To have a research article published in an academic journal do you (or a co-author) have to work for a college or university?

I guess it depends on what you mean by "academic journal. " If you are talking generally about the many peer-reviewed scientific journals, then the answer is definitely NO, you don't have to be affiliated with a college or university in any way. Each journal has its own publication requirements, but generally they look for original, well-documented research that passes some form of review by peers in the field (suggested by you and approved by them or else appointed by the journal).

While it's quite common for one of the authors to have some academic affiliation, I've also found the occasional article from authors at a national lab. It's very rare to find an article by authors with no academic, governmental, or corporate affiliation, which I think is a testament to the difficultly of doing cutting edge research these days without access to expensive equipment and / or a research network.

I don't know of any that require affiliation with a university. A scholar doesn't have to be in academia. The journals with which I'm familiar do blind reviews, so there is no way the reviewers (who determine what goes in the journal) have academic credentials.

Short answer: No I have a friend who submits articles in his field as an "independent scholar" and it doesn't seem to be a problem. If you have a well-researched article on a topic that particular journal would be interested in, by all means submit it and see what they say. However, most people who publish in academic journals are faculty or grad students at universities.

People with connections to universities well-known in the field probably do have a better chance of getting published. Just part of the politics of academia.

The Answer will lay more in which journal you are trying to get published in, the question that you have asked is very broad. For the most part academic journals are written for peer-review, so this implies that one should be affiliated with academia in some fashion other then independent research writing. For the most part these journals publish the writings of grad students, research professors, and other highly educated members of academia.

Another consideration that should be made is that there is a distinction between academic journals and research journals. This can easly be seen when one compares Harvard's law journal to that of the New York Law Journal. Furthermore it is possible to have a research (non academic) article reprinted or mentioned in a academic journal once published though other means.

If you provide more detail I would be more then happy to look further into the issue for you. ~Joey V. ~.

I cant really gove you an answer,but what I can give you is a way to a solution, that is you have to find the anglde that you relate to or peaks your interest. A good paper is one that people get drawn into because it reaches them ln some way.As for me WW11 to me, I think of the holocaust and the effect it had on the survivors, their families and those who stood by and did nothing until it was too late.