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Research Directions is a series of Question-led, open access journals that have broken free of the limitations of the traditional publication model to better reflect the research process. Unlike traditional journals, which are structured around a descriptive scope, authors publishing in Research Directions are invited to publish research that takes incremental steps to answering a set of distinct Research Questions, shaped by an expert subject community and intended to be definitive to a specific field.
Find out more at: cambridge.org/researchdirections
Research Directions accepts the following research outputs: Results, Analysis and Impact papers, each of which is peer-reviewed, indexed, receives a DOI and is considered a published and citable research item. Authors are also encouraged to upload early research outputs and other non-peer reviewed literature content on the Research Directions Community spaces for each journal as they move through their research project. These are not peer reviewed but are curated to ensure they are appropriate for and relevant to the Question. You can read more about the different article types here.
Peer-reviewed published research outputs (Results, Analysis and Impact papers) sit on the journal website. They are linked (via DOIs) to related non-peer-reviewed outputs (such as pre-prints, data sets, software descriptions, research posters, community briefs) uploaded by researchers to the Research Directions community space, giving visibility to the entire research journey as it progresses.
The name reflects the programme's emphasis its Question-led model, which provides a clear direction for research, an approach typically shaped by individual funders or discussed at meetings, rather than being presented as a citable output.
Our vision is for Cambridge University Press & Assessment to work with research communities that are willing to innovate and experiment in the way that they publish their work and in how they collaborate with other researchers to answer specific questions or challenges that will drive their field forward.
The titles are published Gold OA with a CC-BY license. Articles are also subject to transparent peer review, have open data mandates and follow open standard practices. At Cambridge, we see open research as a fundamental step in our mission to advance learning, research and knowledge worldwide.
We are always keen to work with new research communities who are open to new publishing models. Please contact the programme manager Monica Moniz at [email protected]
The open Questions can be found in each individual title journal, on the menu bar under 'Research questions', and on the Community pages.
Individual titles have their own submission sites. The submission system used is ScholarOne.
The short answer is no. Results and Analyses papers are formatted as original research articles and Impact papers are formatted as review or perspective papers.
No. Results papers can focus on one set of results or multiple sets of results. As long as they contribute to answering the Question that has been asked, they will be considered.
The Community site is used for hosting non-peer-reviewed supplementary content that is complementary to the formally published content in the journal, as well as standalone content that contributes to one of the journal’s open Questions.
We strongly recommend that all supplementary material like datasets, code, software tools, and other research materials are submitted to the Community site to ensure these materials are easily discoverable and citable.
The list below gives examples of other types of content and file types that can be submitted for consideration to the Research Directions Community sites.
The following content types are currently accepted:
All journals in the series follow the same article type formats (Results, Analysis and Impact papers), however individual instructions for authors can be found under each journal’s pages. The same applies for non-peer reviewed content.
No fees will ever be charged for Question papers or for commissioned Impact Snapshot papers. In addition, newly-launched Research Directions journals (after 2024) will have an initial 3 month waiver period, during which no fees will be charged for any papers submitted.
In other cases, articles are supported by an article processing charge (APC) that is typically paid by the author’s funding body or academic institution, although other funding routes are available.
Current APC rates can be found on each journal’s home page, under the 'Journal information' page on the menu bar. Please check the fees and pricing page under author instructions.
Multiple routes to funding Gold OA are available to Research Directions authors, including institutional agreements and waivers and discounts for article processing charges (APCs). If you do not have funding available to pay for an APC, you can request a discretionary waiver from the journal.
For full details of funding options available for a given journal, including whether it is currently in a waiver period, please check the journal’s open access options. This page can be found under the journal policies section of the journal’s information area.
The first Questions are selected by the Advisory Council of each journal, but we welcome new Question proposals. Please email the programme Manager with your suggestions at [email protected] or using the journal’s contact email address, which can be found on the journal’s information pages.
Some Questions are more open-ended than others and so the Executive Editorial Board and Advisory Council may decide to update them, rather than close them.
The Executive Editorial Board and the Advisory Council will deem a Question to be closed if any of the following apply:
When a decision has been made to close a Research Question, new content can only be submitted for a further 6 months.
Research Directions journals operate a transparent peer review for full transparency about decision-making, to mitigate issues that contribute to editorial bias, and to enable reviewers to collect their contributions as part of their academic record. We understand some reviewers may have valid reasons to not sign their reports so we give them that option. Accepted manuscripts are published with their review reports; these reports may or may not include the reviewer’s name, their ORCID ID, and are assigned an individual DOI.
In all journals in this series, we only accept a variation of one of the data availability statements from the table below:
| Status of data and materials | Example Statement |
| Data openly available in a public repository, with a permanent identifier (such as a DOI) | The data that support the findings of this study are openly available in [repository name] at http://doi.org/[doi], reference number [reference number]. |
| Data embargoed due to commercial restrictions | The data that support the findings of this study will be available in [repository name] at [URL / DOI link] following a [6 month] embargo from the date of publication, to allow for commercialisation of research findings. |
| Data subject to third party restrictions | The data that support the findings of this study are available from [third party]. Restrictions apply to the availability of these data, which were used under licence for this study. Data are available [from the authors / at URL] with the permission of [third party]. |
| Data available within the article or its supplementary materials | The authors confirm that the data supporting the findings of this study are available within the article [and/or its supplementary materials]. |
| Data sharing not applicable – no new data generated | Data availability is not applicable to this article as no new data were created or analysed in this study. |
Further information about data availability statements can be found here.
We strongly recommend that all datasets, code, software tools, and other research materials are submitted to the community site to ensure these materials are easily discoverable and citable.