Selecting The Right Journal by Enago Academy - HTML preview

Selecting the Right

Journal

According to an estimate, more than 70,000 research journals exist,

growing at a rate of about 3.5% per year. More than 1,000 new

journals were launched in 2014 alone. These numbers can make

journal selection a daunting task. However, you can get help from

various online tools to narrow down your search for the appropriate

journal.

Find the Right Journal

One of the first steps in choosing the right journal is to know its scope and aim. This information is usually available on the journal’s

website. It will also help you find the kind of articles the journal is

interested in publishing. You can also read some of the articles the

journal has published. Is there any similarity between those articles

and your own manuscript? If not, it might not be the right journal for

you.

You can also get information from your literature review. Look for

journals, wherein the papers you cited have been published. It is

likely that those journals may also be interested in your work. This

approach can be helpful when journal’s scope does not give you

enough details to decide whether that journal would be the right fit

for your manuscript.

You should also consider how long a journal takes to publish articles.

With some journals, there can be a considerable delay between

submission and publication. Your choice of the journal can also

depend on the type of the audience you want to reach out. Based on

your requirements, you may also look for a journal with broad scope,

wider target audience and an online presence.

Selecting the Right Journal

Chew (1991) surveyed manuscripts rejected by the American

Journal of Roentgenology (AJR) to investigate whether, when, and

where they had been published. The results showed that 82% of

the major papers and 70% of the case reports that were

submitted to AJR during the study period were eventually

published elsewhere (Radiology, Clinical Nuclear Medicine, etc.)

or even in AJR within 18 months of being rejected. This directly

tells us that selecting the right journal is a very important factor in

the publication process.

We know that publication of research in peer-reviewed journals

marks the last step in the scientific process. Through the process

of peer review and publication, a research study is validated,

disseminated, credited, and archived. Once published, a paper

and the information it contains can be indexed, retrieved, cited,

and incorporated into the knowledge base. When a paper is

rejected, this process comes to a halt. Unless the paper can be

accepted for publication elsewhere, the work will be lost.

To choose a “suitable” journal is to select one that will maximize

your chances of publication.

Covered in this ebook are six easy steps to selecting the right

journal.

Step 1: List the Field of Study and Related Fields

The first step in selecting a journal is to consider as many fields

of study that pertain to the planned article.

Sample list for a Physics Researcher

Research Topic: Fabrication of carbon nanotubes

Subject 1: Nanotechnology

Subject 2: Materials Science

Subject 3: Applied Physics

Subject 4: Physical Chemistry

Subject 5: Biomedical Engineering

Strive to create a list of at least five fields of study that overlap

with the proposed manuscript’s content. Think broadly at this

stage; the journal choices can be narrowed at a later time.

Step 2: Find Journals Related to Those Fields

Once you have listed the fields of study that overlap with the

manuscript’s content, consult online resources, a university

librarian, and/or professionals in the fields and determine

journals that are published in each field. The reference list from

your thesis may also provide clues to journals that publish in

these topic areas. At this point you should also consider the

stated purpose of the journal. For purposes of illustration, four

broad categories of journals are suggested based on the target

audience:

 General or all-purpose journals contain elements of

important social, political, and economic issues. They are

usually designed for a broad audience and not limited to a

specialty.





 Review journals contain the current state of knowledge or

practice in a particular field. They provide background

information to those who want an overview on the current

status in a field.



 Research journals are predominantly devoted to reporting

original investigations, including research in the basic

sciences. They are usually read by specialists in a field.



 Clinical or practice journals have as their dominant

purpose documenting the state of current practice. This is

done through the publication of case reports, discussions,

commentaries, etc.

Sample list for a Physics Researcher

General or all-purpose journals: Nature, Science

Review journals: Review of Modern Physics, Applied Physics

Reviews

Research journals: Nano Letters, Advanced Materials

Tip 1!

Concentrate your search on journals with online editions. They

naturally have a wider

audience.

Here are some helpful online resources to get you started:

http://scientific.thomson.com/

http://highwire.stanford.edu/

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/



By now you would have listed around 10 or 15 journals. Based

on online research and advice from librarians or colleagues, list

some of the major characteristics and competitive factors of

each of these journals.



 Content and Coverage : Scientific journals publish

numerous types of articles, including original articles,

review articles, letters to the editor, editorials, news

reports, commentaries, brief/short communications, and

case reports. The research article is the most common

type of article published in medical journals. Journals

reporting original research are more likely to contain

unique contributions to the coverage of a field and

therefore are selected more often than those containing

only case reports.





 Readership : International peer-reviewed journals attract a

wider readership than regional journals. English is the

universal language of science. It is clear that the journals

most important to the international research community

will publish only in English. This is especially true for

natural sciences. Most regional journals have now started

to publish abstracts in English.



 Publication Lag Time and Frequency of Publication :

Different journals have different lag times for acceptance

(from the date of submission) and publication (from

acceptance to print). This depends on the format of the

submission as well as the frequency of publication. For

example, Rapid Communications are published quicker

than Original or Review Articles. The frequency of a journal

can be weekly, monthly, quarterly, etc. The publication lag

time for monthly journals is usually obviously lesser than

that for a quarterly journal. However, the popularity of the

journal (the number of articles waiting to be published)

also plays a role here).





 Impact Factor : The quality of most journals is judged by an

index called Impact Factor. A high impact factor indicates

that papers published in the journal are frequently cited in

the same or other journals. Impact factor is a good

indicator for popularity and quality of research. But be

careful; this index is only meaningful in the context of

journals in the same general discipline. For example,

smaller fields like Crystallography do not generate as many

articles or citations as do larger fields such as

Biotechnology or Genetics.

None of the above journal characteristics are necessarily good

or bad. The importance of the above information lies in

matching your manuscript optimally to the goals and

characteristics of the journal.

Evaluate Suitability to Your Research

We will now taper the list of potential journals by comparing

their characteristics to those of the existing or hypothesized

work product. This is a multi-step process.

To begin, consider the ultimate goal in publishing the manuscript.

Some examples of goals are:

 To influence clinicians’ behavior: You can focus on journals

with clinicians as the audience. As clinicians are busy

people, you should write a short article.



 To report details of a very specialized topic: You should

focus on very specialized journals with specific circulation,

albeit a smaller audience.





 To introduce an audience to a topic that people would not

normally think or care about: Think about journals with a

readership interested in the general topic of the

manuscript (e.g., assessment) but who knows little about

the focal topic (e.g., assessment of deaf children)







 To get something into print that is worthwhile but not

particularly sophisticated or influential, rather than never

publish it at all: A less competitive journal may be a wise

choice in this situation.

Once you have got your goal in place, write down your desired

characteristics, noting in each case whether a given journal on

the list seems to be advantageous, disadvantageous, or neutral.

This process should narrow down the list of journals by at least

half.

Review the “Instructions to Authors”

The next step toward final journal selection is to locate each of

the journal’s “Instructions to Authors” document. Most journals

will have this document on their website. Some publish this in

each issue, others only once per year. Study that page for

additional information that can further narrow the list of

journal options. The instructions page may contain lists of

topics that are welcomed or discouraged and information on

page limits. This is a good page to find out about the different

types of manuscripts the journal publishes (e.g., some journals

do not publish book reviews).

Tip 2!

It is always better to first choose the journal before you write

the article. But in case you have done it the other way around,

pay attention to details like the length of the manuscript,

number of figures/tables allowed, etc.

Final choice

By now, you have all the information you need to make a

decision. If the final choice is not yet obvious, it may be helpful

to contact the journal editor to discuss the nature of the

intended submission and whether or not the editor thinks it is

appropriate for the publication. Editors are proud of their

journals, and in some sense, are like talent scouts, in that they

are always on the lookout for appropriate, quality submissions,

especially from new authors. Most will give generously of their

time and advice or guide in this matter.

Send the editor a brief email describing the following the

essential features of the proposed manuscript and ask if the

journal would be an appropriate one for a submission. This

letter is different from a cover letter that you need to submit

when a manuscript is being submitted. Some important points

to include in this letter are:

 Title of Manuscript



 Type of Article



 Target audience



 Estimated number of words



 Brief summary (single paragraph)

After a final decision has been made on the most appropriate

journal for submission, you are not ready to start writing your

manuscript. Ensure that the manuscript conforms to the

characteristics, style, and preferences of the chosen journal.

Also, follow exactly the instructions given to potential authors.

Before submission, don’t forget to edit your manuscript!

Quick Tips for Journal Selection

Make a List of the Journals Available

It is essential to obtain reasonably comprehensive knowledge about

available journals in the given subject area. Consulting your peers,

searching through online listings, and checking with professional

associations can help us get a list of the journals.

Determine the Impact of the Journal

Quantitative measures such as the Impact Factor, Journal Rank,

Article Influence, and h-Index are used to determine the impact of

the journal. These are generally linked to the citation rate for articles

published in the journal; however, these values and the absolute

numbers of citations can both be scrutinized.

Make Sure the Journal Scope and Policies match your Needs

The subject areas covered and the types of articles published should

be ascertained. This will contribute towards addressing the suitable

target audience. Further, you should go through the editorial policies

and practices of the journal. This would help to anticipate any

situations that may emerge during the submission and peer review

process.

Check the Journal Requirements and Distribution

Most journals have a certain style for the article. The article must be consistent with the requirements of the journal. The mode of

distribution (print/online) and number of subscribers determine the

reach of the journal. For open access, where the content is available to all, having an estimate of the typical number of readers helps. This

would mean that your article would reach that many number of

people.

Collect Information about the Journal’s Peer Review Process

Information about the peer review process for the specific journal, including stature of reviewers, objectivity, and timelines, should also

be gleaned from a variety of sources. Actual values or estimates of

rejection rates should be obtained.

Check the “Instructions for Authors” thoroughly

The “Instruction for Authors” has certain additional information for

the authors that one must keep in mind before submitting the

manuscript. For example, topics that are welcome, discouraged, page

limit etc. may be mentioned here, that are important for the authors.

Therefore, this list must be thoroughly checked.

Now that you have gone through the checklist, you can make

the selection of the best possible journal for your manuscript. So get going!

References:

1. Chew, F., Fate of AJR Rejected Manuscripts. American

Journal of Roentgenology 156: 627, March 1991

2. Garfield, E., How ISI Selects Journals for Coverage:

Quantitative and Qualitative Considerations. Current

Contents, May 1990