RSP - Publishing Support

Read your bibliography and check your lit review

One of the easiest, and probably most helpful, ways to find the right journal is to look at the journals you are already reading and citing.

Usually if you citing or reading work from a particular journal, it means that your own research is closely related and that journal is pushing work similar to your own. As such, a simple skim through your references and bibliographies will quickly give a short list of journals directly related to your work.

Of course, just because you are engaged with the journal's articles, it doesn't necessarily mean that the specific focus or your article will match with the journal's specific aim, which it is so important to check the journal's aim and scope. Nevertheless, this is a good starting point for finding journals.

Similarly, if you only find one or two references to journal articles of a similar theme, you can then go back to those and skim their bibliographies and so forth. As you work through them, you will be able to gather a good overview of your subject's research landscape.

Use metrics tools like SciVal to evaluate journals

When you are scoping out different journals, it can be difficult to get a sense of what the latest developments are in your field. As such, using a metrics tool like SciVal can help to understand where work is being published, which journals are getting cited, and which topics are popular.

As with any kinds of metrics, it is really important to ask yourself what exactly you're looking for, or what your question is. It is all too easy to see high metrics scores as the ultimate measure to pick journals, however there are other factors you should consider to contextualise these figures.

Our guide to research metrics offers both an insight into using metrics responsibly, including how to contextualise the figures you may be presented with, and an overview of how to use tools such as Scopus and SciVal.

Think about Open Access - Read and Publish Agreements

You may find that you need to consider Open Access when you are picking journals. If you are looking at Gold Open Access journals, you will need to consider how you would pay any associated fees that would come at acceptance; if you are looking at Subscription-only journals, you may need to see if they have a self-archiving policy that would comply with any open access requirements you need to follow. In either case, if it wouldn't be possible, you may need to look for another journal.

The University also has Read and Publish Agreements with six major publishers that allow articles with a Coventry University Corresponding Author to be published Gold Open Access at no further cost. The Look Up tool can be handy way of finding journals that would already allow Open Access publishing at no cost; and if you are stuck between a couple of journals, it may be worth seeing if any of them are covered by these agreements, as that may help to swing the balance in terms of which one to choose.

Try Journal Finders provided by various publishers

As a quick and simply way to identify potential journals, you can try the Journal Finder tools that a number of bigger publishers have created.

These tools often take the abstract, title and/or keywords from your upcoming publications and search through their journals to find ones that may match. Often the suggestions will also include information about their Open Access policies which can help you ensure that your work would be compliant with any requirements you need to meet.

It is important, however, that you takes these suggestions as exactly that, suggestions. No matter how developed these tools become, no one will know your research better than you do, and you will still need to evaluate the different journal's Scopes and Aims to see if they would be a good match for your research.

A list of a Journal Finder tools are listed below:

Elsevier Journal Finder: https://journalfinder.elsevier.com/ 

Taylor and Francis Journal Suggester: https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/publishing-your-research/choosing-a-journal/journal-suggester/

Wiley Journal Finder: https://journalfinder.wiley.com/search?type=match

Look beyond big publishers

Big publisher are often at the forefront of the publishing landscape, especially as their experience and established reputation can make them an attractive option. Nevertheless, there are many smaller or less established journal and publishers that may in fact be a better fit for your research.

Perhaps if your work takes on new perspectives and interdisciplinary dynamics, it may be beyond the scope of traditional journals and find a better home in a newer journal where it will be engaged with in more relevant ways. Perhaps if your research needs to be presented in more radical ways, or it would benefit from non-traditional formatting structures, newer journals may be more open to considering new layouts or supporting you to present your work in the most appropriate way.

One thing to be wary of with new journals is that they are do not engage with predatory practices. Some journals are created in order to take Open Access money from researchers, without publishing in a responsible or academically sound manner. It is important, particularly with newer journals, to check that they are academically diligent. Our guide to spotting predatory publishers can be found here.

If you are looking for a reliable publisher that may be open to new disciplinary perspectives, why not consider publishing with Coventry Open Press.