High School Research Journals: What to Look For, and What to Avoid
There are numerous journals available for students to consider, but where should you submit your paper? After dedicating 3 to 10 months of your free time to writing this paper, it’s time to decide where to publish it. We have compiled a list of recommended journals for you. This article will also guide you on where to publish a business or economics paper, as well as suggest other journals if you prefer not to publish with us, especially if your interest lies outside the business or economics fields.
Our Business and Economics Journal Recommendation
Student Journal of Business and Economics
We established the Student Journal of Business and Economics (SJBE) because a mentor involved with a high school research company identified a gap in the market. Students were eager to publish papers specific to their major but struggled to find suitable platforms. Most available research opportunities, even for high school students, focus on STEM fields. Currently, SJBE charges $300 for normal track submission and $325 for fast track, which is a competitively priced journal out of the ones we will be listing.
We aim to serve students aspiring to attend Wharton or other prestigious undergraduate business programs. Our entire board holds M.S. degrees in management or MBAs, with extensive experience in studying business and economics or working in business-related fields. We possess the expertise to provide valuable feedback on your paper. A professor with a lifelong background in physics might not offer the most relevant feedback.
If your paper doesn’t focus on business or economics, we have other recommendations for where you can publish your work, aside from the most commonly available options online.
Our STEM Journal Recommendation
The Convergence Journal
Owned by Indigo Research, another high school research company. Although it is owned by a research company, it appears to have a rigorous vetting and peer review process for each paper with applicable post-doctoral reviewers reading your essay. You can anticipate receiving a substantial amount of feedback. It’s certainly a great option if you are publishing a solid paper with a lot of quantitative information and well cited. Convergence also charges a large fee of $500 and there is no longer a fast track option.
Our Non-Peer Reviewed Recommendation
Research Archive of Rising Scholars (RARS)
We have previously discussed RARS, which is owned by Polygence, a major research company specializing in high school research. This platform was created to provide their students with a venue to publish their research. It appears that most of the published research comes from high school students, particularly those affiliated with Polygence. The advantages include obtaining your own DOI and having your work included in a database accessible to many other high school students. This is an excellent alternative to large pre-print archives like arXiv or SSRN. We recommend this option because it is also free.
Pre-print archives can be very helpful for high school student publishing as well because these sites also publish and register papers by post-doc non-peer reviewed research. arXiv and SSRN are very well known pre-print mediums and are readily recognizable databases by many research professionals.
Journals We DO NOT Recommend
1. Curieux Review
Curieux is a youth-focused publication that accepts research from middle school, high school, and undergraduate students. Its current submission information states that papers are reviewed by two editors and that the journal charges $200 for its Seasonal Review or $250 for Fast-Track Review after acceptance. It also says that financial aid may be available.
One concern students should consider is what they receive for the publication fee.
A DOI is a persistent identifier that allows an individual research article to be uniquely identified and cited. Curieux’s publicly available submission information does not advertise DOI assignment for its articles. Its older publication materials also describe its published research as being compiled into journal issues rather than providing each article with a DOI.
For a student paying $200 to $250, we believe it is reasonable to ask whether the publication provides enough additional scholarly value to justify that cost. If your primary goal is simply to have your paper publicly available, there are other publication options to consider. If your goal is to have a formally identified and easily citable scholarly publication, students should specifically ask whether the journal assigns a DOI to their individual article before paying.
Our recommendation: Before paying Curieux, ask yourself what you are actually receiving for the $200 to $250 publication fee. Since Curieux lacks a lot of legitimacy signaling, for example not offering a DOI, not offering an option for paper backed publication, there might be other better options to publish your paper.
Important update: Curieux has recently moved its publication activity to The Curieux Review. The former Curieux Academic Journal website now states that it will remain available as a repository for previously published research and that new papers will be submitted to The Curieux Review. Students should therefore check the current publication’s terms before relying on older guides about Curieux.
2. American Journal of Student Research (AJOSR)
The American Journal of Student Research is a multidisciplinary open-access journal that publishes research by high school and undergraduate students. Unlike Curieux, AJOSR assigns DOIs to its published articles and has a more formal publication workflow.
However, the cost is significant.
AJOSR currently lists an article processing charge of approximately $496 after acceptance. The journal says this fee supports expenses including DOI registration, editorial management, staff support, website maintenance, and other operational costs.
The other issue students should understand is the journal’s use of artificial intelligence in its review process.
AJOSR explicitly states that it may use AI tools during initial screening and reviewing to identify potential problems with language, formatting, citations, references, logical consistency, methodology, statistical reporting, manuscript organization, and other aspects of scholarly presentation. The journal states that AI-generated assessments are an editorial aid and that final publication decisions are made by humans.
We do not believe the use of AI in itself makes a journal inappropriate. AI can be a useful editorial tool. However, students paying nearly $500 for publication should understand how much of the review process involves automated assistance and what level of individualized human feedback they can expect.
This is particularly important for high school students. A high school research paper should be evaluated according to what is reasonable for a student researcher. We also found that the feedback that AJOSR provides repeatedly demands the standards, methodology, or depth expected of a professional academic researcher, which can result in students spending substantial time making changes that do not meaningfully improve their paper. It is also unreasonable for AJOSR to demand high school students to make edits that they cannot do because AJOSR uses AI to read papers. There is no other way to implement their feedback besides using AI themselves to fix their paper to the AI’s demands.
Our recommendation: Before paying nearly $500 to publish with AJOSR, ask what level of individualized human review and feedback your paper will receive. In our experience reviewing student manuscripts, some of the feedback generated through this type of review process can go beyond what we believe is reasonable or necessary for a high school researcher. Students should therefore ask how feedback is generated and whether the expected revisions are appropriate for their level of research.
Our Final Advice for Publishing
It could be challenging, so consider consulting a publishing mentor (specifically one that has expertise in your major). Does the journal’s editorial board include individuals with expertise in your topic? Why seek publication or peer review from professors specializing in biology or chemistry if you aim to major in economics in college? We suggest conducting preliminary research on the journal’s editors before applying. Even better, collaborate with a suitable mentor to identify the most suitable journal for your work. We highly encourage you to be paired with a mentor with subject matter expertise (i.e. if you are majoring in Biology, your mentor should have an M.D. or an applicable degree). You’ve invested significant effort into writing your paper, and the ultimate goal is publication. Therefore, choose the best venue for its publication.
Note: We have no affiliation with any research company or other journal besides SJBE.
For students or college counselors who are interested in working with us or have questions, please email us at: contact@studentjournalofbusiness.com