How do I know which journal my paper is suitable for?

A well-written paper is not as good as a well-selected journal!

How can we quickly and easily find suitable journals for SCI papers? In this article, the author will share the method of selecting SCI journals, and summarize the elements that need to be considered, which can help authors narrow the scope of journal selection and make the best decision quickly. Finally, I will recommend several artifacts for journal selection to help authors Improve the efficiency of journal selection.

How to choose the right journal? We all know that there are many ways to find target journals, here I recommend three more useful selection methods:

From the papers the authors read frequently, check the journal titles that are relevant to your field of study.
Use iJournal , a free online journal search tool , to find relevant journals by subject category.
Use the free master journal online tool and enter different keywords to find relevant journals.

official website:

https://ijournal.topeditsci.com

A systematic approach to selecting the right journal

Most Chinese scholars choose journals based on impact factors and professional fields. Today, the author summarizes a set of systematic methods for selecting suitable journals for everyone, which mainly includes four steps. Note that the first two steps are for authors and the last two are for journals.

Step 1: Clarify the research content of the paper

Clarify the research content of the paper, that is, what is the key to your research? It's about your journal choice!

Step 2: Determine the publication goals of your paper

Determining the publication goal of the paper is often ignored by many authors, but it is actually very particular!

(1) Identify which readers will benefit from reading your paper (e.g. readers of interdisciplinary journals such as "Science" or "Nature")

More specialized, multidisciplinary readers (such as the New England Journal of Medicine and the Journal of the American Chemical Society)
Single-disciplinary audience (eg, Topology)
Readers who are highly specialized in a subfield of a subject (eg, Journal of Knot Theory and Ramifications)

(2) Identify where readers are most suitable

International readers are not necessarily the best target for your message, perhaps national, regional readers are more likely to find value in your paper, especially when the research involves geographic or cultural elements.
English or Chinese?
Open Access or Closed Access?

(3) Do you need to publish quickly

If you think the paper is valuable or want to publish it quickly for work or academic purposes, then you may want a journal with a shorter review period.

Step 3: Examine the journal's scope, setting, reputation and impact

Now that your research content and publication goals are clear, you need to examine whether candidate journals can help you achieve these goals.

(1) Does your paper meet the requirements of the journal?

Your research does not meet the stated aims and scope of the journal, and you will waste your time submitting your paper.
Does the journal publish the type of article you want to write? Do the word count, citations, and icons meet the requirements?
Can you meet the journal's ethical requirements (publication ethics, data availability, etc.)?

(2) What type of peer review system is used?

Does the journal offer peer review that you are familiar with and is common in your field of research.
Usually there are 2 or more reviewers, and the average time of peer review is acceptable.
Whether to forward your paper and review to another journal if the journal rejects your paper.

(3) Is the journal reputable and legal?

You need to evaluate, including but not limited to the journal's history, submission procedures, policies, payment process, contact information, etc., so I won't go into details one by one.

(4) What is the impact of the journal?

The influence of journals is often what our authors pay more attention to.

Do you need to consider the journal's impact factor?

The impact factor of a journal is not a perfect metric and has received a lot of criticism. But it will still be used for the foreseeable future.
Many scientific research institutions in China use the division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences as the main evaluation criterion. What is the status of the journal in the division of the Chinese Academy of Sciences? This is also something you need to consider.
Is the journal influential in other ways? Maybe the impact factor of a journal is not high, but its status in the professional field is very high. It is also possible that a journal is very small but authoritative.

Step 4: Decide which journal is most suitable

Finally, based on the answers to the above questions, the candidate journals are ranked and the most suitable journals are selected.

If you have time, do a quick scan of the papers in the last few issues (and supplements) of each journal to see if similar papers have been published recently, which may indicate that your paper may not be novel enough in that journal. Conversely, your paper may correlate well with recently published papers.
If your manuscript is rejected by your preferred journal, then quickly select the next journal to submit from the shortlist.

The content introduced above is some principles of journal selection. The following editor will recommend some websites that can help recommend journals and help you screen target journals more efficiently.

Journal Suggester from Springer NATURE Publishing.

https://journalsuggester.springer.com/

Based on Springer NATURE's strong background and numerous types of journals, this artifact helps you pinpoint your most suitable journal list by inputting manuscript titles and abstracts (or full text).

Of course, if you are not satisfied with this rough operation, you can further refine your requirements.

The fly in the ointment is that the journal data information from this artifact is relatively small, only the impact factor, response time and acceptance rate.

Journalfinder by ELSEVIER Press

https://journalfinder.elsevier.com/

Based on the analysis of ELSEVIER's journals, it can recommend the most suitable journal list for you. Again, only the title and abstract are required. Isn't it very convenient!

The results obtained are also very instructive.

In comparison, the results of this artifact are more comprehensive: including impact factor, response time, publication time, acceptance rate, and page fee.

It is worth mentioning that as long as you submit a manuscript to a magazine under ELSEVIER Publishing House, if you reject the manuscript, usually within a month or so, ELSEVIER will automatically send you a link to the selected journal to assist you in further submitting to other ELSEVIER magazines, so thoughtful The service is simply not too considerate~

Journal Guide

https://www.journalguide.com/

This is a very good journal matching network tool, matching by title, keywords, or assisting in finding suitable journals through other means.

Currently growing relatively rapidly, searching across multiple publications. However, the current search results are not as stable as those of the previous two publishers, and the impact factors of the corresponding candidate journals are not marked.

Edanz Journal Selector

https://www.edanzediting.com/journal-selector

This is a more classic magazine selection tool. It is recommended by many scholars.

Journal/Author Name Estimator

http://jane.biosemantics.org/index.php

This is the top rated magazine selection utility out there. Excellent operation and comprehensive functions, including finding scholars, focusing on academic fields, etc.

If the above tools can't save you who have difficulty in choosing, then leave this matter to Bibid, we will evaluate your paper, and then propose some revisions to help you improve the quality of the paper, and finally recommend suitable ones The target journal saves time and effort for your submission and hits it efficiently~

What should I pay attention to before submitting?

Finally, before confirming the submission, it is best to self-evaluate the following 5 questions:

Question 1: Should my manuscript be submitted to a comprehensive or professional journal?

Question 2: For a specific journal, what are the points worth noting about the peer review policies of the journal, for example, whether it is single-blind or not?

Question 3: For a specific journal, are the documents that need to be prepared in the entire submission process numerous or simple?

Question 4: Do I want to publish this research in an established journal or an emerging journal?

Question 5: Are open access types accepted?

Summarize

There are many considerations in choosing a journal, and it is not simply a matter of selecting journals based on majors and divisions.

The author summarizes this set of reference methods. When readers who have doubts choose a journal, they can refer to this article to determine the priority of journal selection, and determine your target journal smoothly and quickly.