LibGuides: Measuring Research Impact: Where to Publish

Considerations When Choosing a Journal

Where you publish can be as important as what you publish. Consider the following when choosing a journal to which to submit your article:

Is the journal indexed by major databases, such as PubMed, Web of Science, or other discipline-specific databases? This information can be found on the journal's website or Ulrichsweb.
Does the journal offer extra services, such as graphical abstracts, videos or social media promotion?

Do you wish to publish in an open access journal, or a journal that has an open access option? If so, what are the associated article processing charges (APCs)?
Does your article need to comply with a funder's public access policy?
Does the journal allow self-archiving a version of the article on a personal website or institutional repository? Is there an embargo period?

Elsevier Journal Finder
Elsevier is one of the largest publishers of peer-reviewed journals in all disciplines. This free tool uses the title and abstract of your manuscript to find the Elsevier journal(s) that would be the best match for your work.
EndNote Manuscript Matcher
Manuscript matcher, a feature in EndNote online, uses Web of Science data to suggest journals based on the title, abstract and references of your article. Anyone can create an online EndNote account, which can be synced with the desktop version of EndNote. Once you sign in to your online account, look for 'Match' in the menu at the top.
Journal/Author Name Estimator (JANE)
JANE compares the title and/or abstract of your article to MEDLINE records to find journals that are the best match for your article.
JournalGuide
Free tool that helps researchers evaluate journals. Paper Match feature offers journal recommendations based on your manuscript's title, abstract and/or keywords. Informational page for each journal lists its aims and scope, Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP), acceptance rate, submission and publication charges, when available, responsiveness and speed of publication. 'Verified' journals have been verified by third party indexes as recognized, reputable journals in their field.

Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
COPE provides advice to editors and publishers on all aspects of publication ethics, in particular how to handle research and publication misconduct. COPE members are expected to follow a code of conduct for journal editors. Search 'Member' page for journal or publisher.
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Directory of peer-reviewed open access journals. Journals must apply to be included in this directory. Journals that adhere to an exceptionally high level of publishing standards are awarded the DOAJ Seal.
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
Small group of medical journal editors that work to improve the quality of medical research and its reporting. Check that your journal or publisher follows ICMJE's Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.

Journal Citation Reports
Journal Citation Reports provides Journal Impact Factors, Eigenfactors and Article Influence Scores for science and social science journals.

NLM Catalog
Search the National Library of Medicine Catalog (NLM) to discover which journals are indexed in PubMed/MEDLINE and other National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI) databases.
Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
OASPA develops business models, tools and standards for open access publishers. Publishers must apply for membership to this organization, and are expected to adhere to set criteria. View 'Member' page for complete membership list.

SCOPUS
Scopus provides CiteScore, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) and Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) for journals, conference proceedings, book series, and trade journals.
Ulrichsweb
Ulrichs is the authoritative source of bibliographic and publisher information on more than 300,000 periodicals of all typesacademic and scholarly journals, Open Access publications, peer-reviewed titles, popular magazines, newspapers, newsletters, and more from around the world.

Potential Predatory and Legitimate Biomedical Journals: Can You Tell the Difference?
This cross-sectional study of biomedical journals, published in BMC Medicine, identified 13 potential characteristics of predatory journals.