Where to Publish Your Research

One of the most important parts of publishing is finding the right journal for your work. Targeting journals that coincide with your scholarly work will help to ensure that you are successful in your application for publication, that your research gets seen by the relevant audience, and in turn that the impact of your research is broad. When your research is shown to the audience that is most interested in it, there is a higher likelihood that you will be cited more frequently. 

The University Libraries homepage can be a great place to start your search for the right journal. You can browse by subject matter by navigating to the “Periodicals” button below the search bar. Periodicals (for those of you who might not remember this) is just another word for something that is published frequently, aka a journal. Once you start looking through the general discipline you should be able to find at least one journal that looks interesting to you. 

If you have keywords or an abstract, you can also use one of the publisher tools listed on the next page to search for journals that fit your subject area.

Another resources for finding the right journals is your community. Ask your mentor, professors, peers, and colleagues where they have published before and talk to them about their experiences.

When you find a journal that seems like a good fit for your research, you should conduct a thorough review of their website.  If you are using one of the above mentioned tools, you should feel comfortable publishing in the journal, but it is never a bad idea to get in the habit of reviewing journal websites to ensure they are trustworthy publications. This practice can come in handy when you are conducting research as well. 

Think. Check. Submit. is an excellent resource to use when evaluating a journal. They offer a checklist for you to use as you review a journal's website.

Review the journal articles published over the last two years:

• Do the articles follow established principles for reporting of research?
• Do the articles follow established scientific methods used in your field of research?
• How is the scientific rigor of the articles?
• How is the editorial quality of the articles?
• Do you recognize the authors as experts/colleagues in your field of research?

Review the journal website:

• Is there an Instructions for Authors section?
• Is the review process clearly noted?
• Is the journal indexed by established indexing sources?
• Do you recognize the editorial board members as experts/colleagues in your field of research?

Selecting a journal for scholarly and professional activities can be a confusing process especially if you are new to the publishing process. As follows are questions that can help with selection of a journal for publication.

• Which journals are used by you or mentors/colleagues? Review the journals you use for your research. Which journals do you use frequently to keep track of new developments in your field? Which journals do you cite for your research? Which journals are used by the main researchers in your area of research? Does the professional organization you belong to publish any journals? Also, check with your mentors and colleagues about journals they use—there may be some journals that are highly recommended for your area of research. Select journals may be more prestigious for tenure and promotion for your academic and research institution.
• Who is your desired audience? Knowing the scope and aim of the journal can help assess whether your article will reach the intended audience. If the target audience is international, select a journal with an international focus. If the target audience is limited to a select area of research, select a journal with a narrow focus as opposed to one with a multidisciplinary focus. Topic specific journals may disseminate your work more efficiently to your desired audience than a general science journal. More specialized journals, even with a potentially smaller readership, may offer a broader dissemination of your work to your peers in a specific area of research.
• Are you required to comply with public access mandates for sharing of publications and/or data? Authors whose articles were generated as a result of research funded by organizations such as NIH, Autism Speaks, CDC, among others, are required to comply with public access mandates for sharing of publications and/or data. Check the Instructions for Authors section of the journal website or the Copyright Transfer Agreement form to confirm the journal allows authors to comply with public access mandates.
• Do you need to publish in a peer-reviewed journal? Publication in peer-reviewed journals is a requirement for tenure and promotion at most academic institutions.  Peer review is defined as an organized procedure carried out by a select committee of professionals in evaluating the performance of other professionals in meeting the standards of their specialty.
• What is the quality of the peer review process? Does the journal provide clear and transparent information about the peer review process? Is the review process described on the journal website? How are the reviewers selected?  Are they qualified to serve as reviewers? How many reviewers will be assigned to a manuscript? How are revisions handled?
• Is an expedited review process desired? Do you have ground-breaking research results to report? A journal with a frequent (weekly or monthly) publication schedule may be best suited for your manuscript. The review process for a journal that publishes on a quarterly basis is most likely longer as opposed to one that publishes monthly. Other journals promote a speedy review process for authors and have special publication types for reporting of ground-breaking or time-sensitive research.
• Do you have a specific manuscript type in mind? Some journals publish specific types of articles and may not be appropriate for your research.
• What is the aim and scope of the journal? Is the journal appropriate for your research?
• What is the reputation of the journal? Is the journal published by a known publisher or professional organization?
• Does the journal provide information on research integrity and ethics for authors? Policies related to plagiarism, patient data, informed consent, duplicate publications, image integrity are noted by most journal publishers.
• Does the journal require reporting guidelines for reporting of research? Guidelines such as CONSORT, STROBE or PRISMA are examples of reporting guidelines. The purpose of standardized reporting guidelines is to ensure that readers can understand what was done, how and why.