Already when you send in your grant proposal you should start planning for publishing, e.g. by including in the budget an amount to cover the possible APC for publishing in Open Access journals. There are several aspects to consider when choosing a journal to send a manuscript to. You have to consider the probability of your manuscript getting accepted, which impact the article might have and also the journal’s credibility, reputation and visibility. There are also philosophical and ethical aspects to consider, such as does the author have to transfer his/her rights to the publisher, does the publisher treat authors equal and what are the costs for libraries. In addition to these considerations there are other aspects such as the peer review process and possible delays in the publishing process, which can be months. This is why the selection of publishing channel is critical for success in publishing.
In an article by Knight and Steinbach* the authors try to create a model for choosing a journal to publish in. They have identified five areas to consider when planning for publishing: 1) probability for the manuscript to be accepted, 2) journal reputation, 3) article visibility and possible impact, and 4) probability for getting the article published in the right time and 5) philosophical and ethical aspects such as free access.
Open Access journals have matured so you do not have to sacrifice the benefits of the traditional journals if you choose an Open Access journal. Many of the Open Access journals have developed impact factor, citing frequency and reputation comparable to similar traditional journals. They have a well organized peer review process, in some cases even tougher process than the traditional journals. Open Access journals have the benefits of the knowledge spreading quicker to all interested parties not just those who can afford to subscribe to the journal. Read the article to get more tips on how to choose a journal to publish in.
If you have to equivalent journals to choose from take into consideration the publishers attitude towards Open Access in general and self-archiving in particular. You should always choose journals which allow self-archiving or are Open Access. When your manuscript has been accepted you should sign a publications agreement. Make sure that you keep the right to self-archive in BADA but also that you have the right to use the article in e.g. a future compilation dissertation and in future teaching. If you have written a book or a book chapter you can ask your publisher about self-archiving possibilities a year or two after publication. Use the author addendum if the publishers’ agreement is not satisfactory.
Use DOAJ to find suitable Open Access journals.
You can even use Journal Citation Report (JCR) to check how the different scientific journals are rated. JCR is a part of Thomson Reuters Web of Science and it is a tool to compare and evaluate scientific journals among plethora of subject areas. There is citation data from over 8 000 journals and over 3 000 publishers in JCR. Contact Library & learning resources for help to use the database. Thomson Reuters has earlier in October released its book citation index for the Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences. Now it is possible to search among 25 000 books but before the year is out they aim to cover 30 000 central books published 2005 and after within these three subject areas. Their on-going goal will be to add 10 000 books a year.
*Knight, L.V. & Stenbach, T.A. (2008). Selecting an appropriate publication outlet: a comprehensive model for journal selection criteria for researchers in a broad range of academic disciplines. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, vol 3, ss. 59-79.
First published in Biblioteksbloggen 2011-10-28
By: Pieta Eklund