Which journal?

The Royal Society publishes high-quality, peer-reviewed journals covering all scientific disciplines. Whichever journal you choose we will offer you an excellent publishing service and international readership. We welcome submissions of high quality science from anywhere in the world. When submitting please ensure the topic of your research is a good match for the scope of the journal (details are linked in the tables below), a good standard of English and that you have met the necessary publishing ethics.

For research papers

Journal Scientific discipline
Proceedings A** Physical science 
Interface** Cross-disciplinary science
Proceedings B** Biological science
Biology Letters** Biological science (short format)
Open Biology* Biological science (molecular)
Royal Society Open Science* All of science
Notes and Records History of science

*Fully open access
**Plan S and OSTP compliant Transformative Journal

For transfers

If your article is declined by Proceedings A, Interface, Proceedings B, Biology Letters or Open Biology on the basis of scope or competition for space, editors may provide the opportunity to transfer the manuscript and peer review reports to another Royal Society journal (see above for more details of scope). The majority of transfers are to Royal Society Open Science which considers high-quality, scientifically rigorous original research across the entire range of science.

Benefits of transfer:

  • Saves reformatting for submission to another publisher
  • Referee reports can be reused meaning many papers are accepted quickly without further external review
  • Free open access publication still if your institution is one of our Transformative Agreement partners. Also APC waiver options for Royal Society Open Science and Open Biology.

For theme issue proposals

The following journals only publish theme issues. Submission of individual articles is not considered. We welcome theme issue proposals from any interested parties. Find out more about the benefits of editing a theme issue.

Journal Scientific discipline
Philosophical Transactions A
Physical science 
Interface Focus Cross-disciplinary science
Philosophical Transactions B Biological science

For other article types

Our journals also publish a range of other article types.

Our evidence synthesis and Science Society and Policy article types allow scientific research to inform policymaking and public debate.

Proceedings B's biological science practices address scientific practices within biology that influence research quality, scientific community health and the public understanding of science.

Open Biology's Open Questions article type highlight current developments in an area of basic biomedical science that is developing quickly and ripe for discovery. Methods and Techniques articles present new or advanced methods, software, databases, or tools and a new 'Opening Up' section of manuscripts after the 'Discussion' actively encourages authors to place their results in a wider context and discuss their broader implications. 

Royal Society Open Science publishes Registered Reports, a format of empirical article that eliminate the bias against negative results in publishing because the results are not known at the time of review, and Replication studies, attempted replications of studies previously published.