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Scholarly Communication and Publishing

This guide is designed for those wishing to publish their research.

Publishing a Journal Article


incomplete puzzle

Photo by Ross Sneddon on Unsplash

Finding and selecting a journal can be one of the toughest parts of the publishing process. Predatory publishing continues to be an issue, so it's vital to be wary while considering who you want to publish with. This article on predatory publishing can provide more information on what to watch out for. Fortunately, there are ample resources that can help you in discovering the right journal for your writing. Take a look at the sub-tabs in this section for more information on how to go about this process. As an overview:

Considerations for Selecting a Journal

  • Scope of the journal (to ensure your topic is covered)
    • Topics it publishes about
    • Type of articles it publishes – Original empirical studies, Reviews of research, Reports, Case Studies, Commentaries, etc.
  • Open Access vs. Subscription
    • Can anyone view it or only subscribers/purchasers?
    • If OA, do authors pay to publish in the journal? If so, what are costs?
  • Publication Time Line (How soon do you need/want to publish?)
    • Length of time between submission and publication
    • Review deadlines
  • Review Process (for Peer-reviewed journals)
    • Who are the reviewers/editors?
    • Blind review?
    • Review timeline
  • Journal Impact - Metrics and Impact Factor – How often are articles in this journal cited by articles published in other journals?
  • Copyright (Which rights will you retain to your content after publication?)
    • Author’s rights in the Journal Publishing Agreement/Author’s contract – Who owns the content, what are the limits on republishing, reusing the work, etc.
    • Access
  • Indexing (Where will this journal be indexed and searchable by users?)
    • Where is this journal indexed? EBSCO? ProQuest? Major databases?
    • Does Google Scholar index this journal?
    • Does Semantic Scholar index this journal?

Check out this new book about writing articles for journals: