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How to select a journal for publication?

The joy of completing a research doubles if the research article or paper is published in a journal of repute. The selection of journal is very crucial because submitting a paper to an unsuitable journal leads to rejection even without review. Alternatively, the correct choice of the journal leads to fast publication and the deserved exposure to the paper. The chances of getting a paper accepted increases, if the journal is chosen wisely. The factors to be considered for the same are:
1.    Domain Knowledge
A comprehensive knowledge about the journals in the subject area is essential. Search using online listings of journals and discussion with friends and colleagues can provide ample information for further action. In addition, the journals referred for new developments in the subject area, or used by the main researchers/ authors in the subject area can be a potential candidate for the research publication.
Tip: Go through the list of references for your article, you will find the target journals.
My experience: Online journal listing sites that I have used for my research are http://ip-science.thomsonreuters.com/mjl/, www.doaj.org and have found them really useful.
2.    Journal Influence Score
The quality of the journal is indicated by the recognition factors. The quality and influence of the journal can be measured by various widely-accepted parameters. A few of these indicators are Impact Factor, SCImago Journal Rank, Eigen Factor and H-Index. These factors are associated with the number of citations received by the articles published in the journal. The following websites will be of help for the information on journals using these indicators:
Ø  isiknowledge.com/jcr
Ø  www.eigenfactor.org
Ø  www.scimagojr.com
Ø  www.journal-ranking.com/ranking/web/content/intro.html
Tip: Do verify the journals’ influence score on the concerned website of the issuing authority, as some journals make the calculation of their influence score but are actually not registered with the issuing authority. Such an influence score is of no use to the researchers.
My experience: Impact Factor as an indicator of journal influence is sufficient.
3.    Journal Information
After a few potential journals are listed, acquire the information for the journals regarding,
Ø  Aim and Scope: Ascertain that the subject matter of your article matches with that of the journal, as it is one of the common reasons of rejection of many manuscripts.
Tip: Browse through the aim, scope and key-words list of the journal and ensure that the key-words of your article are there in any of these elements.
Ø  Type of Manuscript: Confirm that the chosen journal accepts the article type that is intended to be submitted. For example, if a case study or a review is to be submitted, the journal must publish such articles.
Ø  Review Status: In most academic institutes, publication in peer-reviewed journals is a requirement. Peer review is an organized procedure carried out by a committee of selected professionals in assessing the performance of other professionals in meeting the standards of their specialty. The time taken by the Review Process is also a factor to be considered. The length of the review process for a journal that publishes on a quarterly basis is most likely to be longer in comparison to one that publishes monthly. So, keep information in this regard prior to submission.
Ø  Publishing Time after acceptance: The papers accepted are usually published after a delay that may be due to processing schedules or production and publication periodicity. The journals with online editions usually publish article online soon after it is accepted and for practical purposes, it is regarded as a published paper.
Tip: Journals with online systems for submission and communication give fast response.
My Experience: Browse through some of the latest papers of the journal for the information regarding submission, revision, acceptance and publication of those papers. Usually, this information is on the first page of the paper. This will give you an idea about the response time of the considered journal.
Ø  Publication or review fees: For a few journals there is a fee for reviewing an article, article processing fees, page fees or fees for use of color images or other special media formats. Be sure to check the fee status before proceeding further, as it may be an issue depending on the available research budget.
My Experience: Fee information is available in the “Information / Instructions for Authors” section, in general, but some journals mention it separately.
Ø  Journal Policies: The authors working for the research projects that are funded by some agencies or institutions are required to comply with the funding agency policies. So, they should verify if the journal will fulfill the requirements, beforehand. Also, some journals allow the authors to retain rights of the work that is to be able to re-use or distribute the work after publication, while some journals provide limited rights to the authors. Thus, information in this context is also important.
Tip: Review the journal website for information on author rights and the journal copyright form.
4.    Requirements and Constraints
Be aware of the type of journals and constraints like some minimum impact factor or no publication fee, etc. that are acceptable and will give a due credit in your institute. The information is available in the respective information brochures of the institutes. The senior members of the faculty or the members of the departmental research committees may be consulted for the same.
I have found that choosing journal from a reputed publishing house fulfills all the above requirements and checklist without much effort. Some of the esteemed publishing houses that are known to be leaders in this field are
ØIEEE (https://www.ieee.org/publications_standards/publications/periodicals/journals_magazines.html)
Ø  Emerald (http://www.emeraldinsight.com/),
Ø  Wiley (http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/browse/publications?type=journal),
Ø  Springer (http://www.springeropen.com/journals),
Ø  Taylor and Francis (http://www.tandfonline.com/),
Ø  Elsevier (http://www.elsevier.com/journals/title/a).
I suggest browse through the websites of these publishing houses for the journals of your field and read the online journal information. The search process for a suitable journal will be completed fastly.
I hope the above information is useful for you all.
Best Wishes,

Nidhika
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