Skip to Main Content

Publishing Guide

Where are you in the research process?

No matter whether you are at the creation stage, or zeroing in on the final draft, it's important to determine which publications might be a good fit for the research article(s) you are producing.

In addition to consulting with mentors, colleagues, and fellow researchers, why not explore some of the journal finders supported by major publishers.

 

Consult the tabs in the box below to find a list of factors to consider as you explore where to submit an article. Also included are a few examples of journal matching sites that suggest appropriate journals aligned with subject focus of your article manuscript.

Find the Best Journal for your Research

Publishing Journal Articles: Factors to consider

Depending on research topic, preferences, as well as other conditions, there are a variety of factors to consider deciding where to publish.  The following provide a list of common elements authors tend to rely on during this process:

  • Audience: What is the main thrust of the message in the article to be published, who is the intended audience, and who would be interested in reading or using the information in the article?
  • Journal's scope & purpose: Consider the kind of articles a journal publishes.  What are the aims of the journal? What are the subject areas it covers?
  • Journal's performance: How is the journal ranked in its particular discipline? Can you find metrics that assess its impact?
  • Reviewing process: Is the journal under consideration a peer-reviewed journal?  If so, how is an article reviewed? Is it double-blind, single-blind, or open review? The publisher, Wiley, provides an extensive discussion describing different types of peer-review, including a list of pros & cons of the various peer-review types.
  • Publishing cycle: How long does it take for an article to get published? How frequently does the journal publish?
  • Acceptance rate: How difficult is it for a manuscript to be accepted for publishing?
  • Availability & findability: Where is the journal under consideration indexed? Does it appear in the major databases for your discipline? Is the journal open-access? Or, does it or offer open-access as an option for authors?
  • Cost: Is there a cost for publishing your work? If so, what is the cost?

As you explore what journals to submit your work to, try using one or more of the following publisher provided tools to investigate which journals are aligned with the subject areas within which your research falls:

Elsevier Journal Finder

  • From the link above, enter the title and abstract of your paper to find journals suited for publishing your research. Elsevier's JournalFinder 'uses smart search technology and field-of-research specific vocabularies to match your paper to scientific journals.'

Manuscript Matcher from Clarivate Analytics

  • This tool is only available to Endnote users. Similar to other tools of this type, simply enter key pieces of information from a research article, including manuscript title, abstract, and references, and the site will suggest a list of possible titles to submit an article for publication.

Springer Nature Journal Suggester

Wiley's Journal Finder (Beta)

  • Journal Finder Beta suggests Wiley journals that may be a good fit for your research. Wiley publishes about 1,600 journals across the disciplines.