Finding a Suitable Journal for a Publication

The criteria for searching for a suitable journal include:

  • Specialist focus and suitability for your own text,
  • Journal rankings (some are listed among the tools for the selection of the appropriate journal/publication location),
  • Type of quality assurance,
  • Renown in the respective discipline,
  • Transparency of the journal regarding its way of working, the persons and institutions involved, the nature and duration of the phases of the submissions procedure,
  • Open Access parameters: Transferal of rights, usage licences, compatibility with requirements of funding institutions, own higher education institution etc.,
  • Renown of the persons who are involved in the publication process (editing, assessing, contributing as authors),
  • Level of any publication fees.

A series of different kinds of tools supports you in the selection of a suitable journal or another type of publication.

You can find further tips on how to select a journal or another publication location here:

  • The Academic Career Kit “Publish your Paper” offered by EconBiz shows you how to find the right journal in five steps.
  • A Web of Science Training Tutorial video “Where Should I Publish? Using Web of Science, JCR and EndNote to Inform Manuscript Submission”.
  • A recommendation for proceeding How to find a suitable open access journal? offered by the project “Why Open Research”
  • The Sherpa Romeo list gives you an overview of the policies of many journal publishers regarding parallel publication in repositories etc. Sherpa Romeo is a repository with guidelines on the self-archiving of journals that contains information about permitted versions and publishing restrictions.
  • Tips for Finding a suitable journal for a publication on the website Editage Insights.

Tip

Predatory journals are not always easy to recognise because the providers go to a lot of trouble to make their journals seem reputable. Sometimes entire editorial boards are filled with false names or well-known researchers are listed as editors without their knowledge on professional-looking websites. You should therefore consult our Checklist for identifying predatory journals when selecting a journal.