Publishing Guide: Choosing a journal

1. Take a look at your own bibliography.  What journals are cited the most? 
2. Develop a list of potential journals using the resources below.
3. Review the journal’s website and if possible, skim a hard copy as well. 
4. Discuss with your peers which journal they respect or where they would submit.
5. Do any of the journals you currently read publish articles similar to your own?

We also recommend utilizing the website Think, Check, Submit.  Think, Check Submit is an excellent guide to looking at a journal before submitting an article for publication. 

This is a list of areas of a journal to look into once you've narrowed your target journals down to a few key journals. 

• Take a look at the table of contents.  Would your article fit in the table of contents of this journal?
• What is the acceptance rate of this journal?
• Who is the publisher of this journal?  Do you recognize the publisher?
• What associations, or organizations are affiliated with the journal. 
• How often is the journal published?
• What platforms is the journal available on.  Web, print, or web and print?
• Paid circulation numbers
• What is the main subject area(s) covered by the journal (particularly when the research is cross-discipline)?
• Types of articles published (original research, review, case study)
• Do you recognize any of the names of the editors of the review board?  Are the editors affiliated with established institutions? 
• Is the journal peer-reviewed?
• What is the quality of the accepted articles and authors?
• What is the reputation of the journal?
• What is the impact factor? 
• Where is it indexed?  Medline, PsycINFO, CINAHL?
• Who is the declared audience?
• What is the time to publication?

Best Place to Start:  Think, Check Submit

Journal Lists

1. PubMed Core Journals list
2. Embase Priority Journals
3. Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
4. Ulrich’s Web

Rankings

1. InCites™ Journal Citation Reports®
2. Publish or Perish
3. Scimago Journal and Country Rank

Additional Tools

1. BioMed Central "Find the Right Journal"
2. Cabell's International Journal Selection
3. Journal Author Name Estimator (JANE)
4. Journal Guide
5. Edanz Journal Selector (Beta)

• BMC Blog. (2017). Black lists, white lists and the evidence: exploring the features of ‘predatory’ journal
• Shamseer L, Moher D, Maduekwe O, Turner L, Barbour V, Burch R, Clark J, Galipeau J, Roberts J, Shea BJ. (2017) Potential predatory and legitimate biomedical journals: can you tell the difference? A cross-sectional comparison. BMC Med. 15(1):28.
• Burdick, A. (2017). “Paging Dr. Fraud”: The Fake Publishers That Are Ruining Science. The New Yorker, March 27. http://www.newyorker.com/tech/elements/paging-dr-fraud-the-fake-publishers-that-are-ruining-science
• Happell, B. (2012). Writing and publishing clinical articles: a practical guide. Emergency Nurse, 20(1), 33-38. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22690477
• Kremenak, N. (2009). Choosing the Most Effective Keywords for Your Manuscript. Journal of Prosthodontics, 18(4), 372-372. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19635067
• Quinn, C. T., & Rush, A. J. (2009). Writing and publishing your research findings. Journal of Investigative Medicine, 57(5), 634-639. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19491626

Medical Journals that Accept Stories and Essays from Physicians

Most of the publications listed accept writing from all health care professionals, patients, and family members as well.

Louise Aronson, MD on Literary Writing in Medicine