Finding the best vehicle in which to publish your research findings is a perennial challenge. Gaining access to top-flight journals is difficult and a broader exposure to your research is not necessarily guaranteed. Huge competition exists for attention within the scientific literature. Traditionally, scientists have viewed promoting their own research as somewhat self-serving and gauche, preferring its value to speak (passively) for itself. However, times have changed. Researchers can now be divided into two camps: those who see publication of their research as the final step in the process and those who see it as the first step in sharing their findings with the wider world. Choosing the wrong journal can result in your publication being delayed with you having to commit considerable resources to handling unnecessary journal rejections and preparing alternative journal submissions. One of the most common reasons for manuscript rejection is poorly considered journal selection. An informed process that targets optimal journal identification will save you time, money and heartache. Our handy guide Ready!, Aim!, Fire! released in 2015 has been one of our most downloaded Insider’s Insights [1].
Following recognition of the value our Insider’s Insight provides to authors, Niche were asked by the journal Cardiovascular Endocrinology to submit an article dealing with these issues and the article has been accepted for publication today [2]. The aim of the present work was to review guidance provided within the literature for journal selection that might minimize the chance of manuscript rejection. We also considered papers that encompass more than one main medical science and describe the selection process that we used with a paper that was published in Cardiovascular Endocrinology. In the work we summarised 10 considerations for peri-publication activities that, when used in the right measure and appropriately to the work involved should aid those looking to increase the discoverability, readership and impact of their scientific research.
To inform the work a database search (Embase, PubMed and Medworm) was performed for all articles published in the scientific literature providing guidance on journal selection. Articles were identified that either had journal selection as their principal topic or included journal selection as part of a broader discussion of publishing. The relative performance of four free-to-use, web-based applications that claim to provide guidance on journal selection was compared. The searches identified 286 hits, of which 249 were in English. Of these papers, 16 discussed journal selection and a further 10 articles were identified from citations within the original 16 articles. Only one article described a comprehensive model for submission decision-making. Identification of appropriate candidate journals by various web-based applications was erratic, with the Jane database providing the most robust suggestions.
In conclusion, our work suggests that little attention has been focused in the scientific literature on the mechanisms that authors use to select a journal for their work. Nevertheless, scientists for the most part seem to have a good sense of where their papers are most likely to be accepted.
References
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