Choosing an appropriate journal for publication can be a difficult task, especially for young scientists. In order to navigate through the variety of scientific publications available in the scientific space, we have prepared a checklist with the main criteria to pay attention to when selecting a journal to publish a scientific paper.
Criteria for selecting a scientific journal to place an article:
Criterion 1 - journal subject matter
The first and most important step is to make sure that the problematic of the research corresponds to the subject of the journal. Scientific journals most often publish materials that correspond to specific fields of knowledge - humanities, social sciences, basic, applied, exact, technical, medical, environmental and other sciences. We recommend that you carefully study the journal's website, its specialization, and read previously published articles to determine whether your material is suitable for this publication.
Criterion 2 - publication indicators
In order to make the right decision about the journal to submit an article to, check its scientometric indicators to fully assess its influence in the academic space:
- CiteScore ( a metric introduced by Elsevier to assess the impact of scientific journals based on the average number of citations received by articles published in the journal over the last four years)
- SJR ( metric takes into account not only the number of citations but also their quality, taking into account the prestige of the journals that cite the articles)
- SNIP ( the metric takes into account the specificity of the subject area, which makes the indicator more fair when comparing journals across disciplines)
- JIF( the indicator is based on the average number of citations of articles published in the journal over a certain period of time).
Criterion 3 - business model of the journal
There are three main business models for academic journals: traditional, Open Access and hybrid:
- Traditional - authors can publish for free and access to the articles contained in the journal is provided by subscription
- Open Access - the most common choice among scientists, as this model supports the ideas of democratization of science and wide access to scientific results for any reader
- Hybrid - combines elements of the traditional and open access model. Authors can choose whether to publish their article in open access for a fee, or to make it available only to subscribers.
Criterion 4 - reputation of the publication
The widespread use of Open Access publications has led to the emergence of fraudsters and a kind of "dark market" - predatory journals. Before sending a study to the editorial office of a journal, it is worth carefully studying its activity, reputation in the scientific space, availability of indexing in authoritative databases (Scopus and Web of Science), frequency of issues and quality of journal content. It is also highly recommended to check the publication in "Bill's List", which represents unscrupulous publishers who produce predatory open access journals.
If the publication has a questionable editorial policy, offers urgent publication and promises a 100% guarantee of the result, it is worth thinking about such cooperation. Reputable publications usually have a queue for several months in advance to place materials in their issues, accepting only the best scientific papers that meet the highest quality standards. To choose a suitable publication, we recommend using a scientific consulting service.
Criterion 5 - speed of publication
The editorial policy of scientific publications includes several key stages that determine the timing of review and publication of articles. The terms of review and consideration of scientific papers can vary significantly in the publications depending on the subject area, the procedure of submission and processing of articles, the workload of the editorial office and the speed of reviewers, as well as the reputation of journals. Publications with high scientometric indicators are in high demand in the scientific society, and therefore the terms of publication in such scientific journals are longer. You can familiarize yourself with the editorial policy, review and publication deadlines on the web pages of the editions.
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