Q: Is it a good idea to submit a research paper to a journal with a similar research already published?

1 Answer to this question
Answer:

Firstly, it’s great that you are keeping in mind the ‘novelty factor’ of your manuscript for the journal before making the submission. It will help you save time and effort. So, good start there!

Coming to your query, the ‘blanket response’ would be: No. However, in these matters, there’s always a case of ‘It depends.’ :-) A few factors it would depend on are: how similar is it to the research already published, how niche is your field, and therefore, how many (other) journals are there in this field. If it’s too niche, the answer would perhaps be ‘no’ on all counts: the research is likely to be very similar and there are likely to be few journals.

If it’s not too similar, it may not hurt to still consider the journal. You could play it wise by sending a presubmission inquiry to the journal providing highlights about your research. You could even refer to the said article and ask whether yours would still be considered novel for the journal. (In fact, you may even wish to talk about how it differs from the published piece. But you’ll have to do this judiciously; else, it may backfire.) Based on their response, you will be able to determine how to proceed.

In the meantime, to continue to play it wise, you can also send presubmission inquiries to other journals. Thus, even while you are still pursuing one journal, you are also exploring possibilities with other journals.

And while on considering multiple journals, you may also wish to check out our new AI-powered platform, R Pubsure. The platform is meant to help you minimize desk rejection in two ways. One, its machine-based check allows you to keep improving your manuscript until it is submission-ready. Two, once ready, it allows you to showcase the manuscript to several editors on the platform, one of whom may consider it for publishing with their journal – if of course they find it novel and interesting. You may learn more about the platform here: R Pubsure

Hope that helps. All the best for however you decide to proceed!

For more insights into the novelty factor, you may go through the following resources:

Comment