Research staff and students often share their research by publishing it in a journal. With the proliferation of online journals, it has become increasingly difficult to ascertain which are the most suitable and of good quality.
When selecting a journal title to publish in, there are a number of key criteria you will need to consider including:
Check the journal itself for this information or alternatively, check the Ulrich's Periodicals Directory which is a comprehensive directory of 300,000+ serial titles covering 900 subject areas, to obtain this information.
Does the scope of the journal meet your needs? Is it relevant to your research? The Ulrich's Periodicals Directory can provide you with some of this information so it is a good starting point. In addition, the journal website itself will give you more detailed information about the aim and scope of the journal.
There are a number of ways to determine whether a journal is prestigious. Firstly, is it listed on the ERA List of Submitted Journals?
- ERA 2018 Journal List is a spreadsheet of the Australian Research Council’s list of approx. 25,000 journal titles in which articles have previously been submitted. The list can be searched more easily by journal title or by Field of Research from a database created by John Lamp of Deakin University here: ERA Current Outlets Access
- Is the journal ranked? Check the SCImago Journal Ranking. Look for journals with a Q1 ranking.
A journal is more likely to be discovered if it is indexed by a major journal database such as the:
Ulrich's Periodical Directory, Web of Science database, Scopus Database.
You can also check the CDU eJournals portal to see if it is indexed by a database that CDU subscribes to.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ), a freely accessible database of 10,000 open access journal titles, is a good starting place to search for open access journal titles in your area of interest.
SHERPA/RoMEO, is a database of publishers' policies on copyright and self-archiving.
The dark side of publishing. Butler, D. (2013)
Thirty-one things to consider when choosing which journal to submit your paper. Dunleavy, P. (2016)
The EndNote Manuscript Matcher or Elsevier Journal finder are tools to help you identify a relevant journal.
Publons’ Journal List is a positive and dynamic alternative to Beall’s list of potential predatory journals and publishers.
It not only includes information collected about vetted partners, but also data contributed by reviewers in the Publons community.
Publons is a website and free service for researchers to share, discuss and receive credit for peer review and editing of academic publications.
Publons' mission is to "speed up science by making peer review faster, more efficient, and more effective".
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