In terms of research metrics and discoverability of your work, the most influential form of research output is a peer-reviewed research article that is published in a scholarly journal indexed by Scopus and Web of Science. Journals often have sophisticated distribution networks which result in articles being accessible and easily findable in all kinds of libraries, databases, organisations and institutes around the world.
Reputable journals undertake a rigorous peer-review process intended to support the reliability and accuracy of published research. Reviewer feedback can help you to present your findings in the most effective ways and can even provide valuable insights into your own work. The peer review process itself can also help you reach peers by giving journal editors and reviewers a reason to read your work.
It is important to select the right journals to help your research outputs enter the public conversation about contemporary topics in academic circles and the wider community. As well as the publication itself, promoting your work through social networks, news media and conferences is important to ensuring that your work is widely read.
The Journal Selection Matrix, a template, based on the ! Think ✓ Check > Submit checklist, has been designed to assist you with comparing the quality and suitability of journals selected for your next manuscript submission. Use the suggested criteria, based on the steps presented below, to develop your own scoring scheme based on your discipline and other relevant criteria.
During the start of your research project, develop an aspirational list of quality journals that you intend to submit articles to over the next few years. Journals you choose should be indexed in Scopus or Web of Science and should preferably be CiteScore q1 journals published by well-regarded scholarly publishers or scholarly associations. This guide below will help you identify the very best journals in your field to target.
If you are using other sources or tools to identify journals to publish with, make sure you engage in due diligence by following the steps above and ensuring that journals are indexed and that your citations will be counted.
Making your research outputs freely available to the public through open access is another important way to increase engagement with your work. There are many paths to make your work open access and several, such as JCU’s Read and Publish Agreements and Green Open Access, have no cost associated with them to you as a researcher.
SHERPA/RoMEO is a good tool to identify the open access status of a journal
In recent decades, fraudulent enterprises have begun exploiting the author-pays open-access publishing model for profit. These “predatory publishers” falsely claim to be legitimate publishing houses and charge researchers open access fees, but provide little to no academic oversight, peer review, copyediting or typesetting for the prices they charge. In other cases, the reduced cost of digital publishing has led to the proliferation of well-meaning but low-quality journals. Publishing in a journal that engages in questionable publishing practices can seriously damage the profile of a researcher. Furthermore, undertaking work that supports these predatory publishers, including reviewing, editing or serving on an editorial board, supports their growth and makes the problem worse for all researchers.
There are many online tools to assist in finding journals you can publish in, but no single tool will guarantee that a journal is reputable or of high quality. It is highly recommended that you use the methods described above to publish in the best possible journal and make your work Open Access. If you do not use our methods you should use several of the tools below to check that the journals you submit to are reputable.
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