Selecting the Right
Journal for your
Scientific Manuscript
How many journals...
…are out there to
publish in?
…does Columbia have
access to?
Finding the right
journal in which to
publish your article can
be a difficult process.
Selecting the Right Journal for
your Scientific Manuscript
Outline:
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Criteria to consider
Impact Factor & other metrics
Open access journals
Tools: help identify journals
to publish in
Criteria to consider:
Journal information/Content
• Journals used by yourself/
mentors/advisor/colleagues
• Types of articles published
(original research, review, case
study)
• Length of manuscript accepted
• Supplemental data
Criteria to consider:
Reputation of the journal
• # years in publication
• Cost and availability (journal cost
effectiveness)
• Open access
• Peer review status
• Impact factor
Criteria to consider:
Reputation of the journal
• Reputation of the journal (publisher,
editor)
• Acceptance/rejection rates (journals
with lower acceptance rates are
generally more prestigious)
• Quality of accepted articles and
authors
• Audience of journal (readership)
• Audience Size (indexing & circulation)
Criteria to consider
Review Process
• Time to publication (speed of
peer review, pre-pub online)
• Publication Costs & Author
Fees: (should fall in the
industry standard $1500 $5000 range)
:
Impact Factor?
The Journal Impact Factor reflects the
average number of citations to recent
articles published in that journal. It’s one
measure of the relative importance of a
journal within its field.
High impact factor ~ more important
A = the number of times articles published in
2012 and 2013 were cited by indexed journals
during 2014.
B = the total number of "citable items" published
in 2012 and 2013.
A/B = 2014 impact factor
How to Identify High
Impact journals in your
field:
JCR - Journal
Citation Reports
from Thomson's
InCites/
Web of Science
Balancing impact
factor…
Other considerations:
• Eigenfactor score
• Alternative metrics
• Other rankings
Eigenfactor Score:
The Eigenfactor score is a rating of the total
importance of a scientific journal.
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Considers the origin of the incoming
citations
Reflects how frequently an average
researcher would access content from that
journal.
Journals generating higher impact to the
field have larger Eigenfactor scores.
Eigenfactor scores adjust for citation
differences across disciplines.
Calculated based on the citations received
over a five year period.
Other rankings: (Scopus)
SJR (SCImago Journal Rank) is weighted by the prestige of a
journal. Subject field, quality, and reputation of the journal have a
direct effect on the value of a citation.
Also, SJR normalizes for differences in citation behavior between
SJR
subject fields.
Four years of data are needed to calculate a SJR.For example, if
Scopus has complete citation data for a journal starting from
1996, the first SJR value available is for 1999.
Learn more
Compare the ratio of citations per article published in a journal.
The Impact per Publication metric is using a citation window of
IPP
three years which is considered to be the optimal time period to
accurately measure citations in most subject fields.
Learn more
SNIP measures a source’s contextual citation impact by weighting
SNIP citations based on the total number of citations in a subject field.
Learn more
% Not Percentage of documents published in the year that have never
cited been cited to date.
Manuscript Matching Tools:
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Jane (Journal/Author Name Estimator) compare your document to documents
in Medline to find the best matching
journals, authors or articles.
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Edanz Journal Selector
Endnote – Manuscript Matcher
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Elsevier Journal Finder - (publisher
specific)
Springer Journal Selector - (publisher
specific)
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Manuscript Matching Tools:
Example abstract:
Although the issue of anthropogenic climate forcing and public health is
widely recognized, one fundamental aspect has remained underappreciated:
the impact of climatic change on plant biology and the well-being of human
systems. Objectives: We aimed to critically evaluate the extant and probable
links between plant function and human health, drawing on the pertinent
literature. Discussion: Here we provide a number of critical examples that
range over various health concerns related to plant biology and climate
change, including aerobiology, contact dermatitis, pharmacology,
toxicology, and pesticide use. Conclusions: There are a number of clear links
among climate change, plant biology, and public health that remain
underappreciated by both plant scientists and health care providers. We
demonstrate the importance of such links in our understanding of climate
change impacts and provide a list of key questions that will help to integrate
plant biology into the current paradigm regarding climate change and
human health.
From: Ziska, L. H., Epstein, P. R., & Schlesinger, W. H. (2009). Rising CO2,
climate change, and public health: Exploring the links to plant biology.
Environmental Health Perspectives, 117(2), 155-158.
doi:10.1289/ehp.11501
Jane (Journal/Author Name Estimator)
Open-Access Publications:
Open Access (OA) is the practice of
providing the public with unrestricted
online access to scholarly journal articles.
Pros:
• Free access = wider audience
• Author often retains copyright
Cons:
• Author Fees
• Some predatory journals (see Beall’s List)
• Concerns about quality control and
authenticity
COAP Fund:
(Columbia Open-Access Publication Fund)
Current Columbia University faculty, staff and
students are invited to deposit their scholarly work
and research materials into Academic Commons,
Columbia’s online repository.
More info: coapfund@columbia.edu
RSC Gold for Gold:
Free author tokens
For publishing in RSC
Caution!!!
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Be iNFORMEd: Duke University -
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Beall’s List: of Potential, possible,
or probable predatory scholarly
open-access publishers
A checklist to assess the quality of a journal or
publisher
For additional information see:
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Tools for Authors: Selecting a Journal
for Publication
Where to Publish Your Research:
Choosing the Right Journal
Beall’s List
Journal Cost-Effectiveness 2013
www.eigenfactor.org
Journal Citation Reports (WoS)
Scopus
HPC: Linux Shell Scripts
(Studio @Butler)
October 15, 2:00pm
HPC: Intro to HPC
(Studio @Butler)
October 22, 2:00pm
Research Minus the Stress:
Open Access and Copyright
(Davis Auditorium)
October 27, 2:00pm
Interested in more
workshops?
STAY INFORMED with the
Science & Engineering
Libraries Newsletter:
bit.ly/SELnewsletter
Questions?
Amanda Bielskas
Email:
asb2154@columbia.edu