You’ve poured your heart and soul into your manuscript. You’ve analyzed your research, written a draft, revised it multiple times, and crafted dozens of emails to your team, encouraging them to do their part.
It’s finally time to publish your work. But where to start? Scopus, the citation database, now lists over 46,000 research journals. Many of these publications cover similar topics, further complicating the choice. For example, how do you know if your brain cancer study belongs in The Lancet Oncology, the Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Discovery, or Neuro-Oncology?
In this series of blogs, we’ll explore the process of finding a home for your manuscript. We’ll answer:
- What to look for (and avoid) in a publication
- How to narrow down your publication choice based on the characteristics of your manuscript
- How to factor the authors’ needs into choosing a publication
- Tips for formatting and submitting a manuscript
The Pros and Cons of Impact Factor
The impact factor is often the first question asked of a potential journal. It makes sense—you want your work to be read and cited by others in your field. But how much does the impact factor really matter?
Getting into high-impact journals is hard. An Elsevier survey of thousands of journals found the average acceptance rate was just 32%. High-impact journals are often even more selective. For example, the Journal of American College of Cardiology (JACC) Case Reports accept only 10% of submissions.
Publishing in a high-impact journal also doesn’t guarantee your article will be popular or widely shared. Impact factors are based on the frequency with which an average article is cited and can be skewed by a handful of widely popular articles or a wide distribution.
For example, Nature Reviews Drug Discovery has the highest impact factor in the Nature portfolio. The publication features research from many disciplines, ensuring a large readership. Nature Reviews Urology has an impact factor ten times lower than Nature Reviews Drug Discovery. However, the clinical impact of publishing there may be greater because the journal has a small but highly specific target audience likely to apply your findings in their daily practice.
How is a journal’s impact measured?
The most common way to quantify a journal’s impact is Clarivate’s Journal Impact Factor™ (JIF), which scales citations to recent content by the journal’s output. Clarivate has been publishing lists of JIFs annually for decades. Elsevier’s Scopus includes journal metrics, as does the Scimago Journal & Country Rank (SJR).
The scientific publications community is working toward clearer, more inclusive ways to define journal impact. For example, Leiden University’s Center for Science and Technology Studies (CWTS) compiles “source normalized impact per paper” (SNIP) indicators for journals listed in the Scopus database. SNIP is essentially a JIF modified to accommodate different citation practices across fields.
Does impact matter?
Impact is an established way to measure how widely your research may be read if published in a journal. However, impact is not the only factor you should consider when creating a list of potential publications for your manuscript. A more certain way to get your research published and read is finding the right fit for your manuscript, which may not be the most prestigious publication.
4 factors to consider in a scientific publication
Authors should consider impact factor alongside other journal characteristics, including research integrity, publication ethics, scientific rigor, and transparency.
#1 Scientific rigor and ethical practices
Once you’ve found a potential publication source, review some of the recently published articles for the hallmarks of a quality study, including:
- A thorough discussion section with study limitations
- Succinct and easy-to-read design
- Well-organized tables filled with data that supports the conclusions
- Clear, error-free writing
If you’re satisfied with what you see, look at the journal’s “about” section. Read the description of their peer-review process and note whether the journal discusses ethical publishing, such as author criteria, and ethical research, such as institutional board approval for studies involving humans. Established journals will also list editorial board members or editors and include identifiers such as pictures or contact information. If the journal doesn’t list staff, a peer-review process, or ethical guidelines, it may not be a quality publication.
#2 Journal longevity and performance
Another factor to consider when reviewing potential publications is how long the journal has published research. Journals may list this information on their sites. Otherwise, you can tell by looking at the volume number of recent publications. Each volume represents a year, so if the journal is on volume 55, you know that they have been in the business for some time.
Longevity doesn’t equate to worth, but it can help you weed out predatory journals from your search. If the journal was recently established, look for quality indicators elsewhere before submitting your manuscript or paying any fees. You can also see if the journal is indexed in established bibliographic databases, such as Scopus, PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Web of Science. Databases have indexing guidelines to vet out low-quality or unethical journals.
Publishing frequency may play a part in your decision, as well. Some high-impact journals publish issues regularly throughout the year, whereas others publish only twice yearly. Choosing a journal with a quicker publishing cadence may increase your chances of acceptance compared to one that publishes rarely.
#3 Publishing model
Some institutions or funders may require open access to any published articles. Open-access articles are free for the public to read and download, broadening the potential reach for your research compared to subscription or pay-per-article models. However, opting for open access puts the cost of publishing an article on the authors, institutions, or funders. Article processing fees (APCs) can cost thousands.
Steep APCs may surprise clients unfamiliar with the world of scientific publications. Checking a journal’s website to see whether the journal requires open access or offers the choice between open access and traditional publishing will save you the worry of breaking the news of a large fee to your client. Not all journals publish physical copies of each issue, so if your client wants a glossy copy of the publication, check the publication’s website to ensure they have a print option.
#4 Acceptance possibility
You’ve found a promising journal that publishes scientifically sound research, has been around for a respectable amount of time, and has the publishing cadence and models you (or your client) prefer. One additional factor to consider is the percentage of submissions the journal accepts.
Most journals reject the majority of submissions. The reasons vary from the quality of the manuscript to its relevance to their readership. The Elsevier research cited earlier found that larger and high-impact journals have lower acceptance rates, although the rates vary within each group. Some journals list acceptance rates on their websites. If the acceptance rate isn’t listed on the site, you could do a quick Google search, look it up in an industry database, or email the journal’s editor.
A low acceptance possibility should not deter you from submitting to the journal if it is otherwise a good fit. However, it will help set expectations. Authors who decide to submit to a journal with a low acceptance rate, such as The British Medical Journal, which accepts only 4% of original research, should have an additional list of journals on hand in case their article is rejected.
Spotting a predatory journal
The International Committee of Medical Journal Editors estimates that over 15,000 predatory journals exist. Predatory journals solicit articles for financial gain and do not follow scientific or ethical publishing standards. Unfortunately, they often mimic established journals and are convincing enough that authors agree to pay for publication—compromising their chances of publication in legitimate journals.
To avoid falling for a predatory journal, be aware of the following:
- Journal representatives aggressively asking for manuscript submissions
- Promises of extremely rapid turnaround times
- Lack of transparency around fees
- Vague or nonexistent mention of the peer-review process or ethical guidelines
- Emails with dramatic language, poor grammar, or excessive use of exclamation marks
Does the manuscript fit the publication?
Creating a list of high-quality journals is the first step toward publishing your research. But, like a love match, your manuscript must also be the right fit for the journal. In the next blog, we’ll investigate how to narrow down your list of target journals based on the content of your manuscript.
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Livingston Communication, Inc. provides life sciences and manufacturing clients with copywriting, technical writing, and medical writing services. Subscribe to our blog for more insights on publication, writing, and communication.