Where to publish your journal article?

Most researchers don't write an article until they have identified where it will be submitted^*

It is important to target a journal that best matches the purpose of your submission. If you tailor your article to the instructions to authors in the journal, you will be well on track to getting published.

Steps to finding a suitable peer reviewed journal for your article:

1. Ask your supervisor
2. Examine bibliographies of related articles
3. Scan journals published by professional societies and colleges
4. Search library databases

The Library provides databases to help you select a suitable journal. The Journal citation reports (JCRweb) helps with identifying the top impact factor journals in your field. Researchers can select from the Science or the Social Science editions. Both editions provide impact factor details and other metrics for the journals they cover.

Ulrichs periodicals directory is another tool for identifying journals published internationally and provides detailed information on more than 300 000 titles. This includes whether the journal is available online, where it is indexed and whether it is a peer-reviewed publication.

The UQ Library Catalogue, where you will find over 85 000 electronic and/or print journal titles, is a great place to locate a suitable journal for your article. Lists of journals which allow free access to the published version within 12 months: Highwire Press, Elsevier and Wiley-Blackwell.

Major publishers such as Springer, Sage, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, Lippincott Williams and Wilkins, Wiley and Elsevier have journal databases with links to information about the submission process.

Genamics JournalSeek is a freely available Internet database listing approximately 100 000 journals.

Check that the journal you choose is searchable via Google Scholar or your other favourite journal database (so that you know others will be able to find and cite your research).

Scholarly Societies Project can be used to find journals published by organisations in particular subject areas.

Checklists

A checklist to critique open access journals and publishers developed is available from the Western Illinois University Libraries

OA Spectrum HowOpenIsIt? OA Spectrum Frequently Asked Questions is a useful resource to help determine how 'open' a journal is.

The Criteria for Determining Predatory Open-Access Publishers (2nd edition) and Beall's List of Predatory, Open-Access Publishers may help when checking for unscrupulous publishers.

* Silverman RJ, Collins EL. (1975). Publishing relationships in Higher Education. Research in Higher Education. 3(4),365-82.
Belcher WL.(2009). Writing your journal article in 12 weeks: a guide to academic publishing success. Sage Publications, Inc, California.