17 Identifying Publication Venues
Although it may seem like putting the cart before the horse, identifying the journal that you want to submit your paper to before you begin writing can save you time down the road. Setting your sights on a potential publication venue early in the writing process can help you think about how you would like to present your research, the amount of space you want to use to express yourself, and the broader conversations you are situating your present contributions in relation to.
A few unwritten rules apply, such as: you should only submit a manuscript to one publication venue at a time, so consider, a journal’s “time to first decision” (when they will first let you know if your work has been accepted, rejected or somewhere in between). Many journals will post this time on their websites.
You should also be familiar with the focus and style of research generally published in the journal you are submitting your work to. Crafting a cover letter for your article that clearly relates your work to the journal’s mission statement or focus is a necessary element of your first submission that gives you the opportunity to make an argument for why your work is relevant to their readers. Having this information in mind as you begin writing also allows you to develop your work directly for the audience of the journal you are writing for. Making these connections intrinsic to the work you submit is one way of improving the chances your work will be accepted.
It is also important to note that different academic disciplines have different community norms around what types of academic publications are seen as more reflective of scholarly promise and contribution. Broadly, types of academic publishing include journal articles, book chapters, monographs and books, book reviews and conference proceedings (amongst other more unique disciplinary forms of publishing). Talk to your supervisor and colleagues about what the expectations are around publications in your field, as well as what level of productivity you should aim for. Just as there is no single path to graduate school, there is no single path through graduate school, and your career ambitions – what you hope to do with your graduate degree when you finish – should help you identify what your goals are around publishing.
Talking to your supervisor or other mentors in your field can also be helpful in terms of helping you find an appropriate journal to submit your work to.
Impact factor – a measure of the frequency with which recent articles published by a journal are cited in other published research – is one metric commonly used for ranking journals. Also consider any forthcoming special issues or calls for proposals (CFP) that a journal might have around a unifying theme that resonates with your research. Although most journals accept paper submissions on a continuing basis, submitting work written in response to a targeted CFP (usually attached to a specific deadline) is another way of improving your odds of being accepted for publication.
A note on predatory publishing: as academic institutions and funding agencies have increasingly relied on publishing as a measure of academic productivity and scholarly contribution, graduate students and researchers have been incentivized to boost their number of publications with less concern for the quality of the journal actually publishing their work. Predatory publishers have opportunistically arisen in this environment, offering little editorial oversight and a quick path to publication, without peer-review, in exchange for exorbitant “open-access” fees that authors must pay. For tips on identifying predatory publishers, see the recommended resources below.
Recommended Resources:
Choosing a Publication Venue, a guide developed and hosted by librarians at Northeastern University
How to Spot a Predatory Publisher, a recorded webinar hosted by the Office of Scholarly Communication at Cambridge
Understanding Predatory Publishers, a guide developed and hosted by librarians at Iowa State University