Frequently Asked Questions

In 90+% of submissions, the Convergence Journal publication process takes 2-4 months from submission to acceptance, provided that:

• The paper is forwarded to peer review, and
• The student follows through with making requested revisions in a thorough and timely manner (i.e., with minimal deadline extensions and providing all requested materials).

While Convergence Journal aims to adhere closely to its published review timelines, delays can occasionally occur for several reasons.

The most common cause is difficulty securing qualified peer reviewers with relevant subject-matter expertise. Because Convergence uses external reviewers who are usually active researchers or professionals in the field, reviewer availability can vary significantly depending on the topic area and time of year.

In other cases, delays may occur because:

• Reviewers require additional time to complete thoughtful and constructive evaluations, especially for denser or longer papers;
• The editorial board determines that another round of review is necessary;
• Relatedly, revisions submitted by the author were insufficient and require further clarification or assessment; or
• Unusually high submission volume temporarily slows processing times.

Convergence emphasizes detailed, constructive, critical, and pedagogically oriented feedback rather than rapid but superficial evaluations. Our reviewer guidelines specifically encourage reviewers to provide rigorous, substantive, and actionable comments intended to support student development as researchers.

If your manuscript has exceeded the expected review timeline substantially, you are welcome to contact the editorial team for a status update.

NYAS and Indigo Research are both respected programs that support, mentor, and help disseminate research conducted by K-12 students. Given the limited accessibility of research opportunities for pre-college students—and the challenge of completing original research at that level—it is not surprising that many of our initial submissions come from students affiliated with these programs.

As part of our outreach efforts, we have initially engaged with programs like NYAS and Indigo because they are among the few that facilitate high-quality, mentored research for young scholars on a global and inclusive scale. However, Convergence is committed to expanding its reach. We actively welcome and encourage submissions from advanced, research-oriented students across diverse educational backgrounds, schools, and mentorship structures.

Most importantly, Convergence maintains a rigorous double-blind peer review process. Peer reviewers do not have access to author names or institutional affiliations during manuscript evaluation, as these are hidden from reviewers during peer review. Action Editors neither have access to institutional affiliations nor do they know whether or not a submitting author is affiliated with NYAS or Indigo Research. Affiliation information is not used or referred to in any stage of the review or publication decision-making process. All decisions are based solely on the merit, originality, and clarity of the research.

We began to experience a massive increase in the volume of submissions we received around the middle of 2026, which has proven to be a large challenge in maintaining the efficiency of our review and editorial processes. Already by that point, several academics, including some on our Editorial Board, expressed concerns that the fast-track fee looked like a “pay-to-play” submission option. This was never our intention, especially considering how the payment of such a fee had no impact on our editorial or review decisions and was only meant to hasten the review timelines.

Moreover, the fast-track fee forced us, as a journal, to make stronger promises to meet a review timeline that was becoming increasingly difficult to satisfy. In a non-negligible number of fast-tracked submissions, we were forced to refund the student due to unexpected delays in the peer review process. This was usually because certain submissions were in more niche topics for which there was a paucity of available and capable reviewers.

Hence, we removed the fast-track submission process on Monday, August 17th. All fast-track submissions received before that date will still be fast-tracked, but the fast-track submission process has been suspended for all submissions received on that date or after then.

Convergence Journal charges a USD 500 publication fee per manuscript to help support the substantial editorial, peer review, and production work involved in the publication process.

Unlike many traditional academic journals that rely heavily on volunteer labor, Convergence compensates many individuals involved in the review and publication process in order to maintain timely, rigorous, and pedagogically constructive feedback for student authors. This includes:

• Peer reviewers who evaluate manuscripts and provide detailed feedback;
• Action Editors who oversee desk review, reviewer coordination, revision assessment, and communication with authors;
• Managing Editors who coordinate submissions, editorial logistics, reviewer onboarding, publication workflows, and long-term journal development; and
• Production staff, copyeditors, and technical contributors who assist with manuscript preparation, publication infrastructure, and website maintenance.

The publication fee also helps support ongoing efforts to expand and professionalize the journal’s infrastructure, including initiatives related to indexing, DOI registration, editorial systems, and publication accessibility.

At the same time, Convergence remains committed to accessibility. Publication fees are assessed per manuscript rather than per author, and fee reductions or full waivers are available based on demonstrated financial need. The journal’s goal is not to create financial barriers, but rather to sustain a high-quality and mentorship-oriented publication process for emerging researchers.

Within at most two business days of submission, you should receive a confirmation email from convergencejournal@indigoresearch.org stating that your manuscript has been received and that the review process will now commence, or that your manuscript needs some minor edits before it can be desk-reviewed. The email will also state when you should expect to receive the initial decision on whether or not it has been accepted for peer review.

We are sorry to hear that your paper was not accepted for peer review. We understand this may be disappointing. Unlike many academic journals, we apply a more selective initial review process. This helps minimize delays in the final decision-making process and ensures that our reviewers are not asked to evaluate submissions that may require substantial revision beyond the scope of a single review round. In other words, we want to make sure that both sides have such a decision made sooner rather than later!

That said, you are welcome to revise and resubmit your paper for review as many times as you would like. We provide detailed, constructive feedback explaining why the paper was not accepted for peer review, and we encourage you to use this feedback in preparing a resubmission—whether to Convergence or another journal. Of course, resubmission is entirely optional. When we send the feedback, we will also ask whether you intend to resubmit.

A request for revisions does not automatically guarantee eventual publication. In some cases, reviewers or editors may determine after revision that substantial concerns remain unresolved or that new issues have become apparent during reassessment.

For example, a manuscript may still be rejected after revision if:

• Major reviewer concerns were not adequately addressed;
• The methodology or evidence remains insufficient to support the paper’s conclusions;
• Clarity or organization problems continue to significantly affect readability;
• Additional rounds of revision would likely require extensive outside intervention; or
• Concerns related to academic integrity, sourcing, or ethics arise during later review stages.

(For more details, see the human-subject guidance later on this page.) Convergence Journal requires that research involving human subjects meet appropriate ethical standards and, in many circumstances, receive formal ethics approval before the study is conducted.

If a study involves sensitive topics—including areas such as trauma, abuse, violence, or other potentially harmful or high-risk subject matter—formal approval from an Institutional Review Board (IRB), Research Ethics Board (REB), or equivalent ethics committee is mandatory. In these cases, a manuscript may be rejected solely because appropriate ethics approval was not obtained beforehand.

For only lower-risk studies, Convergence may consider manuscripts conducted without formal institutional approval only under limited circumstances, such as when:

• The authors did not reasonably have access to an ethics review mechanism;
• The study posed minimal risk;
• All participants were adults; and
• The manuscript includes a detailed ethics statement addressing informed consent, confidentiality, voluntary participation, data management, and related considerations.

Retroactive ethics approval is generally not permitted, and the lack of awareness of ethics requirements is typically not considered an acceptable justification after a study has already been conducted.

You may withdraw your manuscript at any time before receiving notification of its acceptance for publication. Once your manuscript has been formally accepted and that decision has been communicated to you, you are expected to proceed with publication and either pay the publication fee or apply for a fee reduction or waiver.

To withdraw your manuscript, please email convergencejournal@indigoresearch.org stating your intention to withdraw. You are not required to provide a reason.

This is difficult to quantify, since many papers submitted to Convergence are either currently under revision or were returned to the authors without review but with critical feedback and permission to resubmit after addressing this feedback. Hence, we are not sure which of these papers will eventually be accepted for publication.

Furthermore, several students or their mentors have asked us to quickly look over papers and assess if they are ready for submission to Convergence Journal. For most of these cases, the Convergence Editorial Board stated that these papers—in their state at that time—would likely not have been accepted for peer review. That being said, as of July 8th, 2025, ~14% of papers submitted have been published (so far).

All publication fees are assessed per manuscript, not per author. For multi-author submissions, it is up to the authors to determine how they wish to divide payment of any outstanding fees.

Publication fee waivers and reductions, however, are evaluated based on the individual financial circumstances of each author. These assessments are then weighted equally per author when determining the level of financial assistance to offer. However, we may make exceptions to this in certain circumstances—e.g., if one author agrees to cover the entire costs of a manuscript.

Example: Suppose that Authors 1, 2, and 3 co-authored a manuscript that was accepted for publication in Convergence and qualified for the following need-based aid:

• Author 1: full publication fee waiver
• Author 2: 50% publication fee deduction
• Author 3: did not qualify

Since the full publication fee is USD 500, the authors would have to pay a publication fee of USD 250. Again, this assumes that all authors have agreed to contribute to the payment of the publication fee.

Yes, provided that you had a primary role in the content and writing of the manuscript and that their role was solely advisory or supervisory in nature. In that case, you must submit a mentor contribution statement of at most 300 words describing their role and contribution(s) in the writing of your manuscript.

“Doubly-blind peer reviewers” means that the identity of, or any direct personal information about, the author is not revealed to the peer reviewers, nor are the identities of the peer reviewers revealed to the author. The latter remains true even after publication, as the peer reviewers remain anonymous. This is to ensure the academic integrity and impartiality of the journal and what papers are eventually chosen for publication.

Since the Editorial Board (comprised of the Action Editors and Managing Editors) knows the identity of the student author, they will have no say in the final decision on whether or not the manuscript should be published—that decision will be left solely to the discretion of the peer reviewers.

Convergence Journal uses a rolling publication model within a quarterly issue structure. Articles are published online as soon as they complete the editorial and production process, and each article is assigned to an issue at the time of publication.

The journal produces four issues per year within a single annual volume. As of April 2026, issues are organized as follows: January-April, May-August, September-October, and November-December. The distinctions in issue serve primarily organizational and citation purposes rather than determining when articles are released.

All articles are published as final, citable versions upon release. Authors and readers do not need to wait for issue closure for citation or access. The journal may also produce compiled volume PDFs for select or highlighted papers in the future.