skip to context

The Transfer Desk

T_TransferDesk_280x210.jpgHas your manuscript ever been rejected because it was too interdisciplinary or too specialized, not sufficiently novel or because it didn't exactly match a journal’s aims and scope? Manuscripts that are scientifically valid can be rejected for various reasons other than quality, which can be very frustrating. Our Transfer Desk can help!

What is the Transfer Desk?

The Transfer Desk is our manuscript transfer service, which provides you with a convenient way of resubmitting your manuscript to a more suitable journal. Finding the right journal can be difficult and sometimes sound manuscripts are rejected because they don't precisely match a journal’s aims and scope. In these cases, our Editors-in-Chief now have the option of suggesting a transfer to help you find the most suitable journal, recognizing the scientific merit of your manuscript and ensuring it can be submitted elsewhere without delay.

This is how it works:

  1. You accept the offer to forward your manuscript to the Transfer Desk, using the link provided in the decision email from the previous journal.
  2. The Transfer Desk will analyze your manuscript and propose one or more suitable journals, you then choose your preferred journal. You can also suggest additional journal titles yourself. If we need any additional information our team will contact you directly before we send you the journal title(s).
  3. You let us know the journal you would like to submit your manuscript to.
  4. The Transfer Desk will assist you with the submission to the journal-of-choice.

  5. The journal will contact you and send you instructions on how to finalize your submission. You will have the opportunity to revise the manuscript when you are finalizing your submission.

Please note that assistance with a submission to another journal does NOT guarantee acceptance. The Transfer Desk only helps authors to submit their work to another journal in an easy and convenient way;

How can you benefit from the Transfer Desk?

If you choose to accept a transfer offer, your manuscript files including manuscript history and any available review reports (provided the reviewer(s) granted permission for this) as well as personal details will automatically be sent to our Transfer Desk. There is no resubmission or reformatting needed, saving you valuable time and effort. Our Transfer Desk team will then combine your preferences and any editor recommendations with our advanced journal matching technology to find the best "home" for your work.

When will the Transfer Desk be available?

The service is operational and rolled out to all of our 2,500+ Springer, SpringerOpen, and BioMed Central journals so you can benefit from an integrated network of journals offering convenient one-time submission, expert journal selection and maximum publication options.

Interested in learning more about our transfer service? Please read our frequently asked questions below or contact us at transferdesk@springer.com.

Frequently asked questions

How does the Transfer Desk work?

The Editor-in-Chief of a journal offers you a transfer to the Transfer Desk. After you decide to use the Transfer Desk service, our team will help you find the best journal for your work and assist with your resubmission to the receiving journal. In some cases you might have already been asked to list preferred transfer journals during the submission process. You can check the manuscript, and update or change it where needed, before finally submitting it to the receiving journal. Please also upload a new cover letter indicating the latest changes to the manuscript.
1. You accept the offer to forward your manuscript to the Transfer Desk, using the link provided in the decision email from the previous journal. This sends your manuscript and associated files to the Transfer Desk team.

2. The Transfer Desk will analyze your manuscript and propose one or more suitable journals, you then choose your preferred journal. You can also suggest additional journal titles yourself. If we need any additional information our team will contact you directly before we send you the journal title(s).

3. You let us know the journal you would like to submit your manuscript to.

4. The Transfer Desk will assist you with the submission to the journal-of-choice.

5. The journal will contact you and send you instructions on how to finalize your submission. You will have the opportunity to revise the manuscript when you are finalizing your submission.

Please note that all journals are independently peer-reviewed and your manuscript will be assessed against the editorial criteria of the new journal. The editors may require additional reviews or revisions to the manuscript.

Please note that assistance with a submission to another journal does NOT guarantee acceptance. The Transfer Desk only helps authors to submit their work to another journal in an easy and convenient way. Please note that submitting your manuscript via the Transfer Desk does NOT guarantee publication.’

How do I follow up on a transfer offer?

Please follow the link provided in the decision email sent by the transferring editor. This will take you to a web page where you will be given the option of sending your manuscript to the Transfer Desk for evaluation and further transfer to the destination journal of your choice. The decision email will state a deadline for making a decision; if the decision remains “pending”, our automatic mailing system will prompt you to make an accept/decline decision three times over the next four weeks. If you prefer to wait and make the decision closer to the deadline, please ignore these prompts. Please note that after the deadline it is no longer possible to automatically send your manuscript to the Transfer Desk.

What happens if I decline the offer?

If you decline a transfer, or do not reply to the offer, neither your manuscript files nor your personal data will be accessed by our Transfer Desk team. Your manuscript will remain archived in the submission system of the original journal, and you are fully free to submit your paper to a different journal. Please note: When you decline our offer to send your manuscript to the Transfer Desk this choice cannot be undone.

Can I choose the destination journal myself?

Yes. Our team will work with you to find the best journal for your paper. If you have a preferred destination journal, please let us know. The Transfer Desk will not transfer your manuscript to another journal without your approval.

To which journals can the Transfer Desk send my manuscript?

The Transfer Desk team will combine your preferences and any editor recommendations with our journal matching technology to find the best home for your work. The Transfer Desk can help you resubmit to almost all journals in our portfolio of more than 2500 titles, including Open Access journals, journals with an Impact Factor or indexed by major services. We will analyze your manuscript and use our advanced algorithms to match it against all journals in our portfolio to find the best venue for your manuscript: we will send you one or more suitable journals with their current Impact Factors (when appropriate). The Transfer Desk will of course take any preference for a specific journal into account and advise you accordingly. If there are any specific requirements you have for publication, it’s best to let us know upon submission so we can take this into account when we propose our journal(s) to you.

Can I always withdraw my manuscript during the procedure?

You can always withdraw your manuscript if you change your mind, at any time during the procedure. The Transfer Desk is simply a service to help you find the best journal for your work; we will never transfer your manuscript to any journal without your permission.

Do I have to resubmit my manuscript to the journal proposed by the Transfer Desk?

The Transfer Desk is simply a service to help you find the best journal for your work; we will never transfer your manuscript to any journal without your permission. At any time during the procedure you may decide to cancel the transfer process and resubmit yourself elsewhere.

If I accept the transfer offer, what happens to the previously conducted peer review?

As soon as you have accepted the transfer offer, the manuscript along with all available
review reports (provided the reviewer(s) granted permission for this) and personal details will be transferred to the new journal. Should you wish to have your manuscript considered at another journal without the review reports, you will need to send it directly to that new journal as a new submission.

Will my original submission and the transfer be mentioned if my paper is successfully resubmitted and published in another journal?

A transfer is NOT mentioned in the published version of the manuscript, online, or in the article PDF. Once published there is no difference between a transferred article and an article which was submitted via the online submission system.

Will you recommend open access journals that require the payment of an article-processing charge (APC)?

The Transfer Desk will consider open access journals as well as subscription journals when selecting and suggesting suitable destination journals. Most journals offer Open Access publication, either as an option (hybrid-OA) or as a full-OA journal.
If you have a preference for subscription, full-OA or hybrid-OA, please let us know upon submission. You are free to choose journals that do not require payment of an article processing charge, but please note that our Open Access journals might be able to give you a discount or full waiver upon submission.

Do I have to pay for the Transfer Desk service? What are the costs for this service? 

Our manuscript transfer service is completely free of charge. It’s a complimentary service to assist you in finding the best home for your research.