Research Guides: Scholarly Publishing and Research Impact: Mid to Late Career Researcher Edition: Discovering & Comparing Journals

Discovering & Comparing Journals in a Field

Man looking through binoculars

You are probably already aware of some key journals in your field, perhaps because you read them regularly, have referenced them in your own research, or have published in them in the past.

However, you may be unaware of other good journals in your field. And if you begin to research and write in a somewhat new area, the journals you already know may not be the best suited to your new work.

The tools below can help you discover and compare journals that publish in a certain field or on a certain topic.

As you discover journals through a variety of tools, make note of different characteristics and whether they match your manuscript and goals, such as:

Audience - Academic or professional/trade? Experts, students, or laypersons?
Style - E.g., Formal or conversational? Highly structured or more organic?
Content focus/angle - E.g., Theoretical/conceptual work or discussions of practical application?
How do these traits of style and content compare with your own? Are you a good match for this journal, and is it a good match for you?
What is the journal's acceptance rate?
Is this journal reputable and high-quality? See the page in this guide on avoiding predatory publishers.

When details are lacking, don't be afraid to contact a journal's editor and request details such as acceptance rate or circulation/readership.

Cabell's Scholarly Analytics

Cabell's Scholarly Analytics

Provides publication details, including acceptance rates and key metrics, for journals in many disciplines. "Journalytics" list identifies high-quality journals; "Predatory Report" identifies likely predatory journals.

Who published a journal and how to contact them.
Requirements for manuscript length, submission, and more.
Citation-based metrics for the journal.
Acceptance rate, review process, length of time to review and publish, and difficulty of acceptance.
Journal's aims and scope to gauge whether its goals fit with your own.

Explanation of publishing models: Cabell's includes indications of publishing models, but the terminology may not immediately be familiar.

Traditional indicates a non-free (pay for access) publishing model.
Green indicates a non-free publishing model, but which also allow authors to place their articles in open-access repositories.
Hybrid indicates a non-free publishing model which allow authors to pay a fee to make a specific article freely available.
Gold indicates an entirely free, open-access publishing model.

This video (4:52) from the University of Houston Libraries covers the basics of searching and navigating Cabell's.

This video (3:49) from the University of Massachusetts Libraries provides a good overview of searching for journals and impact data / metrics in Cabell's.

Web of Science

This video (26:48) from Clarivate Analytics demonstrates the integrated use of Web of Science and JCR to inform manuscript submissions descisions.

MLA Directory of Periodicals

Modern Language Association (MLA) Directory of Periodicals

Journals relating to literature, language, linguistics, culture, and folklore.
Who publishes a journal and how to contact them.
How frequently a journal is published and whether it is peer-reviewed.
For some journals: circulation numbers and acceptance rates.

UlrichsWeb

UlrichsWeb Global Serials Directory

Journals, magazines, and trade publications in most subject areas.
Who publishes a journal and how to contact them.
How frequently a journal is published and whether it is peer-reviewed.
Whether a journal is print or online, free or paid, and for what sort of an audience it is written.

Basic Search: search for specific journal title or keyword.

Advanced Search: Search by additional details, such as "Active" (meaning a journal is currently being published), Journal or Magazine, Academic/Scholarly or Trade audience, and Language.

Click "More Limiters" to display options for an even more complex search, including a "Refereed/Peer-Reviewed" option, subject areas, countries of publication, etc.

Directory of Open Access Journals

Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
"DOAJ is an online directory that indexes and provides access to high quality, open access, peer-reviewed journals."

For more information about Open Access publishing, see the "Open-Access Publishing" page of this guide.

Other Tools

conpher
conpher is designed to help you make educated, calculated publication choices based on comprehensive, transparent and verified data. Find the journal which best meets your needs: fast publication times; most comprehensive review system; supportive editorial experience, most recommended by colleagues.
JournalGuide.com

Search for journals published in a category or find details on a specific journal.
Details often include: Aim & Scope, Speed, Cost, and Open Access Policy.
May include journal's Impact Factor (if applicable) or SNIP score.
"Verified" label seeks to identify legitimate scholarly publications by indicating that a journal is "confirmed to be included in at least one high-value index or vetted by more than one subject specialized index."

Platform for Responsible Editorial Policies
Evaluates journals’ peer-review procedures according to 12 criteria, including: the level of anonymity afforded to authors and reviewers; the use of digital tools such as plagiarism scanners; and the timing of peer review in the research and publication process. Displays the procedures used by each journal, along with aggregate statistics on the various editorial practices.
SciRev
- What It Is: A tool to review the reviewing; peers' comments on the speed, efficiency, and helpfulness of a journal's review process. This type of insight into a journal can be helpful in comparing and selecting a journal for submission.
- Weakness: Need for data on more journals. Consider submitting a review.
TOP Factor
New metric developed by the Center for Open Science. From COS site: "Journal policies can be evaluated based on the degree to which they comply with the TOP Guidelines. This TOP Factor is a metric that reports the steps that a journal is taking to implement open science practices, practices that are based on the core principles of the scientific community. It is an alternative way to assess journal qualities, and is an improvement over traditional metrics that measure mean citation rates. The TOP Factor is transparent (see underlying data and the evaluation rubric) and will be responsive to community feedback."

Scholarly Publishing and Research Impact: Mid to Late Career Researcher Edition: Discovering & Comparing Journals