This is the page you are looking at https://awandahl.github.io/isp_60_choosing_journal/
This is a support page and tool box for the ISP Webinar: Choosing a journal held at 2021-05-25.
Anders Wändahl email: aw@kth.se
Slides for this session
What is important to you when choosing a journal?
Why should you do this?
- Find the best possible journal for exactly your topic/subject and your audience
- Find, compare and evaluate several journals in your field
- Find alternative journals to submit to (in the unlikely event that you are rejected)
- Find relevant journals that you didn’t know of before - just as an orientation
- Check time from submission to first decision and publication of the article, as well as the acceptance rate
- Avoid to submit to a shady publisher
You will eventually arrive to a well motivated decision of a journal where to send your manuscript and you can - with pride - say something like…
“I have choosen to submit to the “International Journal of Fracture” because it is perfect for my topic, they accept the kind of article I have written, the metrics of the journal seems to be fairly good in comparison to other journals in the same field, the journal is covered by the major databases in my field, there is an Open Access option and the APC is waived by the publisher, the turn-around-time and acceptance rate seems fairly decent and my supervisor is also happy about my decison. By checking all aspects of this journal I also know that it isn’t among the shady journals that sometimes are called predatory.”
1. Find a candidate based on topic/subject, article type and study type:
The aim is to enter an abstract, and possibly a title and some keywords into a database and get examples of journals that has published in similar topics before.
Read About the Journal (Aims & scope) - Read Instructions for Authors
General non publisher-specific databases:
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Dimensions.ai
First click on the "Access for free" button. Then click in the search field and choose "Abstract Search". Paste in your abstract and PRESS CARRIAGE RETURN - THIS IS NON-OBVIOUS. You can filter your results in the left hand menu. The journals will be visible in the right menu under the header "SOURCE TITLES".
Video about how to use Dimensions
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EdanzJournal Selector</span>
Choose "Abstract/Keyword" in the left drop-down menu and paste your abstract in the search field
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JANE
Biomedicine only, paste in your abstract and search
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Web of Science Master Journals List Manuscript Matcher
Login required (free). Click on the "Match Manuscript" tab.
Publisher specific:
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Elsevier JournalFinder
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IEEE Publication Recommender
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Springer Nature Journal Suggester
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Taylor & Francis Journal Suggester
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Wiley JournalFinder
2. Check coverage/indexing in major bibliographic databases (database indexing)
The aim is to check that my journal is covered in as many databases as possible. The reason for this is that you really want your articla to be findable and visible by your colleagues. If you know that your colleagues use a specific database when they look for information in your topic, then make sure that your upcoming article will be included in that source. The information about the specific databases that cover a specific journal is called “database indexing” in librarian lingo.
- Remember that Google Scholar isn’t a major bibliographic database even though it’s a very common tool for information searching!
- Note that database indexing often is indicated on the journal webpages, see example at T&F.
General databases:
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Web of Science Master Journals List</span>
Journal's "profile pages" are visible after login
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Journal Guide
Not exhaustive, search for a journal and look at indices in the right hand menu
Subject specific:
Ei Compendex (find excel-sheet on page)
GEOBASE (find excel-sheet on page)
Library, Information Science & Technology Abstracts
Materials Science & Engineering Database
MathSciNet
Click on the journals tab
zbMATH NEWS FLASH - this database is Open Access as of 2021!!! Enjoy!!!
An example on how to find information about a journal in a subject specific database : mathematics
3. Check journal ranking in your subject
The aim is to compare different journals in terms of the average number of citations received. This is called the Impact Factor in common language.
- Remember to never compare two journals from different subject areas unless the indicator used is field-normalized
- SJR and SNIP are field-normalized, JIF and CiteScore are not.
CWTS Journal Indicators</span>
- Indicator = SNIP
- Based on citation data from Scopus and Web of Science
- Indicator: Journal Impact Factor (JIF) and Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) NEWS FLASH - JCI is a new field normalized indicator (2021-05-20)
- Based on citation data from Web of Science
Scimago Journal & Country Rank</span>
- Indicator = SJR
- Based on citation data from Scopus
- Indicators = CiteScore, SJR, SNIP
- Based on citation data from Scopus
- Indicators: 2, 1 or - (2 is the best)
- Based on expert panels
4. Check the Open Access options
The aim is to check wether the journal you have in mind has any option for Open Access publishing (OA). To publish OA has become the norm and most research funders require that your research results is in the open, for everyone to read.
5. Check the funders’ and journals’ Research Data requirements
The aim is to find out if your research funder has any special research data requirements. Some journals and publishers also have demands when it comes to accompanying data. One very basic requirement is that you at least should have a plan for how you handle your data, a so called Data Management Plan (DMP).
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Frontiers: Policies and Publication Ethics
Go to 2.4.2 Availability of Data -
Springer Nature Data Policies FAQ Springer Nature Journals’ data policy
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Taylor & Francis: Data sharing policies Taylor & Francis: Data availability statements
6. Check Acceptance Rate, Turn-Around-Time, Peer Review and editorial policies
The aim is to find the average time it takes from the moment you submit your manuscript to the first decision, possible acceptance and finally real publication. Another number that is of interest is the likeliness that your manuscript is accepted, the so called acceptence rate. The acceptance rate is usually much lower in high ranking journals. It’s also useful to know a little about the peer-review process.
Read About the Journal (Aims & scope) - Read Instructions for Authors
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Scholarly Kitchen: “Guest Post - Author-Friendly Journal Websites” by Jerry A. Jacobs
A very good read about the topic -
SciRev
Researchers sharing their experiences - non-profit -
Springer
Read about impact factors and turn-around time on the journals' webpages
Peer review
- Transpose (newly added to this page - not completely evaluated)
A database of journal policies on peer review, co-reviewing, and preprinting
Editorial policies
- Platform for Responsible Editorial Policies (PREP)
PREP is an online platform that presents integrated information about the variety of review procedures currently in use in a journal and provides information and tools for journals to use journal metrics in a responsible way.
7. Other aspects on your choice of journal
- The scientific strength of your paper
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Policy for publishing at your university
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Publishing tradition at your department
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Your supervisor
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Possibility to suggest peer-reviewers
Have you learnt anything? Comments? Reactions?
Questions from the audience (before the presentation)
- What are the necessary criteria for choosing a perfect research journal for publishing research article? Ho
- I would like to know the best Journal to publish research work based on Foliar/plant Elemental analysis using X-ray Fluorescence Spectrometry(XRF)
- How best to access journals of choice especially those that are not open to the public?
- How to identify a predator journal?
- How to conduct systematic literature review
- Some journals are more expensive, is it worth it ?
- How to know the impact of a journal before going for it?
- Could you talk about MDPI and whether you consider it predatory? See https://paolocrosetto.wordpress.com/2021/04/12/is-mdpi-a-predatory-publisher/
- I will be happy to learn more from the personal experiences of the presenters.
- I have needed some simulation process like EMTP/ATP.
- How to check if a journal is predatory
- How to choose good journal for publication of research work?
- Can we get the information and journals related to Lightning, Atmospheric Aerosols, Solar Energy and Atmospheric Sciences including the Climate Change or not
- Are there any fund source that can support for research publication fee?
- can we prefer the publication of scientific articles on online journals?
- If possible, I would like to see more expreience on how to deal with spam email from predators.
- What does it take to set up a viable scholarly journal?
- Can u explain about to choose topic that relationship about the topics that we want to find in journals?
- We need the applications to generate the references in the writing of our articles and briefs
- I want to know more human capital development journal and publication related.
- The topic was essential as there was a problem for postgraduate students to select which.
- How to choose less article publication charge with high impact journals?
- Should we rely so much on IMPACT FACTORS in order to choose a journal for publications?
- Why is choosing journals necessary?
- What are the most popular topics of the journals in this web?
- I would like to know a publisher best suited in XRF AND PLANT ANALYSIS
- I would like to know if after this webinar we shall able according to our topic to choose a journal where we can publish our research work easily ?
- I am very interested in the topic, but my question is related to Labs éequipement. I am évolving in the field of thermal energy. Would you mind helping us to get Labs equipement ?