Digital strategies to find the right journal for publishing your research

Digital Scholar
Webinar
April 3, 2019
Hosted by Enago Academy and the Southern California Clinical and
Translational Science Institute (SC CTSI), University of Southern California (USC)
and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles (CHLA)

Katja Reuter, PhD,
Director of the Digital
Scholar Program
About Today’s Session
Career building

Today’s Topic
Digital strategies
to find the right
journal for
publishing your
research

Gu, X. & Blackmore, K. Scientometrics (2016) 108: 693. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-016-1985-3
Growth of Academic Journals

Today’s Learning Objectives
vUnderstand journal selection mechanisms in the
digital age including finding journal rankings online and
identifying predatory journals.
vDescribe novel digital tools that assist with
identifying the right journal for a research project.
vUnderstand the role of associations such as
Think.Check.Submit and others in facilitating effective
journal selection.

Duncan Nicholas
Today’s Speaker
Duncan Nicholas
Former Development Editor at
international academic publisher
Taylor and Francis Group, and now
Director of DN Journals research
publishing consultancy, and Senior
Consultant for Enago Academy

Questions: Please use the Q&A
Feature
1. Click on the tab here
to access Q&A
2. Ask and post
question here
1
2

Digital Strategies to Find the Right Journal for
Publishing your Research
Copyright © 2019 Enago Academy | All Rights Reserved.
Duncan Nicholas

Agenda
Overview of Journal Selection
Considerations while Selecting a Journal
Think Check Submit Initiative
Digital Tools to Identify the Right Journal
Tools to Ensure Authenticity of Journals
Tools to Identify Journal Ranking

Overview of Journal Selection

Role of
Journals
Help set
intellectual
standards
Help the
researchers
advance in
their
careers
Convey
results to
the
academic
community
Certify
authenticity
of research
Facilitate
communication
among
researchers
Overview of Journal Selection (1/3)

Research
Manuscript
preparation
Journal
selection
Journal
Focus of this
presentation

Figure 3. The growth of peer-reviewed
international journals since 1665. Source: Mabe,
2003.
In 2014, there were about
28,100 active peer-reviewed
English language journals.
In 2016, there were about
900 active predatory
journals reported.
No.ofjournals
Figure 4. The growth of predatory publishing
since 2011. Source: Times Higher Education.
Growth in Journal Numbers

Considerations while Selecting a Journal

Identifying your target journal is like
searching for a needle in a haystack
Certain factors need to be
considered for identifying the
most appropriate journals

1. Is the journal niche or general?
2. Significance: who does your work help?
3. Novelty/Innovation: what is the outcome of your work?
4. Does the journal:
accept your article type? (Original, review, case report, letter/communication)
accept theoretical/applied research?
accept clinical/laboratory research?
publish open access/subscription?
charge publication fees?
Read sections titled ‘About the journal’ and ‘Aims and scope’ to check if the scope
of journal covers your research area
TIPS
Matching Aims & Scope

Broad scope journals
Ø Top-tier Journals (Cell,
Nature, Science): More
competition and lower
acceptance rate.
Ø Mega Journals (PLOS ONE):
High acceptance rates but
charge publication fees.
Specialized journals
ØTraditional and society-linked
journals. Different levels of
specialization.
ØNarrow focus ensures
exposure to a targeted group
of researchers.
Accessibility (1/3)

International Journals
Ø Offer widest exposure and global
recognition
Ø Generally higher publishing and
ethical standards
Ø May not be accessible to
researchers because of lack of
funds
Regional Journals
Ø Good fit for domestically
significant research (e.g.,
endemic diseases)
Ø May not be recognized
internationally
Ø May not meet indexing
standards of major databases
Accessibility (2/3)

Open Access (OA) model
Accessibility (3/3)
Traditional model
Published material can only be accessed by readers who have
subscribed to the journals.
Gold open access model
Research material is freely accessible to readers once
published.
Green open access model
Material is deposited in a discipline or subject specific
open repository.
Hybrid model
Some content in the journal is openly accessible whilst the rest
requires subscription.

Discoverability (1/2)
Is the journal included in major abstracting and indexing
(A&I) services?
The availability of journals through these A&I services is a clear
indication of a journal’s credibility.
Directories and Services:
• ISI – Impact Factor
• Web of Science
• Scopus (EI compendex)
• SciFinder
• IEEE Xplore
• PubMed
• EMBASE
• CiteSeerX

Does the journal/publisher have social media presence?
Are the articles indexed by popular search engines?
Discoverability (2/2)
TIPS
You can improve the “searchability” of articles by including the following:
ü Use popular keywords
ü Optimize vector graphics
ü Using Google Analytics
ü Publicize your article on social media through different platforms (interest
groups, Twitter, LinkedIn)

Journal Quality (1/2)
Is the journal read
by your target
audience?
Is it led by an
effective editorial
board?
Is it a peer-
reviewed
journal?
Is the publisher
clearly mentioned?
How does it rank
compared with
other respected
journals in your
field?
Is it subscribed to
by libraries?
Does it have an
ISSN No?
Quality
Criteria

Citation metrics
• Serve as a measure of a journal/article/author/institution’s
research impact based upon citations
• Can be journal or author specific
• Journal specific metrics include:
• Journal Impact Factor
• Eigenfactor
• 5-year Impact Factor
• Immediacy Index
Journal Quality (2/2)
ØJournal metrics can have problems
ØLook at all factors before making a decision

Key evaluation factor
- Review journal statistics on publication time frames (from
submission to online release)
- Are articles from the target journal released online as soon as
accepted?
- Is your research study time sensitive? (short communication
of research breakthrough vs. review article)
Speed of publication

Other factors
Funding
agencies’
policies
Ethical
guidelines
Article
processing
charges
Accessibility
and
readability
on mobile
devices
Archiving
article &
supplemental
data
Compliance
with public
access
mandates

Think. Check. Submit. Initiative

Importance of Identifying the Right Journal
• Guide researchers to identify
established and authentic journals
for their research
• Collectively with author education,
this cross-sector initiative promotes
integrity and certainty on reliable
research study
• Coalition founded in the wake of
deceptive publishing
Think. Check. Submit (1/3)
Source: https://thinkchecksubmit.org/

• BioMed Central
• Ubiquity Press
• Springer Nature
• Asian Council of
Science Editors
(ACSE)
• SPARC Europe
• Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers
(ALPSP)
• Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)
• Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
• INASP
• ISSN International Centre
• Ligue des Bibliothèques Européennes de Recherche –
Association of European Research Libraries (LIBER)
• Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)
• International Association of STM Publishers (STM)
• UKSG
Contributing OrganizationsFounding Organizations

Think !
• Verify that the selected
journal is authentic. Do
not fall for predatory
journals!
• Ensure that your
research study matches
the aims and scope of
the selected journal.
Check
• Whether or not you
peers know about the
journal
• If the publisher is
trackable
• If the journal’s peer
review system is specified
clearly
• If the already published
articles are indexed
• Journal fee structure
• Editorial Board members
• Affiliation with industry
initiatives/organizations/t
rade associations
Submit
• Only if the answer is
“YES” to most or all of
these questions .
Source: https://thinkchecksubmit.org/

Digital Tools to Identify the Right Journal

Author-specific Tools: FindMyJournal
Ø On-of-its-kind software assisting researchers in identifying the most suitable
journal by the application of mathematical and objective algorithm.
Ø Extremely useful for early-stage as well as experienced researchers, for
whom interdisciplinary publication could be a daunting process.
Ø Major publishers and databases include-
1. Elsevier
2. Taylor & Francis Group
3. Wiley
4. Springer
5. Web of Science
6. Scopus
7. SAGE
8. PubMed

ü Subject area
ü Most cited journals in your
manuscript
ü Objective of your research study
ü Article type
ü Expected time for publication
ü Accessibility (Open Access)
ü SCI-Indexing
ü Target audience-type: Specific or
Wide
ü Comparative quality of the journal
ü Keywords based on your
manuscript
The most appropriate journals suited for your manuscript are suggested based on:
Image source: https://www.findmyjournal.com/
Author-specific Tools: FindMyJournal

• With the application of advanced search algorithm, OAJF
enables its users to find top-notch open access journals indexed
by the most-trusted Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ).
• Aims to solve familiar issues related to authenticity of journals
with increasing prevalence of predatory journals.
• Enago’s proprietary search algorithm helps authors narrowing
the list of most-relevant journals, matching the purpose of your
research study, thus increasing your chances of publication.
• Short-listed journals are:
ü Keyword-targeted, most relevant to the subject area of your research study
ü Validated and certified by DOAJ
ü Include international high impact, peer-reviewed publications
Author-specific Tools:
Enago’s Open Access Journal Finder (OAJF)

Author-specific Tools:
Enago’s Open Access Journal Finder (OAJF)
https://www.enago.com/academy/journal-finder/

Publisher-specific Tools
Elsevier® Journal Finder
• Journal finder tools such as Springer Nature
Journal Suggester, Wiley’s Journal Finder
Beta, Elsevier® Journal Finder have a very
user-friendly process.
• The authors have to submit the title of the
manuscript and the abstract, followed by
selecting the subject area.
• The software would return a list of the best-
matched journals suited for manuscript
submission.

Publisher-specific Tools
Sources:
https://journalfinder.elsevier.com/, https://journalsuggester.springer.com/ ,
https://journalfinder.wiley.com/

Tools to Ensure Authenticity of Journals

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
ØAn online directory indexing ~12,000 high-quality, peer-reviewed,
open access journals across STEM, social science and humanities
disciplines.
ØThe directory is a good starting point for searches relating to the
credibility and trustworthiness of open access journals.
ØPromotes following the Principles of Transparency and Best
Practices in Scholarly Publishing.

An example of open access journal searched on DOAJ
Source: https://doaj.org/
Journal
accepted
by DOAJ
DOAJ seal

An example of article-level search
on DOAJ
Source: https://doaj.org/

When submitting to an open access journal, check DOAJ for the
following:
ü The journal is listed.
ü The publisher is a member of DOAJ.
ü The journal adheres to the revised DOAJ acceptance criteria.
ü The journal has been awarded the DOAJ Seal.
ü The journal has been removed from DOAJ.

Journals are removed from DOAJ if:
ü It is no longer Open Access.
ü It is inactive/ceased publishing
ü Not published enough articles this
calendar year.
ü Website URL no longer works.
ü Evidence of editorial misconduct.
ü Publisher fails to submit a new
application within given time.
ü Non adherence to industry best
practice.
DOAJ seal provided to journals if:
ü They use DOI’s
ü Provide article metadata
ü Deposit content with a long-term digital
preservation/archiving program
ü Deposit policy registered
ü Allow reuse and mixing of content
ü Embed machine-readable CC licensing
information
ü Allow author to hold copyright without
restrictions

Ø Represent the interests of open access publishers globally via exchange of
information, setting standards, advocacy, education and innovation.
Ø Stringent application evaluation process to be followed by publishers for becoming a
member.
Ø Applications are judged by the committee and board members against a strict set of
membership criteria.
Ø They ensure that the publisher follows responsible publishing practices and adheres
to the OASPA Code of Conduct.
Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association

List of OASPA members can be found at:
http://oaspa.org/membership/members/
Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association

Tools to Identify Journal Ranking

SCImago Journal and Country Rank
Ø It is a one-stop platform to find details about the rank of
journals.
Ø It uses the Google PageRank™ algorithm.
Ø You can obtain details such as the SCImago Journal Rankings
(SJRs) and h-indices for journals here.
Ø It is free platform that is easily accessible to the public and
simplifies the understanding of journal rankings.

Key features:
Ø Journals are compared and analyzed by subject area and
category
Ø Information for various indicators is sourced from the Scopus
database.
Ø Allows you to access and embed relevant journal metrics into
your own blog or website.
Ø Option of including or excluding open access journals.
Ø Allows you to analyze year wise performance of journals.
Ø Data accessed can be downloaded for future reference.

Disclaimer
All content used on this presentation is owned or licensed by Crimson Interactive
Inc. or its affiliates under the CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 license. Some content may have
been blocked for confidentiality reasons. Unauthorized use of any part of this
presentation by any other party is prohibited. Breach of this condition is liable for
legal action.

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Q u e s t i o n s
Program director: Katja Reuter, PhD
Email: katja.reuter@usc.edu
Twitter: @dmsci
Next Digital Scholar Webinar
I n f o r m a t i o n a b o u t
t h e p r o g r a m
http://sc-ctsi.org/digital-scholar/
May 1, 2019| 12-1PM PDT
Topic: A method to develop a comic based on your research: From
scientists, for scientists, and beyond.
Speakers:
• Jan Friesen, PhD, is an eco-hydrologist in the Department of Catchment
Hydrology at the Helmholtz Centre of Environmental Research - UFZ in
Leipzig, Germany.
• Skander Elleuche, PhD, is a trained biologist and biotechnologist at
Miltenyi Biotec GmbH in Bergisch Gladbach, Germany. In 2018, he
published his first popular science book that includes cartoon illustrations
on “Microbes From Extreme Environments” (in German).
Register at: https://bit.ly/2HtP0bt

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