Thoroughly

Every journal has unique requirements. Ignoring guidelines signals carelessness, predisposing reviewers negatively before reading content:

• Format specifications: Required file types (DOCX, LaTeX, PDF), template usage, style files for LaTeX submissions.
• Length restrictions: Word count limits (typical: 4,000-8,000 for research articles), page limits including references/appendices.
• Citation style: IEEE (common in CS), ACM, APA—mixing styles suggests lack of attention to detail.
• Supplementary material policies: Code submission expectations, dataset availability requirements, multimedia file formats.
• Ethical requirements: IRB approval for human subjects, data availability statements, conflict of interest disclosures.

Prepare Supplementary Materials

Modern computer science journal submission requires more than manuscript PDFs. Prepare these materials before portal access:

• Code repository: Clean, documented GitHub repository with README explaining usage, dependencies (requirements.txt), example runs.
• Dataset links: Publicly accessible datasets (Zenodo, institutional repositories) or detailed descriptions if proprietary with access procedures.
• Trained models: Checkpoints enabling result reproduction (Hugging Face Hub, Google Drive with permanent links).
• Extended results: Additional experiments, failure cases, ablation studies too lengthy for main manuscript.
• Author information: ORCID IDs for all authors, institutional email addresses, complete affiliations with department/university/country.

Account Creation & Profile Setup

Begin by creating author account with institutional email (not personal Gmail—signals professionalism). Complete profile thoroughly:

• ORCID integration (links all publications automatically)
• Complete institutional affiliation (department, university, city, country)
• Research interests/keywords (helps match reviewers)
• Expertise areas (enables reviewer invitations for other submissions)

Manuscript Upload & Metadata Entry

Portal guides through metadata collection—accuracy matters for indexing and discoverability:

• Article type selection: Research article, short communication, review paper—choose correctly (affects reviewer expectations)
• Title and abstract: Copy exactly from manuscript, check character limits
• Keywords: Use journal’s keyword taxonomy when available, mix MeSH/ACM terms
• Author information: All co-authors with complete affiliations, corresponding author designation, contribution statements (CRediT taxonomy increasingly expected)
• File uploads: Main manuscript (PDF/DOCX), figures (separate high-res files if required), supplementary materials (code, data, extended results), cover letter PDF

Reviewer Suggestions & Exclusions

Journals request 3-5 potential reviewers—strategic suggestions accelerate acceptance:

• Suggest domain experts: Researchers actively publishing in your specific area (check recent conference/journal papers)
• Avoid conflicts: No co-authors, advisors, current collaborators, close colleagues from same institution
• Include contact info: Full name, affiliation, email address, brief expertise justification
• Exclude competitors: List researchers with competing approaches (prevents biased reviews)

Compliance Statements & Cover Letter

Final submission requires various declarations—prepare these in advance:

• Ethical compliance: IRB approval numbers (human subjects), animal care committee approvals, data privacy confirmations
• Conflicts of interest: Funding sources, commercial affiliations, patents related to work
• Data availability: Statement on dataset/code accessibility, repository links or access procedures
• Cover letter: Brief summary of contribution significance (2-3 paragraphs), why this journal is appropriate venue, any relevant context (related work by same group, funding acknowledgments)

Editorial Screening Phase

Initial review by editors (1-7 days typical; IJCT: 6 hours) checks scope alignment, formatting compliance, plagiarism screening, ethical compliance documentation. About 20-30% of submissions receive desk rejection at this stage—saving time versus full peer review rejection.

Peer Review Process

Manuscripts passing screening assigned to 2-3 reviewers with expertise in your subdomain. Traditional journals: 6-12 weeks. IJCT: 24 hours through pre-committed reviewer pools. Reviewers evaluate originality, methodological rigor, significance, clarity, reproducibility. Expect one of four outcomes: accept as-is (rare, <5%), minor revisions (20-30%), major revisions (40-50%), reject (20-30%).

For deep dive into reviewer expectations and evaluation criteria, read our guide on computer science peer review process.

Responding to Reviewer Comments

Revision requests require systematic, professional responses addressing each comment:

• Point-by-point response: Create separate document quoting each reviewer comment, your response, manuscript changes made
• Address all concerns: Even if disagreeing, explain reasoning respectfully with citations supporting your position
• Highlight changes: Use track changes or color coding in revised manuscript for editor/reviewer convenience
• Additional experiments: If reviewers request more baselines, ablations, or datasets, perform experiments before resubmission
• Timely resubmission: Respect revision deadlines (typically 4-6 weeks major revisions, 1-2 weeks minor)

Final Acceptance & Publication

After satisfactory revision, final acceptance issued with DOI assignment. Copyediting phase polishes manuscript to journal standards—respond promptly to author queries. Proofing stage (48-72 hours) for final verification before publication. Immediate online publication upon approval with open access availability (IJCT model).