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Library Guides

Library Research Support Services

Choosing a Journal for Publication

Use judgment to evaluate journal quality and metrics for journal visibility.  Use abstract matching tools or database search functionality to identify relevant journals in which to publish.  Choose a journal that allows you to share your work openly.

Tools for identifying a list of relevant journals

 Abstract/Journal matching tools

Tools provided by publishers and databases for authors to paste in an abstract and match your topic to likely journals that publish in this area.  Remember to always check the journal's aims and scope too as well as considering the editorial board, its peer review policy and whether your colleagues would recommend this title.

In the medical field, there is an additional tool:

Database keyword search & analysis

The simplest method to identify relevant journals in to see where similar research is getting published. 

Library databases e.g. Scopus/Web of Science can be used to search for words in your abstract/title to identify the typical journals that publish on your topic.  You can then use filter options to highlight the key journals by frequency of these search terms and use the additional analysis functionality for further insights into the metrics of these journals. 

You can filter further by affiliation to see if any UoP authors have published in these journals on this topic in order to identify who you may wish to approach for a discussion about their experience publishing in this journal.

The attached document shows an example. 

Reference Management for journal shortlisting

Additionally, if you use a Reference Management tool such as Endnote or Mendeley or Zotero, you will have a database of articles saved from your literature searching on your topic that you can filter for frequency of journal title by keyword.

Journal lists (and rankings)

We encourage authors to consider the target audience for readership and keep this at the forefront of any decision making publication venue with any journal metrics as a supplementary source of information.

Journals are gathered in subject listings by the main databases which can aid discovery of the available titles.  In most cases, these lists are also a set of rankings.  Determining a journal's 'ranking' position can help you identify where to publish as it can be an indication of the visibility of a journal in a field. 

Journal rankings are proprietary.  This means that any journal claiming to have an Impact Factor must be indexed in Web of Science.  Any journal claiming to have a CiteScore must be indexed in Scopus.   

When not to use Journal rankings/Impact Factors

Journal rankings metrics for journals are not a score by which to measure an individual or a research output.  A journal's IF should not be considered a proxy for the quality of an article it publishes nor used for research evaluation and benchmarking as citation practices vary across disciplines and IF of a journal can be gamed. 

There is growing recognition that metrics should be used responsibly for research evaluation.  See our guidance on which tools to use for measuring research impact and further information on responsible use of metrics:  

Journal listing and ranking tools:

Rankings and open access funder policies

There is increasing recognition that choosing journals based on Impact Factor alone (likely to be more traditional, not fully open access journals) can be in contradiction with funder Open Access policies.  cOAlition S (see Principle 10), UKRI and the Wellcome Trust have introduced policies that seek to reconcile open access policies and responsible evaluation of research enabling researchers to choose a publication venue that embraces openness.  (Early Career Researchers at Cambridge have lobbied on this issue.)

  • JISC's Open Policy Finder tool brings together the copyright policies of all major journals.  Use this tool to identify the journal's policy on Open Access and whether self-archiving (green open access deposit of manuscripts) is permitted.  The Policy Finder tool can also highlight if your chosen journal meets your funder's open access policy.

Evaluating journal quality and avoiding predatory publishers

Journal quality prompts

  • When assessing a journal's quality look to see if it is a member of OASPA (an organisation for Open Access publishers) as membership includes a set of standards. (Remember that newer journals won't be included so can't be evaluated this way). 
  • A directory of open access journals DOAJ reviews the quality of the journals it lists so can be a useful indication of if a journal is likely to be reputable. 
  • COPE (Committee on Publication Ethics) Check that your chosen journal is a member.
  • Retraction Watch Hijacked Journal Checker (article with a link to the checker in the explanatory text) Hijacked journals mimic legitimate journals by adopting their titles, ISSNs, and other metadata without permission. 

 Predatory Publishers

Charging fees for publishing Open Access is a legitimate business model, however this has been exploited by some companies who seek the payment without providing the services in return.  Journals should be providing services of peer review, editing and upholding ethical practice.  There should be no false or misleading information such as claiming to be indexed in databases when they are not.  Venues which charge open fees but do not provide such services are known as 'predatory'.  

If you receive unsolicited and/or aggressive marketing offering to publish your research, be extra vigilant in checking the quality and trustworthiness of the journal. 

 Think. Check. Submit. > Avoiding Predatory Publishers

Through a range of tools and practical resources, this international, cross-sector initiative aims to educate researchers, promote integrity, and build trust in credible research and publications.  Think. Check. Submit. can help researchers identify trusted journals in which to publish their research.