Journal Acceptance Rate

What it is

The percentage of manuscripts accepted for publication in a given year, compared to all manuscripts submitted to a particular journal in that year. However, journals may calculate this in different ways, depending on how resubmissions are treated, whether items like invited papers, special issues, book reviews are included/excluded, and the timeframe used.

How it works

This metric may not be publicly available for all journals. You may have to request it from the journal editors. You may also be able to obtain it from Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities or the Modern Language Association Directory of Periodicals.

What to keep in mind

The acceptance rate should not be used as a measure of the quality of a particular manuscript. Manuscripts may be rejected because there was a mismatch between the journal’s focus, audience, or format and that of the manuscript.
Acceptance rates should not be compared across discipline and country. They vary widely by discipline, country affiliation of the editor, and number of reviewers per article (1, 2).
Younger journals tend to have higher acceptance rates. Sugimoto et al. (2) found a positive relationship between journal age and acceptance rate.
The acceptance rate may be a proxy for perceived prestige and demand as compared to availability. The evidence for correlation between acceptance/rejection rates and citations and the Journal Impact Factor is mixed and heavily based on small studies, many of which are out of date (2).
Acceptance rates tend to be lower when journal age is higher. Acceptance rates were negatively correlated with citation-based indicators and positively correlated with journal age (2).
There is no standard or comprehensive source for this data. Many studies have relied on one-off surveys of editors and publishers, rather than using a standard source. Even sources containing this data, such as Cabell’s Directories of Publishing Opportunities, have significant gaps in coverage.

Learn more

Sugimoto, C. R., Larivière, V., Ni, C., & Cronin, B. (2013). Journal acceptance rates: a cross-disciplinary analysis of variability and relationships with journal measures. Journal of informetrics, 7(4), 897-906.
Haensly, P. J., Hodges, P. E., & Davenport, S. A. (2008). Acceptance rates and journal quality: An analysis of journals in economics and finance. Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship, 14(1), 2-31.

Journal Impact Factor
Citations, articles
Downloads, articles

References

Haensly, P. J., Hodges, P. E., & Davenport, S. A. (2008). Acceptance Rates and Journal Quality: An Analysis of Journals in Economics and Finance. Journal of Business & Finance Librarianship, 14(1), 2–31. https://doi.org/10.1080/08963560802176330 Sugimoto, C. R., Larivière, V., Ni, C., & Cronin, B. (2013). Journal acceptance rates: A cross-disciplinary analysis of variability and relationships with journal measures. Journal of Informetrics, 7(4), 897–906. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.joi.2013.08.007

Last updated April 2023