Journal Guide
Publishing in Expert Systems with Applications: Fit, Timeline & Submission Guide
Elsevier's broad applied expert and intelligent systems journal
Should you submit here?
Best fit if
ESWA fit is strongest when the manuscript shows how the intelligent system improves a real decision, workflow, or domain problem
Not ideal if
Pure method novelty without application substance can fit TPAMI, JMLR, Pattern Recognition, or another methods venue better than ESWA
Also compare
IEEE TPAMIand RNA
9.4
Impact Factor
11%
Acceptance Rate
5 days
Time to First Decision
Elsevier journal catalog · checked 2026-10-21 · Publisher-reported overall acceptance rate, not a manuscript-specific probability or a desk-rejection share.The catalog does not specify the reporting period, submission count or article-type coverage. The observation date is not a metric year.
Elsevier journal catalog · checked 2026-10-21 · Submission to the first editorial decision, including initial editorial decisions; not completed external peer review.The catalog does not specify the reporting period, submission count or article-type coverage. The observation date is not a metric year.
Expert Systems with Applications Journal Insights (ScienceDirect) · checked 2026-10-21 · 2025 Journal Impact Factor; the source tooltip identifies Journal Citation Reports, Clarivate Analytics, 2026.The metric year is 2025; the release year is 2026.
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What ESWA Publishes
Expert Systems with Applications publishes original work on expert and intelligent systems applied to real settings in industry, government, universities, and applied research domains. The journal is broad, but the strongest submissions make the application context real, compare against current baselines, and show practical consequence rather than only model performance.
- Expert and intelligent systems for finance, engineering, medicine, energy, information retrieval, production management, risk assessment, and other applied settings
- Applied machine learning, knowledge discovery, data mining, neural networks, knowledge management, and decision-support systems
- Application-driven AI papers where the domain validation is substantive enough for ESWA rather than a pure-methods venue
- Software, systems, and intelligent workflow contributions when the implementation and evaluation are useful beyond one toy example
Manusights editorial analysis
The ESWA question is not whether the model works on a benchmark. It is whether the intelligent system has enough application substance, comparison fairness, and practical consequence to belong in a broad applied-AI journal.
What ESWA Editors Look For
Real application substance
ESWA fit is strongest when the manuscript shows how the intelligent system improves a real decision, workflow, or domain problem. A generic benchmark table is usually not enough.
Current and fair comparison
Reviewers expect baselines that represent the present field, not only older algorithms selected because the new model wins.
Contribution beyond an algorithm label
The journal discourages weak metaphor-driven algorithm papers. If the submission uses an inspired optimizer or renamed method, the actual technical and applied contribution must be clear.
Reusable and trustworthy evidence
Data, code, model settings, evaluation splits, and domain constraints should be clear enough for reviewers to trust the practical claim.
Why Papers Get Rejected
These patterns appear repeatedly in manuscripts that don't make it past ESWA's editorial review:
Submitting a pure-methods AI paper to ESWA
Pure method novelty without application substance can fit TPAMI, JMLR, Pattern Recognition, or another methods venue better than ESWA.
Treating application context as decoration
ESWA is an applications journal. The domain problem, validation setting, and practical consequence should shape the paper, not just appear in the introduction.
Using outdated or selective baselines
Applied-AI reviewers often challenge benchmark choices first. Missing current baselines can make the result look overstated.
Relying on a metaphor-inspired algorithm name
ESWA explicitly discourages weak repurposed metaphor algorithms. The contribution must stand without the metaphor.
Does your manuscript avoid these patterns?
The Free Readiness Scan reads your full manuscript against ESWA's criteria and flags the specific issues most likely to cause rejection.
Manusights submission tips for ESWA
Lead with the application decision the system improves
Editors need to see why the work belongs in an applications journal. The title, abstract, and first figure should make the practical contribution legible.
Use the cover letter to explain venue routing
If the work could fit KBS, EAAI, Applied Soft Computing, Pattern Recognition, or TPAMI, explain why ESWA is the most honest home.
Show limitations before reviewers find them
A narrow deployment setting, small dataset, or domain-specific constraint can be acceptable if the paper states the boundary honestly.
The ESWA Submission Process
Confirm ESWA fit
Pre-submissionDecide whether the manuscript is truly applied expert or intelligent systems work rather than a pure ML method, engineering application, soft-computing method, or domain-specialist paper.
Prepare the Elsevier package
PreparationPrepare the manuscript, highlights, declarations, data availability information, and any code or supplementary files. Check whether anonymized review files are required.
Submit through Elsevier Editorial Manager
Day 0Upload through the ScienceDirect submission flow with author metadata, cover letter, manuscript files, highlights, declarations, and supplementary material.
Editorial and reviewer screen
Reviewer-dependentEditors and reviewers assess application substance, method rigor, comparison fairness, reproducibility, and whether the paper fits ESWA better than adjacent AI venues.
ESWA by the Numbers
| Publisher | Elsevier |
| Impact Factor(Expert Systems with Applications Journal Insights (ScienceDirect); checked 2026-10-21. The metric year is 2025; the release year is 2026.) | 9.4 |
| CiteScore(Expert Systems with Applications Journal Insights (ScienceDirect); checked 2026-10-21. No reporting period is shown for this displayed observation. Workflow timings are aggregates rather than deadlines; the statistic remains unspecified unless its definition was separately read.) | 17 |
| Submission to first decision(Elsevier journal catalog; checked 2026-10-21. The catalog does not specify the reporting period, submission count or article-type coverage. The observation date is not a metric year.) | 5 days |
| Submission to decision after review(Expert Systems with Applications Journal Insights (ScienceDirect); checked 2026-10-21. No reporting period is shown for this displayed observation. Workflow timings are aggregates rather than deadlines; the statistic remains unspecified unless its definition was separately read.) | 62 days |
| Submission to acceptance(Expert Systems with Applications Journal Insights (ScienceDirect); checked 2026-10-21. No reporting period is shown for this displayed observation. Workflow timings are aggregates rather than deadlines; the statistic remains unspecified unless its definition was separately read.) | 147 days |
| Acceptance to online publication(Expert Systems with Applications Journal Insights (ScienceDirect); checked 2026-10-21. No reporting period is shown for this displayed observation. Workflow timings are aggregates rather than deadlines; the statistic remains unspecified unless its definition was separately read.) | 7 days |
| Subscription publication fee | No publication fee charged |
Before you submit
ESWA accepts a small fraction of submissions. Make your attempt count.
Start with the Free Readiness Scan. Unlock the Full Review from $39, with local pricing shown before checkout. If you need deeper submission planning, choose the Submission-Ready Dossier. The full report is calibrated to ESWA.
Article Types
Original Research Article
Follow current Elsevier guideFull applied expert or intelligent systems paper with real application evidence and method detail.
Review Article
Follow current Elsevier guideSynthesis of an applied intelligent-systems area when the review adds a clear analytical framework.
Short Communication
Follow current Elsevier guideFocused contribution when the scope and evidence support a shorter article.
Position or Editorial
Follow current Elsevier guideUsually editorially shaped article types rather than the default route for original research.
Landmark ESWA Papers
Papers that defined fields and changed science:
- Applied expert-system papers that tied model performance to real domain decisions
- Knowledge-discovery and data-mining papers with reusable validation designs
- Decision-support systems that made the application workflow part of the contribution
- Applied AI papers whose baselines and limitation analysis stayed useful after publication
Preparing a ESWA Submission?
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Primary Fields
Related Journal Guides
All journal guidesLatest Journal-Specific Guides
- Submission guideExpert Systems with Applications Submission GuideWhat submitting to Expert Systems with Applications actually requires: the Elsevier publishing structure, the AI-application editorial scope, the high-volume submission environment, and the editorial culture distinguishing ESWA from sister AI / ML venues.
- Review timelineExpert Systems with Applications Review Time: Decision and Revision PlanningPlan an ESWA submission around current Elsevier timing data, 20-report SciRev context, and applied-AI evidence.
- Submission processExpert Systems with Applications Submission Process: What Happens After UploadA practical Expert Systems with Applications submission-process walkthrough: the Elsevier Editorial Manager workflow, handling-editor triage in the first decision window, the post-review timeline, and what each decision status actually means.
- Manuscript prepHow to Write an Expert Systems with Applications Cover Letter (Template)The Expert Systems with Applications cover letter is the first application-fit argument the handling editor reads. Here is a copyable template, the ESWA-specific opener, what belongs in the letter versus the separate Editorial Manager steps, and the declarations you cannot skip.
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