Measuring Research Impact and Quality: Journal Acceptance Rates

Definition: The number of manuscripts accepted for publication compared to the total number of manuscripts submitted in one year.  The exact method of calculation varies depending on the journal.

How to interpret acceptance rates.

Related topics

Impact factors
Journal rankings

Check the publisher's website for the journal to see if the acceptance rates are listed.

• Only a small number of journals list their acceptance rates online.

E-mail the journal's editor to request the acceptance rates.

• The name of the editor should be listed on the journal website.
• In the e-mail include the reason why you are requesting acceptance rates and the years needed.
• Not all editors will provide this information.

The following link is to a page from the Health Sciences Library pertaining to journal acceptance rates in health science journals.

Content selected by
Janice Dysart
Science Librarian
(573) 882-1828
DysartJ@missouri.edu

Libguide design by Amy C. Nickless
Ellis Library Graduate Reference Assistant, 2010-2012