How to Choose the Right Journal for Your Manuscript
Choosing a journal can be challenging for prospective authors. They may feel overwhelmed by the plethora of options (PubMed and Scopus host more than 30,000 journals). They may feel nervous that their manuscript will get rejected by a particular journal. Or they may feel concerned about the potential impact of their choice. Where they publish can affect their professional reputation, funding opportunities, and career advancement.
While you might think that choosing the wrong journal is a mistake only made by early-career researchers, experienced researchers are not immune. Whereas early-career researchers might not be as familiar with journals in their field, experienced researchers may stay in their comfort zone by submitting to the same journals over and over again. This approach can limit the reach of their work and hinder their career prospects.
Researchers at all levels need to find the right journal to ensure they have the best chance of publishing their work in the best possible journal. To help you choose the right journal for your manuscript, you can assess the following key factors.
Key Factors in Selecting a Journal
Aims and scope
Your research topic needs to align with the mission and scope of the journal. You can often easily find this information on the journal’s website, under headings such as “About the Journal” or “Aims and Scope.” Read these sections carefully and consider whether the journal is a good match for your manuscript.
If you still feel a little hesitant, you can skim some of the journal’s articles to get a sense of the types of articles they publish. If you can find a handful of papers like yours that have been published in the past few years, you can feel more confident that your manuscript might be a good fit for the journal.
Author guidelines
Review the author guidelines to ensure that the journal accepts your article type. While many journals accept original research manuscripts, not all accept case reports, quality improvement papers, or other types of manuscripts.
The guidelines will also describe the accepted format, word limit, reference style, and more. If you have already written your manuscript, and you find that you would need to cut the length in half to meet the journal’s requirement, you may not want to submit to that particular journal.
Time to publish
The time from submission to publication varies between journals. Some journals get back to you within a few weeks and others may take up to four months to return a response. The length of time is mostly due to the volume of manuscripts the journal receives for review. If your manuscript is accepted to a good journal, or you need to make revisions and resubmit, you may not see the article published for up to a year after you submit it.
Another thing to consider is how often the journal publishes a volume. Do they publish weekly? Monthly? Annually? The more often they publish, the faster you should expect to hear news about your submission.
Special editions
Some journals will publish special editions that cover a particular topic in depth. Journals typically receive fewer submissions for these editions, which could make it easier for your manuscript to get published in that edition. Keep your eye out for a “call for papers” from journals of interest to you. If your manuscript fits the criteria, the call might be a great opportunity for you.
Impact and reach
The Journal Impact Factor has become the default metric for assessing the quality and reputation of a journal. Basically, this impact factor is a metric that evaluates the number of citations received by the articles published in the journal in proportion to the total number of articles published in that journal. The higher the ratio—or impact factor—the better quality the journal. But keep in mind that you need to look at impact factors in your particular field when choosing a journal. For example, not all research will match the aims and scope of JAMA (impact factor 45.5) or Cell (impact factor 38.6).
You might be tempted to simply submit to the journal with the highest impact factor. But you also want to consider the journal’s reach. You may want to prioritize the readership over the impact factor. How many people read the journal? What types of researchers read the journal? When your research is read by the right audience, your paper will receive more citations and have more impact.
Peer review process
A quality journal will disclose their peer review process. They will describe the criteria they use for peer review, how they select reviewers, their timeframes for review, and how they handle the process. They will also describe their ethical standards, such as how they handle confidentiality and conflicts of interest.
A strong peer review process will make your manuscript more robust. The reviewers (experts in your field) will review your manuscript and point out any gaps in logic, overreaching statements, or how you might otherwise improve the manuscript. This process is well-respected in research and should be considered carefully when choosing a journal.
Indexation
Publishing in an indexed journal will give your manuscript the most visibility. Well-indexed journals are considered more prestigious. To index a particular journal, databases consider the journal’s reputation, review process, quality of published papers, and more. When considering a journal, check whether the journal is indexed in common databases, such as PubMed, Scopus, or Web of Science.
Acceptance and rejection rates
As you might expect, journals with lower acceptance rates are considered more prestigious. And the more researchers that submit to a particular journal, the lower the acceptance rate. The type of article you submit can also affect the acceptance rate. For example, journals often receive more original research articles than case reports or reviews.
Understanding and comparing journal acceptance rates can be challenging. Some journals base their calculations on the total number of manuscripts submitted, and others use the number of manuscripts that went through their peer-review process. And some journals do not share acceptance rates at all. But if you can find the acceptance rate for a particular journal, you can also consider that information when choosing a journal.
Open access
More journals are offering options to publish manuscripts as open-access articles. While some journals are still closed access (often the more prestigious journals), many are fully open access or offer a hybrid option (closed and open access).
When considering open access, keep in mind that some funding agencies require that awarded researchers publish the work as open access. If the agency does not have this requirement, then you will need to decide whether you want to publish your work as open or closed access. In this decision, understand that while open access may engage more readers, such as those outside of your field, this access may not result in more citations.
Resources for Finding the Right Journal
Several online resources are available to help you choose a journal. Below are a few options you can explore.
Cabell’s Directory of Publishing Opportunities offers a suite of journal metrics, such as audience types and acceptance rates, to help authors find the right journal.
Elsevier’s Journal Finder uses smart search technology and vocabulary specific to your field to match the title and abstract of your manuscript with scientific journals. Note that this resource is useful only if you are looking to submit your manuscript to one of Elsevier’s journals.
EndNote Manuscript Matcher uses your title, abstract, and references in an algorithm that helps you compare potential journals to find the right match for your manuscript.
Google Scholar Metrics ranks the top 100 journals of different categories based on the h-index. This value can help you find highly cited articles for journals. If a journal has many highly cited articles, rather than just a few, then you can trust that the journal has a strong reputation.
Journal/Author Name Estimator, also known as Jane, compares your title, abstract, or keywords to millions of documents in PubMed to help you find the best matching journals.
Journal Citation Reports offer several metrics, including the journal’s impact factor, number of citations, and open access options.
Scimago Journal Rank measures the scientific impact of journals based on the number of citations a journal receives and the prestige of the journals from where they got the citations. You can easily sort results by subject area, category, open-access options, and more.
Springer Nature Journal Selector uses your title, text, and subject area to find relevant journals that you can compare to find the best place for publication. Note that this tool is useful only if you want to publish in a Springer or BMC journal.
Web of Science Master List assesses multiple indices of journals hosted on the Web of Science platform. With their Manuscript Matcher, you can find the right journal using their analysis of tens of millions of citation connections in their collection.
