Selecting Where to Publish

How to select the Right Journal

Deciding the right journal to publish your research in is very important to ensure your research is well disseminated and has an impact. Choosing the right journal to submit your paper to for publication is often challenging, and involves a variety of factors including the fit of the article to the journal, the reputation of the journal, the journal readership, turnaround times and rejection rates. 

This quick guide below can help you make an informed decision on where to publish - more detailed information and webinars are available at the Universty of Galway Library

You should target the top quality journals that are relevant for your work, and that are likely to be read and cited by other researchers in your field. The following can help you identify where to target: 

• Peer Advice - Discuss where to publish with senior colleagues or mentors - they will be well placed to determine which outlets are considered prestigious in your discipline.
• Reputation / Prestige: Is the journal indexed and peer reviewed (eg included in a  large, multidisciplinary database of peer-reviewed literature like Scopus or Web of Science).  Proper indexing of journals adds to their reputation and articles published in peer reviewed journals enjoy great respect due to the stringent publishing process.  Consider also journal citation indicators which can be indicative of the importance or impact of a journal (by calculating the times its articles are cited). 
• Discipline fit: Identify a journal suitable for your discipline to help reach your target audience. Research where your peers are publishing and their success and impact using tools like Scopus. 
• Avoid predatory or cloned journals - these are typically open access journals with little or no peer review, low academic standards and little credibility. Beall's maintains a list of such journals. 
• Other factors to consider include the journals publication Turnaround Times, whether its Open Access, if there is a Cost to publish in the journal (there may be an institutional subscription) and Acceptance Rates. 

There are many third party databases and lists that can aid your in your selection:

• Discipline specific lists of top journals and publishers like FT50 or ABS List in Business. 
• Directory of Open Access Journals - maintains a list of indexed journals that consider the quality of the paper, the review process, regularity of publications and reputation of the journal.
• Many large publishers have online tools that allows you to enter the title and abstract of your paper to easily find journals that could be best suited for publishing in:

Elsevier
Springer
Taylor and Francis
Wiley

Scopus database (part of Elsevier) also have a free journal and rankings database available to help select a journal, and compare journals in your subject area across a number of different bibliometrics including citation indicators to help identify relevant top quality Journals in Scopus.