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Why PeerJ?

The benefits of publishing with PeerJ

We know there are a number of different considerations when deciding where to publish your research. The information below highlights PeerJ's distinct advantages compared with other leading publishing options. If you have a question: [email protected].

Excellent reputation

Publishing high-impact research from the world's top academics and institutions

Since our launch 13 years ago we have quickly earned a reputation as a high-quality publisher that attracts and publishes world-class research.

See our key milestones and events on our timeline page:

13 Years of PeerJ publishing Why do we have such a prestigious reputation? Editorial board
I can safely say that PeerJ's reputation as a great place for fast turn around and top-flight production is growing rapidly.
Michael Moulton, PeerJ author

Broad Audience

Publishing at PeerJ guarantees the widest access and impact for your work
  • 96.5M views and downloads (1M monthly viewers).
  • 70,000 researchers subscribed to PeerJ article alerts.
  • Publishing research across 269 subjects.
  • PeerJ articles appear regularly in Altmetric's top 100 global impact rankings.
  • Use our press release service to get your article picked up in newspapers, magazines, broadcast tv and online channels.
Why is PeerJ so widely read?
The speed and simple, effective approach was a real winner. I also appreciate that PeerJ does the best to publicise articles widely and help authors use social media to get the word out.
Paul Fremantle, PeerJ author.

Career-stage benefits

Early-career

  • Broaden your CV by publishing in a multidisciplinary journal, ensuring a larger audience for your next article.
  • Enhance your academic reputation and boost citations with open publishing data sharing.
  • Engaged and constructive author support from journal staff.
  • Peer review based on methodological soundness, not impact or novelty.
  • Open Access publishing maximizes readership of your work.
Read more (Early career)

Senior

  • Prestigious editorial board delivering high-quality peer review.
  • Thoughtful, in-depth and constructive reviews provided by engaged reviewers.
  • Indexed in Pubmed Central (PMC), MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science SCIE and Journal Citation Reports +20 more.
  • Articles regularly featured in top science media and news outlets.
  • Broad audience means your work will be read across many different fields.
Read more (Senior)
PeerJ is the best journal I've ever dealt with during my career. The quality of the reviewers' comments and ideas were superior, and they came really fast… I just cannot find anything negative in the work of PeerJ.
Igor Khorozyan, PeerJ author.

High-quality peer review

All the benefits of traditional peer review - detailed, thoughtful, constructive improvement of your work - updated for the 21st century
  • A dedicated editor handles your article, and two or more reviewers provide in-depth reviews.
  • Multiple rounds of review.
  • A high-calibre editorial board.
  • 99.4% of published authors surveyed so far (1430+) would recommend PeerJ to a colleague.
  • Publishing your review history supports constructive, and high-quality reviewing.

We focus on delivering a constructive peer review process based on methodological soundness rather than subjective considerations of impact or novelty.

Most journals use peer review software that slows and frustrates their editors and reviewers.

Our submission system is built from the ground up to make submitting, reviewing and editing as easy - and dare we say enjoyable - as possible. This in turn delivers more in-depth reviews, faster, and more often.

View peer review timeline Why publishing reviews is a good idea How to write the perfect response Letter Read our editorial review criteria
This is peer review at its finest. The submission was painless, the revisions were constructive, and the publication was effortless... If you ever feel the victim of editorial overreach, of reviewers taking a cursory look at your article and asking too much, demanding you do things that are either outside of your reach or not relevant to the message/finding you wish to convey to your collaborators in the field, this journal is for you.
Alex Washburne, PeerJ author.

Impact factor

PeerJ and PeerJ Computer Science have an impact factor, but we suggest you focus on our median citation distribution instead

The widespread misuse of the JIF impact factor contributes to the reproducibility crisis, higher and slower publishing costs and academic fraud.

Instead, the citation distribution is now being used by a growing number of journals as a far better indicator for the spread and variation of citations.

Using the generally recognised citation time-lag of two years, PeerJ's 2017 median citation distribution is 5.

In detail:

  • 90th percentile: 18.6 citations.
  • 75th percentile: 10 citations.
  • 50th percentile: 5 (median)
  • 25th percentile: 2 citations.

PeerJ's 2020 Journal Impact Factor is 2.4.

PeerJ Computer Science's 2020 Journal Impact Factor is 2.5.

Read more about our Impact Factors
It is a serious journal. I like their publishing criteria, relying on the work quality rather than on judgements about probable impact of the results. I also like that reviewers are given the opportunity to disclose themselves, that the publication history can be open to the public.
Laura Lafon Hughes, PeerJ author

Fast publishing

30 days to first-decision (across all subjects). Publish quickly without compromising review quality
  • Significantly faster than PLOS ONE (2.5x) and Scientific Reports (1.7x).
  • Our innovative peer-review system helps you, your editor, and your reviewers work faster and smarter.
  • We publish five days a week, as soon as articles are ready for publication, to ensure no further delays in the publishing process.
  • Attentive and engaged support staff will help you throughout your article's publication journey.
  • No reference formatting requirements on submitted manuscripts - saving you hours of submission time.
How do we publish so fast?
Rapid review and release. Reasonable, helpful reviewers. Responsive editorial staff. And fast, fast, fast...
Gregory O'Mullan, PeerJ author

Great publishing tools

PeerJ offers a wealth of tools and services to help you better publish your work
  • Fully typeset publication proofs allow you to catch last minute mistakes to your article before publication. We are one of the few OA publishers to offer this service.
  • Press release service to help generate coverage in online, print and TV media outlets.
  • Indexed in Pubmed Central (PMC), MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science SCIE and Journal Citation Reports +20 more indexing and archival services automatically on publication.
  • 'One click' submission supported from bioRxiv, Overleaf, and Peerage of Science.
  • Post publication sharing tools, to help you boost the reach and impact of your work.
How do our features compare to other journals?
The quality of the peer review at PeerJ was outstanding and the process time amazingly fast.
Blanca Rios Touma, PeerJ author

Low cost / great value

A superior publishing service for a lower cost than any other journal
  • Submit for free and pay on acceptance.
  • Get a PeerJ individual membership for a one-off payment, and publish regularly forever, for no additional cost.
  • Our article-processing charge (APC) is significantly cheaper than similar journals.
  • Check if your institution has a prepaid publishing plan with us to cover your publishing costs.
How much does PeerJ cost compared to other journals?
Publishing at PeerJ is what academic publishing should be - a modern user interface with a fast and transparent review process - all while offering open-access at reasonable prices.
James O'Donnell, PeerJ author