Get an overview of journals in your field
In order to make an informed decision on where to submit your manuscript, you need to have an overview of suitable journals in your field. You may already have a number of journals in mind, which you came across when doing your literature review. It can be useful to write down these journal names.
You can also look at online journal rankings in a specific discipline or research area. Good websites for journal rankings are:
You can also look at online journal rankings in a specific discipline or research area. Good websites for journal rankings are:
- The Scimago Journal and Country Rank: https://www.scimagojr.com/journalrank.php
- Google Scholar Rankings: https://scholar.google.com/citations
- Scopus Journal Rankings: https://www.scopus.com/sources
Understand journal's impact factors
Most journal rankings are based on impact factors. Impact factors are indexes which showcase how frequently articles published in one journal were cited by others. The more often work is cited, the wider the reach.
Even though a growing amount of academics are opposed to impact factors as an indicator for academic quality (and rightly so), impact factors still matter for early career scholars. Especially for those who want to have an academic career. Application committees still look at the impact factor of journals in which applicants publish.
The above mentioned rankings can provide information on journals’ impact factors. Moreover, most journals indicate their impact factor on their own journal websites.
Even though a growing amount of academics are opposed to impact factors as an indicator for academic quality (and rightly so), impact factors still matter for early career scholars. Especially for those who want to have an academic career. Application committees still look at the impact factor of journals in which applicants publish.
The above mentioned rankings can provide information on journals’ impact factors. Moreover, most journals indicate their impact factor on their own journal websites.
Check which journals appear most prominently in your research list |
A good way to narrow down your choice of suitable journals is to look at your own reference list. Which journals appear repeatedly?
The chances are high that your manuscript is suitable for journals which you repeatedly cited in your own paper, as you contribute to an ongoing discussion already featured in previous publications.
Furthermore, in your own reference list, always cite several articles published in the journal that you target! So if you want to publish in a specific journal, but you realise that you have not cited any articles from that journal, make sure to include a few additional references. Your manuscript should contribute to an ongoing academic discussion on a specific topic. Thus, checking which journal published articles that you cite in your own manuscript is a smart strategy to find a suitable home for your work.
The chances are high that your manuscript is suitable for journals which you repeatedly cited in your own paper, as you contribute to an ongoing discussion already featured in previous publications.
Furthermore, in your own reference list, always cite several articles published in the journal that you target! So if you want to publish in a specific journal, but you realise that you have not cited any articles from that journal, make sure to include a few additional references. Your manuscript should contribute to an ongoing academic discussion on a specific topic. Thus, checking which journal published articles that you cite in your own manuscript is a smart strategy to find a suitable home for your work.
Check whether your manuscript fits into the journals' scope |
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A bad fit between a manuscript and the scope of a journal is one of the most frequent reasons to receive a ‘desk reject’ for your manuscript. Therefore, it is crucial to check whether your manuscript fits to a journal before submitting it.
A journal’s scope is always included on a journal’s website and can often be found under ‘author information’. |
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Make use of the experiences and knowledge of your supervisors and colleagues |
Talk with your supervisors and colleagues about potential journals to select for your next manuscript. Your supervisors have much more experience publishing in your discipline or field, so they may have a better overview of journals which allows them to better assess what journals fit best to your manuscript.
Similarly, your colleagues’ experiences can be very helpful when choosing a journal. For instance, they can share their experiences of how long they had to wait to receive feedback, and how smooth the collaboration worked with the journal editors.
Similarly, your colleagues’ experiences can be very helpful when choosing a journal. For instance, they can share their experiences of how long they had to wait to receive feedback, and how smooth the collaboration worked with the journal editors.
Consider options to publish open access
Open access publishing is becoming increasingly popular in academia, and rightly so. After all, disseminating knowledge is a widespread academic ambition.
Targeting an open access journal may not just be an ethical consideration when selecting a journal, but the reach of open access journals is often wider as well. While some journals are entirely open access, others publish some articles open access, and again others do not have any options to publish open access.
Sometimes, universities also enter special agreements with academic publishers which allow their employees to publish open access without paying individual fees. Thus, figure out if any agreements exist between journals and your university, and if you have the option to publish open access.
Targeting an open access journal may not just be an ethical consideration when selecting a journal, but the reach of open access journals is often wider as well. While some journals are entirely open access, others publish some articles open access, and again others do not have any options to publish open access.
Sometimes, universities also enter special agreements with academic publishers which allow their employees to publish open access without paying individual fees. Thus, figure out if any agreements exist between journals and your university, and if you have the option to publish open access.
More resources
- Writing Reviews for Academic Journals (Sign in required)
- What happens after submitting to a journal? (Sign in required)
- How to choose the RIGHT journal to publish your research paper with high chance of acceptance? - InSciLab
- 6 Steps to Choose the Right Journal for Your Research - Wiley
