Pursuing research at the high school level is one of the best ways for you to demonstrate co-curricular academic competence. Getting this study published is an added bonus because it will give your research a certain amount of credibility and backing.

High school students might find guidance on how to conduct their research, but very few are familiar with academic journals that publish high school research. This guide will give you recommendations on where to consider publishing your research. Regardless of your subject of interest, we have options for you here! However, before we get to the recommendations, let’s look at some points to keep in mind while deciding journals and why it is a good decision to publish.

Do I need to publish my research in high school?

Getting your research published is not a necessity. In fact, many of our students do not choose to get their work published and still manage to get into the top college programs across the world.

However, over the course of guiding students to top journals in the last few years, we have to come to see immense value in publication. We now recommend most of our students to aim for publication.

There are three reasons for this. Firstly, we believe that a researcher/scientist’s job is not just to study an area for individual curiosity, but also to communicate the findings to the rest of the world to enhance the understanding of a particular topic. Expanding the frontiers of human knowledge is one of the goals that researchers should strive towards. Secondly, the process of getting research published itself is a whole experience. It is the closest feeling you will get to being a scientist at the high school level. Having your work critically reviewed by Ph.D. researchers in your field is a great learning experience as it will point out the academic loopholes in your work. It has the potential to make you a better student. Incorporating that feedback and communicating with the editorial team is another aspect of this valuable experience.

Finally, getting your work published gives your work credibility to the external world. Whether it is a college application or a summer program, we believe the research that is published will make a stronger impression than unpublished research.

What to look for in a high school research journal?

Deciding what journal works best for you can be confusing if you are new to academic publishing. In this section, we will give you a brief overview of three factors you can take into consideration when deciding what journal works best for you.

First, for many students, prestige is the most important factor when deciding where to submit their research. For STEM students, this preference might lead them to the Columbia Junior Science Journal whereas, for humanities students, the preference might lead to The Concorde Review as the first choice. However, an important thing to keep in mind regarding this preference is that your choice for the most prestigious journal should be followed by the highest quality research. Similar to how unless you have a good profile, applying to Harvard might just end up wasting money and time!

Secondly, the nature of research is another important parameter to be aware of. One of the first things that we ask our Publication Program students is about the nature of research and whether they are conducting original research or a literature review. Based on what the answer is, our recommendation can vary since some journals do not accept literature reviews.

Finally, the time taken to get published is another important metric that students should keep in mind. If you are somebody applying to college in November and are looking for potential journals for your research in August, we would not recommend journals like the Journal of Emerging Investigators which takes almost 7-8 months to publish research.

15 Journals to Publish Your Research in High School

Now that we have seen the importance of getting published and what to keep in mind, let us look at some of our recommendations:

1. Journal of Emerging Investigators: The journal of emerging investigators is usually our top recommendation for students who are doing original research in STEM fields. JEI is particularly well known for its extensive review process that can take as long as 7-8 months. The most important thing to keep in mind is that JEI only accepts original hypothesis-driven research. Another important point is that while the JEI website is dominated by research in the STEM fields, they also accept research from other disciplines. For instance, if you conduct original research on financial markets or political preferences based on demographics, you can still submit with the help of these guidelines. Here is our extensive guide to publishing in JEI. Cost: $35 submission fee, need-based fee waiver is available Deadline: Rolling Subject area: STEM mainly but non-STEM is accepted if original research Type of research: Original hypothesis-based research Estimated acceptance rate: 70-75%
   

2. National High School Journal of Science: The NHSJS is run and peer-reviewed by high school students around the world, with a scientific advisory board of adult academics. The journal usually takes 1-2 months to decide whether to accept a submission and an additional editing process that lasts up to 1 month. NHSJS accepts practically all science and social science disciplines on a rolling basis. We usually recommend NHSJS as a backup journal given its relatively higher acceptance rate. Based on our experience of guiding students to NHSJS, we estimate that it has an acceptance rate of approximately 70%. Cost: $250 for publication Deadline: Rolling Subject area: All science and social science disciplines Type of research: Original research, literature review Estimated acceptance rate: 60-70%
   

3. International Journal of High School Research: IJHSR publishes high school student research work in behavioral and social sciences, technology, engineering, and math, both original research and literature review articles. Six issues are published each year. IJHSR has a rolling submissions window and has open access to the public. It is run by the nonprofit Terra Science and Education. A unique aspect of the IJHSR is that it requires you to contact and acquire 3 professors or post-doctoral scholars who agree to review your paper. This is a fairly time-consuming process, so if you’re aiming to publish in IJHSR, we would recommend that you get started on this early in your research process! Cost: $200 Deadline: Rolling Subject area: All science and social science subjects Type of research: Original Research, Literature Review Estimated acceptance rate: 20-30%
   

4. STEM Fellowship Journal: An open-access, peer-reviewed journal for scholarly research by high school and university students in the STEM fields, run by Canadian Science Publishing. The journal accepts original investigations, review articles, and "viewpoints", usually around 5 pages long. While SFJ is a great option, in our experience, we have noticed that the journal can often lag in terms of communication with the students who submit there. Also, while the journal previously reviewed articles on a 2-month timeline, this has extended to 4-5 months over 2022-2023. Please keep this in mind, especially if you are on a tight deadline! Cost: $400 Deadline: Rolling Subject area: All Scientific Disciplines Type of research: Hypothesis Driven Research, Review, Abstract, Original Research Estimated Acceptance Rate: 5-10%
   

5. Journal of Student Research: This is a multidisciplinary, and faculty-reviewed journal based in Houston, Texas that publishes research by high school, undergraduate, and graduate students. The journal publishes articles in an array of disciplines and in general, papers on all topics, ranging from applied to theoretical research in any discipline, are eligible for submission. The Journal of Student Research (JSR) is particularly popular among high school students due to the variety of research it accepts. Interested high school students can submit research projects, research articles/posters, review articles, and also AP Capstone Research to Journal of Student Research. We usually recommend students aim for a more selective journal as a target and in case that does not work out, the Journal of Student Research can be a good safety option. In our experience of guiding more than a hundred students through JSR, we believe that the Journal of Student Research (JSR) is best suited as a backup option due to its relatively high acceptance rate. However, please be wary of it’s long publishing timeline (around 6-7 months). Here is our guide to the Journal of Student Research. Cost: $50 to Submit and $200 Publication Cost (if accepted) Deadline: Fixed Deadlines in February, May, August, and November Subject area: All Academic Disciplines Type of research: All types of academic articles Estimated Acceptance Rate: 70-80%
   

6. Journal of High School Science: JHSS is a peer-reviewed STEM Journal that publishes research and ideas of high school students. JHSS is also best suited as a backup given its relatively high publication acceptance rate compared to options like STEM Fellowship Journal and Journal of Emerging Investigators. However, in our experience, for students looking for a more secure backup, we would recommend the NHSJS over the JHSS since the JHSS is slightly more selective compared to NHSJS. Cost: Free Deadline: Rolling Subject area: All science and social science subjects Type of research: Original Research, Literature Review Estimated acceptance rate: 20%
   

7. Stanford Intersect: Intersect is an international Science, Technology, and Society research journal run by undergraduate students at Stanford University and supported by the Program in STS at Stanford. It publishes research and scholarship on the social factors that shape research and invention. While the website states otherwise, Stanford Intersect does accept research from high school students on topics at the intersection of science, technology, and society. In our experience of guiding students to get published here, we rate this journal as extremely selective and only recommend this option to the best students that we have. We have also noticed that students using AI-based methods in research tends to do particularly well here. Cost: Free Deadline: Rolling Subject area: Science, Technology, and Society Type of research: Research Articles, Papers/Essays, Thesis Chapters, Book Reviews, Editorials, Interviews, Multimedia Estimated Acceptance Rate: < 5% (for high schoolers)
   

8. Young Scientist Journal: Young Scientist is another publication that recognizes the achievements of high school scientists. It is published by the Vanderbilt Center for Science Outreach, a group that works in the field of scientific and technological literacy through the establishment of unique partnerships between Vanderbilt University scientists, K-12 educators and students, and the local and global science community. At Lumiere, YSJ is another one of our selective recommendations for students who are producing the highest quality of research. Cost: Free Deadline: December Subject area: Sciences Type of research: Original research, literature review Estimated Acceptance Rate: 10-15%
   

9. The Concord Review: The Concord Review is a quarterly journal publishing history essays by high school students. It is the most prestigious journal for high school students in the social sciences. Its prestige comes from its high level of selectivity (currently less than 5%), focus on quality, and long track record of winners going on to top universities. The quality of the published papers is also very high, with the average length of papers in the past year at 9000 words. A qualitative assessment of the quality of the papers also indicates significant time invested and a high level of writing. We have covered this in a lot more detail in a separate post here. Cost: $50 to Submit and $200 Publication Cost (if accepted) Deadline: Fixed Deadlines in February, May, August, and November Subject area: All Academic Disciplines Type of research: All types of academic articles Estimated Acceptance Rate: < 5 %
   

10. Schola: Schola is a quarterly journal of humanities and social sciences essays written by high school students worldwide. They publish essays on wide-ranging topics in humanities and social sciences. The Schola accepts essays written on topics in philosophy, history, art history, English, economics, public policy, and sociology. Essay topics and questions must be academic, answerable, and specific to be sufficiently examined in an essay of 4,000-5,000 words. Published essays and their authors are announced in the first week of each issue month: March, June, September, and December. A subscription provides access to all journals in the Archives. Schola is one of our top recommendations for students interested in the social sciences/humanities due to its rigorous review process and selectivity. The quality of work published is also very high. Cost: $120 Deadline: Rolling Subject area: Humanities Type of research: Literature (review/critique, poem, prose), research papers, art (illustration, photography), editorials. Estimated Acceptance Rate: 20%
    

11. Hope Humanities Journal: HOPE is an online humanities platform for everyone interested in the humanities. It provides an international and non-profit academic platform, with the mission of advocating for the humanities and recognizing young writers’ achievements. They accept literature (poem, prose), research papers, art (illustration, photography), and editorials. Papers are accepted on a "rolling admission" basis and issues are published on a two-month-per-issue* basis. Submitted works are eligible for at least the next two issues. HOPE is another one of our go-to options for Humanities students after the Schola. Cost: $100 Deadline: Rolling Subject area: Humanities Type of research: Literature (review/critique, poem, prose), research papers, art (illustration, photography), editorials. Estimated Acceptance Rate: 30%
    

12. Open Journal of Business and Management (OJBM): OJBM is an international journal dedicated to the latest advancement in the study of business and management. The goal of this journal is to provide a platform for scientists and academicians all over the world to promote, share, and discuss various new issues and developments in different areas of business and management. We recommend OJBM as a good option for students interested in the field of business studies and management. It is one of the few journals that accept research in business and management from high school students. An important thing to keep in mind is that there is a distinction between business and economics that we are making here i.e. many concepts of economics might not be included within the realm of business. Hence, if you are doing research on financial markets, IJHSR or JEI (mentioned above) might be better options. Cost: $299 Deadline: Rolling Subject area: Economics and Business Type of research: Most types of academic articles - reviews, original research, short reports Estimated Acceptance Rate: 15-20% (for high schoolers)
    

13. Curieux: The Curieux Academic Journal is a youth-led nonprofit founded in 2017 to publish research by high school and middle school students. They currently operate in California but have editors from across the nation. Submitting your paper to Curieux is a great way to get experience in the craft of academic writing. They are open to submissions from any academic subject including the sciences and humanities. They encourage all forms of academic writing including but not limited to research papers, review articles, and humanity/social science pieces. Each year, they publish twelve issues: once per month. At Lumiere, we usually recommend Curieux as a backup publication for students pursuing research in the social sciences and humanities since they have a relatively higher acceptance rate. Cost: $150 Deadline: Rolling Subject area: Engineering, Humanities, and Natural Science, Mathematics, and Social Science Type of research: Including but not limited to research papers, review articles, and humanity/social science pieces. Estimated Acceptance Rate: 60-70%
    

14. Journal of Research High School: The Journal of Research High School (JRHS) is an open-access online research journal that aims at publishing academic work prepared exclusively by high school researchers. JRHS publishes across science to social science. They publish biannually but release publications each month! For the publication at JRHS, in general, there are four processes of publication such as original formatting and plagiarism check, peer review, revision, and editorial decision. Each process has a different timeline but in general, the overall turnover timeline is approximately 3 - 6 months. Cost: $100 Deadline: Rolling Subject area: Any academic subject including the sciences and humanities Type of research: Original research and significant literature reviews. Estimated Acceptance Rate: 30%
    

15. Walt Whitman Journal of Psychology: The WWJOP is an entirely student-led publication in which high-school student-conducted research and literature reviews in the field of psychology are recognized. The Journal reaches hundreds of schools and psychology students around the world and is published bi-annually and electronically. We have found WWJOP to be a fantastic option for Psychology students given that it offers a specialized publication in Psychology at the high school level. It is one of the few journals at this level to offer a subject specialization. Cost: Free Deadline: Rolling Subject area: Psychology Type of research: Original Research, Analysis Pieces, Letters Estimated acceptance rate: 20-30%

Lumiere Research Scholar Program

If you want to build your own independent research paper and get it published, then consider applying to the Lumiere Research Scholar Program. Last year over 2100 students applied for about 500 spots in the program. You can find the application form here.

You can see our admission results here for our students.

Manas is a publication strategy associate at Lumiere Education. He studied public policy and interactive media at NYU and has experience in education consulting.

Cover Image: Stanford Intersect Website