Resource · Checked 12 October 2026

Where high school students can publish research.

Nine journals that publish work by school students, each checked against its own site: what it costs, when you pay, who reviews the paper, how long it takes and who may submit. Where a journal states nothing, we say so rather than borrow a figure from someone else’s list, because in October 2026 several of those lists were wrong.

At a glance

Nine journals, and when you pay

Rupee figures at ₹96.8 to the US dollar and ₹67.8 to the Canadian dollar (8 October 2026).

Journal	Subjects	When you pay	Cost
Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI)	Science	At submission	USD 49
The Concord Review	Humanities	At submission	USD 70 or 100
The Schola	Humanities	At submission	USD 180
International Journal of High School Research (IJHSR)	Science	On acceptance	USD 350
STEM Fellowship Journal	Science	On acceptance	CAD 400, shared
The Curieux Review	Any subject	On acceptance	USD 200 or 250
National High School Journal of Science (NHSJS)	Science	No fee stated	None stated; USD 280 to expedite
Journal of High School Science (JHSS)	Science	No fee stated	Not stated publicly
Young Scientist (Vanderbilt University)	Science	No fee stated	None stated

At submission: Paid whether or not the paper is accepted.
On acceptance: Paid only if the paper is accepted, usually as an open-access publication fee.
No fee stated: The journal's own pages state no standard fee. Confirm before submitting.

6 journals

Science and quantitative research

For papers with a hypothesis, a method and data. Most also take social science that is measured rather than argued.

Fee at submission

Journal of Emerging Investigators (JEI)

Journal site

Cost: USD 49 at submission (about ₹4,700), the only fee to submit and publish. Waiver on request.
Time: Varies with the time of year and the revisions. Manuscripts are handled in the order received and cannot be expedited.
Who can submit: Middle and high school students. Every manuscript must include an adult (18 or over) as an author besides any student author.
Reviewed by: Editors and reviewers, in a process the journal runs as mentoring rather than gatekeeping.
Subjects: Biological sciences; physical sciences and engineering; social sciences. Hypothesis-driven work only: literature reviews and descriptions of inventions are the commonest reasons it rejects a paper.
Acceptance rate: Not published

Our read. Widely respected for hypothesis-driven science, and slow. The review itself is the most educational part. Watch for: Needs an adult author. Decide who that is before the paper is written, not after.

Checked 12 October 2026 against the journal’s own page.

No fee stated

National High School Journal of Science (NHSJS)

Journal site

Cost: No standard fee stated on its pages. Optional expedited review USD 280 (about ₹27,000).
Time: Median about 8 weeks to a first decision; 95 percent of papers within 14 weeks.
Who can submit: High school students.
Reviewed by: Graduate students, postdocs and professional scientists, then a Scientist Advisory Board: three stages.
Subjects: Life and health sciences, physical sciences, computing and AI, engineering, earth and environment, maths and statistics, social sciences and policy.
Acceptance rate: Not published

Our read. A credible review panel and the clearest stated timeline here. Watch for: Third-party lists quote a publication fee its own pages do not show. Ask for the full cost in writing before submitting.

Checked 12 October 2026 against the journal’s own page.

No fee stated

Journal of High School Science (JHSS)

Journal site

Cost: Not stated on its public pages. Submission is through a Scholastica account.
Time: Average 29 days per review round. On 11 October 2026 it was reviewing papers submitted on 12 September.
Who can submit: High school students. Published authors come from more than 20 countries, India among them.
Reviewed by: Editorial board and reviewers. Reviewer comments on published papers are made public.
Subjects: STEAM. Original research with quantitative results, review papers that identify gaps rather than summarise, technical notes and case studies. Surveys are generally not published.
Acceptance rate: Not published

Our read. Strict about method and statistics, and unusually transparent. A good first target for a quantitative STEM paper.

Checked 12 October 2026 against the journal’s own page.

Fee on acceptance

International Journal of High School Research (IJHSR)

Journal site

Cost: Free to submit. USD 350 publication fee after acceptance (about ₹34,000). Reduced or waived for US students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch.
Time: One to three months to acceptance, then two to three months to publication: three to six months overall.
Who can submit: High school students from any country.
Reviewed by: Editor screening, then two or more outside reviewers with expertise in the field: faculty and professionals.
Subjects: Three tracks: natural and physical sciences; engineering and computer science; business and social sciences.
Acceptance rate: Not published

Our read. Real expert review, and the only track here built for business and social science alongside STEM. The highest US-dollar fee on the list.

Checked 12 October 2026 against the journal’s own page.

Fee on acceptance

STEM Fellowship Journal

Journal site

Cost: CAD 400 publication fee after acceptance (about ₹27,000), split between co-authors. Waivers and discounts on request.
Time: Two issues a year.
Who can submit: High school and university students.
Reviewed by: Peer reviewed by volunteer experts.
Subjects: STEM research, open access.
Acceptance rate: Not published

Our read. A long record, in its twelfth volume in 2026. Sharing the pool with university students raises the bar.

Checked 12 October 2026 against the journal’s own page.

No fee stated

Young Scientist (Vanderbilt University)

Journal site

Cost: No fee stated.
Time: One volume a year, in May. Closed now; the next submission window opens in November 2026.
Who can submit: High school students.
Reviewed by: Peer reviewed.
Subjects: STEM research. The abstract and introduction must be readable by someone without a science background.
Acceptance rate: Not published

Our read. A once-a-year window. Worth it if the paper is ready by November; otherwise it waits a year.

Checked 12 October 2026 against the journal’s own page.

1 journal

Any subject

One journal that takes every field, fast.

Fee on acceptance

The Curieux Review

Journal site

Cost: Free to submit. On acceptance, USD 200 for seasonal review or USD 250 for fast-track (about ₹19,000 or ₹24,000). Financial aid on request.
Time: Two to five weeks to a response; fast-track decides within three weeks. Two to three months to publication.
Who can submit: Middle school, high school and undergraduate students.
Reviewed by: A youth-led nonprofit. The review process is not detailed on its submissions page.
Subjects: Health and life sciences, humanities and social sciences, economics and business, computer science and engineering, physical sciences.
Acceptance rate: Not published

Our read. Fast and open to every subject, which is its use. A line here shows a finished paper, not a distinction.

Checked 12 October 2026 against the journal’s own page.

2 journals

History and humanities essays

For argued work: history, philosophy, politics, literature. These charge at submission.

Fee at submission

The Concord Review

Journal site

Cost: USD 70 for the eBook edition or USD 100 plus shipping for print (about ₹6,800 or ₹9,700), paid with the submission.
Time: Rolling, considered for the next three issues. Issue deadlines 1 August, 1 November, 1 February and 1 May.
Who can submit: Students who finished the paper before leaving secondary school. Sole author; original and unpublished.
Reviewed by: Editorial selection.
Subjects: History, any period or region. 5,000 to 10,000 words or more, with Turabian endnotes; the average published paper runs past 8,000.
Acceptance rate: About 5 percent

Our read. The most respected place for a school student's history essay. The length is the real filter.

Checked 12 October 2026 against the journal’s own page.

Fee at submission

The Schola

Journal site

Cost: USD 180 non-refundable submission fee (about ₹17,000), or a combined subscribe-and-submit option.
Time: Not stated.
Who can submit: High school students. The essay must be solely the author's own work.
Reviewed by: Editorial review.
Subjects: Humanities and social sciences, argued rather than measured: the journal says empirical research is generally unsuitable. Main text 5,500 to 6,500 words, never over 8,000.
Acceptance rate: Not published

Our read. A serious venue for argument-led humanities essays. The fee is paid whether or not the essay is accepted. Watch for: Copyright in the essay passes to the publisher on acceptance.

Checked 12 October 2026 against the journal’s own page.

Checked and not listed

Three names you will see elsewhere

Each was checked and left out for a reason, so a family is not sent to a dead end.

Journal of Student Research, High School Edition: Its own site returned a server error when we checked on 12 October 2026, so we could not confirm its fees. Third-party lists quote them; we will add it once its pages can be read.
Young Scientists Journal (ysjournal.com): The address did not lead to the journal when we checked. Not to be confused with Vanderbilt's Young Scientist, listed above.
Intersect (Stanford): From 1 September 2026 it accepts submissions only from current Stanford undergraduates. Older lists still name it as open to high school students.

Choosing

How to pick the journal

Write the paper first, then choose. The venue follows the paper’s quality and field, not the other way round. A hypothesis-driven experiment belongs at JEI or JHSS; an argued history essay at the Concord Review; a business or economics paper at IJHSR’s social science track.
Prefer real review to fast acceptance. A line from a journal that sent the paper back twice tells a reader more than one that accepted it in a fortnight. How admissions readers weigh a paper.
Work back from the deadline. For a published line by 1 November of Grade 12, submit in the spring of Grade 11. JEI and IJHSR can take six months; a rejection and a second submission take longer still.
Know what you are paying for, and when. A fee at submission is lost on rejection; a fee on acceptance is not. Read paid research programmes and pay-to-publish journals before paying anyone who promises publication.

Questions

About publishing in high school

The full route, from question to submission: how to publish a research paper in high school. Competitions that read papers properly are on the competitions calendar.

Where can high school students publish research papers?

Nine journals take high school work and state their terms clearly. For science: the Journal of Emerging Investigators, NHSJS, the Journal of High School Science, IJHSR, the STEM Fellowship Journal and Vanderbilt's Young Scientist. For any subject: the Curieux Review. For history and the humanities: the Concord Review and the Schola. Each was checked against its own site in October 2026.

Do high school research journals charge a fee?

Most do, in one of two ways. Some charge at submission, paid whether or not the paper is accepted: JEI USD 49, the Concord Review USD 70 to 100, the Schola USD 180. Others charge only on acceptance, as an open-access fee: Curieux USD 200 to 250, IJHSR USD 350, STEM Fellowship CAD 400. NHSJS, JHSS and Young Scientist state no standard fee on their own pages.

Can students from India publish in these journals?

Yes. None of the nine restricts entry by country, IJHSR states it takes students from any country, and JHSS lists India among its authors' countries. Fees are paid in US or Canadian dollars. The condition Indian students most often miss is JEI's: every manuscript must include an adult author besides the student, so that person should be agreed before the paper is written.

How long does it take to get a high school research paper published?

From about a month to more than six. JHSS averages 29 days per review round, NHSJS a median of 8 weeks to a first decision, IJHSR three to six months in all, and JEI longer, since it cannot be expedited. For a published line before a 1 November application deadline in Grade 12, submit by the spring of Grade 11.

Is a journal that charges a fee a pay-to-publish scam?

Not by itself. Open-access journals routinely charge a fee after acceptance to cover publishing. The warning signs are an acceptance within days, no named reviewers or editorial board with checkable affiliations, a fee demanded before any review, and an invitation you did not ask for. Every journal on this page states who reviews and what the process is.

Method. Each journal's own submission, fee and review pages were opened and recorded on 12 October 2026. A figure appears only if the journal or its publisher states it. Where a journal states nothing, the entry says so rather than borrowing a figure from a third-party list. Acceptance rates are shown only where the journal publishes one. Download the data as CSV (CC BY 4.0). If a journal’s terms have changed, write to [email protected] and we will re-check it.

Which journal fits the paper your child is writing?

That depends on the paper. Research mentorship takes a student from a question to a submitted paper in ten to fourteen weeks; the student writes every word.

Book a free strategy call Research mentorship