LibGuides: Open Access: Where Should I Publish?

Where Should I Publish?

For any scholar, it is not enough to merely publish the article. You need to publish it where it will be read, and also where it will do the most good for your career.

Considerations include

the journal's subject scope (both stated and manifest in its contents)
whether it is refereed (peer reviewed or in some cases editorially reviewed)
where it is indexed (which databases have it)
the reputation of the publisher
the journal's impact factor and other metrics of significance
whether it is on some list that your graduate advisor or tenure and promotion committee consult to see whether the journal is worthy

Authors may wish to consult several resources, some of which are unfortunately not available through our relatively small library:

Cabells International is a directory of journals which excludes journals that don't meet its quality criteria. Within its searchable database of journals that do meet its criteria, you can find contact information, submission criteria, review process guidelines, and quality and impact metrics.
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory is a more complete (less selective) listing of journals in all subject areas.
Web of Science and Journal Citation Reports are from Thomson Reuters and offers measures of journal impact.

There are also some free services that are very valuable in find a journal in which to publish:

Eigenfactor.org evaluates the influence of journals using its own metrics.
Google Scholar Metrics - also uses its own metrics (h5 index) to evaluate the impact of journals.

Beall's List of Predatory Publishers
This is one researcher's rather comprehensive, but increasingly outdated, list of predatory or fraudulent Open Access Publishers. It can be consulted as one part of a strategy to seek a good publisher, but should not be relied on as the final word. It is always important to evaluate a journal's submission guidelines and peer review process as well as the quality and impact of the articles it has already published.

Choosing to publish in an Open Access Journal (Gold Road) has its advantages and drawbacks.

Advantages	Disadvantages
No embargos; your article will be read and cited sooner by more people.	The key journals in your field, in which you must publish in order to participate in the scholarly conversation, may not be Open Access.
Available to everyone for free; your article will be read and cited by more people over time.	It can adversely affect tenure and promotion decisions if your department and your institution do not actively favor and promote Open Access publishing.
This adds up to better article impact factors.	Author fees.
Your article will be available to scholars in institutions without a subscription, to scholars in the developing world, and to individuals who are not in academia. In addition to being a public service, it is increasingly mandated that the outputs of taxpayer-funded research be freely available to taxpayers.

Even the most enthusiastic Open Access evangelists would never suggest that you should make Open Access your deciding factor in where to publish.

Publish in the journal that makes the most sense for getting your article out to its audience, and for your career. If that happens to be a Gold Road Open Access Journal, fantastic.

If not, definitely try to negotiate your publication contract so that you can deposit the article in a repository (Green Road Open Access.)

Open Access: Where Should I Publish?

Where Should I Publish?

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