First, we need to understand what a review article is and why you should bother publishing it. Then we will look into the steps through which you can publish your own review article. So let us get started. A review article is based on prior studies and literature review. It is not based on new findings and research. It is basically a critical analysis of previous research papers, and the author comes up with a new and fresh perspective on the subject matter.
Why should you publish a review article?
Journal submission of review articles helps the author get recognition on an international level if it gets accepted in a high-impact journal.
- It has higher citation potential than a research paper, as review papers are cited more frequently than original research.
- It can set a foundation for future research and can help identify gaps in existing research.
- There is no need to conduct research and collect data.
- It requires you to go through prior studies, which can make you an expert on the research subject.
Key Requirements for International Journals
There are some key requirements for international journals, and those are the following:
1. Novelty of Research Perspective
High-impact journals always demand a new and fresh perspective. Even if it is a critical analysis of prior research and is based on literature review. If you are writing a review article, it needs to provide something that was not highlighted in previous research. So it can be considered a novel perspective. Then it is more likely to be considered by the reviewers of high-impact journals for submission and publication.
2. Include Recent Research
While writing a review article, make sure to include the most recent research. The researches that were done in the past five years, and make sure the literature you include is all credible. In order to find key sources, use Scopus, Web of Science, PubMed, or Google Scholar.
3. Structure the Review Article
Even if it is a review article, it requires a format in order to get publication in an ISI and Scopus-indexed journal. It should include:
- Introduction, where you need to highlight the importance and scope of the review article .
- Methodology, discussing how the information from different researches done on the topic are related to the subject matter
- Thematic discussion, to categorise literature-based themes
- Gaps and critical evaluation, while providing direction for future research
Each journal has guidelines for the authors, so make sure to read those before making the structure for a review article.
4. References
If you are using prior studies for your review article, then make sure you recheck all the links to see if they are working or not. In case of adding broken links, a high-impact journal such as ISI and Scopus Indexed journal will outright reject your submission of a review article. It should be considered that a review article is often entirely based on existing research papers, so that makes the references in the review article more important than the research paper references.
5. Provide Critical Analysis Rather than Compilation
Even if you are writing a review article, it is expected of you to provide its in-depth analysis and not just an explanation of various researches that does not point to a novel insight. Critical analysis will make experts and peer reviewers consider your work if it provides a huge impact to the respective domain, and they are more likely to want to publish your review article.
Challenges You Might Face
If you want to publish a review article, then there are a few challenges that we need to discuss first. So that you can prepare yourself in order to overcome them.
1. Language and Clarity Issues
If there is a lack of clarity in your review article and it seems like a compilation of various ideas rather than the presentation of a fresh perspective grounded in literature, then it will likely receive a rejection from the high-impact journal. Do not make ambiguous claims or provide vague insights, as it can prove to be lethal for the publication of your review article.
2. Unstructured Presentation of Article
Review articles lacking proper structure will put them at the risk of rejection because they still involve new insights, and journals are not looking for an article with all the findings assembled together. It will more likely be received with criticism. That is why save your time from the unnecessary revision-resubmission process and just write your review article with proper structure that includes introduction, methodology, and all the required sections in their standard order.
3. Difficulty Following Journal Guidelines
Each and every high-impact journal has specific guidelines according to which they accept research papers or review articles, and it may get challenging to accurately follow each guideline. But it is necessary to first go through the author guidelines in order to avoid future distress of facing rejection. Guidelines might include line spacing, font size, specific organisation of various headings, reference formatting, etc.
4. Rejection for Lack of Novelty
Giving a new perspective and an entirely fresh thought can prove to be challenging when your article is based on prior research and existing literature. But that is the only way to get accepted in high-impact journals such as ISI and Scopus-indexed, because experienced researchers and experts only support those researches and articles that provide a different insight, not the usual one.
Conclusion
In this blog we discussed what a Review Article is and how it is different from a research paper. Additionally the benefits of publishing you review article. Also the key requirements including novelty, comprehensive coverage of research, proper structure, and updated references. Most importantly critical insight instead of just compiling data from various studies. These are all necessary steps to get a Review Article acceptance in high impact journals. Lastly I mentioned the challenges one might face during submission of a review article. So that you can prepare yourself to avoid rejection and follow all the necessary guidelines.
