Identify & Evaluate Journals
How can you identify journals to publish your work in? To start, look at the journals you read, that your colleagues read and publish in, and at who you cite in your work. Is there a pattern to those journals?
When considering a journal as a potential place to publish, here are some things you might ask yourself:
Is the journal the right place for my work?
- Does the subject matter covered in the journal match your scholarship?
- Do the types of articles published and article length guidelines match with what you want to submit?
- Who is the audience of the journal?
Is this a trusted journal?
Look for journals where you can answer yes to many of the following questions:
- Can you identify the publisher? Are they affiliated with an organization you're familiar with? Is there contact information present?
- Do the affiliations & backgrounds of the editorial board and authors publishing in the journal appear to be appropriate for the subject matter of the journal?
- Are articles peer-reviewed?
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Does the journal have an ISSN, and do articles have DOIs?
- Are the journal's copyright policies & any fees to publish clear? If you'd like to publish open access, are there options?
- Is the journal indexed in a database that you use? Ulrich's Periodical Directory will list databases the jorunal appears in.
You can also look at the Think Check Submit checklist, use a journal evaluation tool [pdf], or Ask a Librarian! We can help identify potential journals related to your field, and offer a number of tools that may help you locate an appropriate journal.
Journal Directories
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Directory of Open Access JournalsUse DOAJ to search or browse high-quality, peer-reviewed open access journal titles in all subjects and languages.
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MLA Directory of PeriodicalsClick on "Directory of Periodicals" at the top of the page. Search over 6,000 journals and book series that cover literature, literary theory, dramatic arts, folklore, language, linguistics, pedagogy, rhetoric and composition, and the history of printing and publishing.
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Ulrich's Periodical DirectoryUlrichsweb is the authoritative source of bibliographic and publisher information on more than 300,000 periodicals of all types: academic and scholarly journals, Open Access publications, peer-reviewed titles, popular magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and more from around the world.
Article analyzers & journal suggesters
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JSTOR Text AnalyzerDrag and drop a copy of your article into the Text Analyzer, and the tool will find similar content in JSTOR. Consider the journals that those papers are published in.
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Jane (Journal Author/Name Estimator)Enter your article title and/or abstract of the paper in the box, and click on 'Find journals', 'Find authors' or 'Find Articles'. Jane will then compare your document to millions of documents indexed in Medline to find the best matching journals, authors or articles.
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Elsevier Journal FinderElsevier Journal Finder uses smart search technology and field-of-research specific vocabularies to match your article to Elsevier journals.
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IEEE Publication RecommenderSearches 170+ periodicals and 1500+ conferences from IEEE, provides factors such as Impact Factor and Submission-To-Publication Time.
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Springer Journal SuggesterEnter your manuscript title & abstract, and the Journal Suggester will search over 2,500 Springer and BioMed Central journals to find suitable journals for your manuscript.
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ChronosHub Journal FinderBrowse, search, filter, sort, and compare more than 40,000 journals to find the right journal without worry about publishing in compliance with your funders’ Open Access policy.
Tools to Measure Journal Impact
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InCites Journal Citation Reports
A comprehensive resource that allows users to evaluate and compare journals using citation data drawn from scholarly and technical journals from publishers in over 60 countries. It is the only source of citation data on journals, and includes virtually all areas of science, technology, and social sciences.
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Scopus Journal AnalyzerUse the Journal Analyzer to compare up to 10 Scopus sources on a variety of parameters: CiteScore, SJR (Scimago Journal and Country Rank), and SNIP (source normalised impact per paper)
Read more about these tools & measures on Hirsh Library's Measuring Research Impact guide.
Predatory Publishing
"Predatory journals and publishers are entities that prioritize self-interest at the expense of scholarship and are characterized by false or misleading information, deviation from best editorial and publication practices, a lack of transparency, and/or the use of aggressive and indiscriminate solicitation practices."
Grudniewicz, Agnes, et. al. (2019). Predatory journals: No definition, no defence. Nature (London), 576(7786), 210–212. https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-019-03759-y.
Signs that a journal might be predatory include:
- The journal is not listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
- It's not listed in Ulrichs Periodicals Directory, which is an authoritative source on publisher information, including Open Access titles
- The publisher is not a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
- It's not widely available within major databases
Visit the website for the journal and consider the questions in the Identify & evaluate journals section above. Some red flags include:
- You don't recognize previously published authors or members of the editorial board
- The journal isn't affiliated with a University or scholarly organization you are familiar with
- You can't easily identify if they have author processing fees and/or how much they cost.
- The journal doesn't appear professional - look for an impact factor, an ISSN, DOIs for individual articles, and easy to find contact information
- There isn't clear information about a peer-review process, or the journal promises extremely fast turn-around times to publishing that don't allow enough time for review
Cornell Library Guide to Understanding and Avoiding Predatory Publishing
How to Write Journal Articles
Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, Second Edition
Call Number: Check the library catalogPublication Date: 2019"Wow. No one ever told me this!" Wendy Laura Belcher has heard this countless times throughout her years of teaching and advising academics on how to write journal articles. Scholars know they must publish, but few have been told how to do so. So Belcher made it her mission to demystify the writing process. The result was Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks, which takes this overwhelming task and breaks it into small, manageable steps. For the past decade, this guide has been the go-to source for those creating articles for peer-reviewed journals. It has enabled thousands to overcome their anxieties and produce the publications that are essential to succeeding in their fields. With this new edition, Belcher expands her advice to reach beginning scholars in even more disciplines. She builds on feedback from professors and graduate students who have successfully used the workbook to complete their articles. A new chapter addresses scholars who are writing from scratch. This edition also includes more targeted exercises and checklists, as well as the latest research on productivity and scholarly writing. Writing Your Journal Article in Twelve Weeks is the only reference to combine expert guidance with a step-by-step workbook. Each week, readers learn a feature of strong articles and work on revising theirs accordingly. Every day is mapped out, taking the guesswork and worry out of writing. There are tasks, templates, and reminders. At the end of twelve weeks, graduate students, recent PhDs, postdoctoral fellows, adjunct instructors, junior faculty, and international faculty will feel confident they know that the rules of academic publishing and have the tools they need to succeed.Publishing Journal Articles
Publication Date: 2012How do I go about writing a journal article? How do I maximise my chances of getting it published in a top journal? How do I know what journal to select? How do I best adapt my research work in order to get published? In this accessible, informative and entertaining book, Becker and Denicolo introduce the best practical strategies available to help you maximise your chances of success in getting your work published in the journal of your choice. This book offers down-to-Earth advice on such vital topics as: How to write and get the style right What to select for publication How to plan for success How to cope with writer′s block Working with editors and reviewers How to cope with rejection This is a must-have book for anyone seeking to write for successful journal publication. The Success in Research series, from Cindy Becker and Pam Denicolo, provides short, authoritative and accessible guides on key areas of professional and research development. Avoiding jargon and cutting to the chase of what you really need to know, these practical and supportive books cover a range of areas from presenting research to achieving impact, and from publishing journal articles to developing proposals. They are essential reading for any student or researcher interested in developing their skills and broadening their professional and methodological knowledge in an academic context.
- Zotero Group Library: Olin ImmersionAdditional books about writing journal articles, writing dissertations, and academia.
Attribution
This page was adapted with permission from the excellent guide on Scholarly Communication created by Andrea Schuler at Tufts University. Many thanks, Andrea.