How to Write a Research Paper and Submit It to a Journal

Turning a thesis or study into a journal article is one of the most important steps in an academic career. An article is much shorter and more focused than a thesis; readers and reviewers expect you to say a lot in few words.

From thesis to article

• Do not try to fit every thesis question into one article. A thesis often yields one or two articles focused on different questions.
• Cut the literature review substantially; keep only studies directly related to your question.
• If you reuse text from your thesis, check the journal’s policy and cite your thesis.

The IMRaD structure

Most research articles follow this structure:

• Introduction: problem, gap and aim
• Methods: participants, instruments, procedure, analysis
• Results: findings
• Discussion: interpretation, comparison with the literature, limitations

Add a title, abstract, keywords, declarations and references.

Choosing a target journal

• Scope: look at recent issues — do they publish work like yours?
• Indexing: where is the journal indexed (Web of Science, Scopus, DOAJ, national indexes)? This can matter for academic evaluation.
• Timeline and fees: review time and article processing charges (APCs), if any
• Predatory journals: avoid journals that promise very fast acceptance, solicit papers by email and whose indexing cannot be verified.

Author guidelines

Every journal has author guidelines: word limits, abstract structure, citation style, table and figure rules, file format, required declarations. Manuscripts that ignore them are often returned without review.

Required declarations

Many journals ask for ethics approval, conflicts of interest, funding, author contributions, data availability and, increasingly, a statement on AI use.

Cover letter

A short letter to the editor: title, brief aim and contribution, fit with the journal’s scope, and a statement that the work is original and not under review elsewhere.

After submission

Review can take weeks or months. Decisions are usually accept, minor revision, major revision or reject. A revision decision is a good sign; respond to reviewers carefully and point by point.

Writing papers with Academiana

Academiana’s "Research article" and "Journal article" types come ready in IMRaD structure. The journal finder lists journals where similar articles were actually published, based on OpenAlex — the AI never invents journal names. Upload the journal’s author guidelines for a compliance checklist, draft a cover letter, and when reviews arrive, generate a point-by-point response letter.