2. Publish
  3. A guide when you want to publish your research
  4. Choosing publication channels
  5. Find and review publishing channels

Find and review publishing channels

A list of useful tools for identifying publication channels that may be suitable for your manuscript. You can also read tips on how to avoid questionable publishing channels if you're considering a journal or conference, you're less familiar with.

Database searches

One way to try to identify possible journals, conferences or publishers that may be a good fit for your text is to browse relevant databases. Use appropriate keywords to find out where publications similar to your manuscript are published. Some suggestions for databases that may be useful include:

  • The major subject databases of the field, to find journals and to some extent conference publications. Tips regarding subject databases can be found through the Databases page of the university library.
  • Broad citation databases such as Web of science and Scopus, to find journals and to some extent conference publications. You can read more about them at the Databases page of the university library.
  • Libris, a catalogue of books and journals in Swedish university library collections – a good resource for finding tips on Swedish publishing channels.
  • Swepub, a catalogue of publications by researchers at Swedish universities, which is good for finding Swedish publication channels.
  • The Norwegian channel register includes lists of journals and publishers held to be of scientific quality. The journals and publishers can be sorted by subject.

 

Tools for finding journals to publish your work

There are several services that help you identify journals that could be relevant to your manuscript, based on its abstract and keywords. Some of these services are provided by a major publisher and the journals suggested are part of their own output of journal titles. Other services are connected to databases with journals from several different publishers. A few are produced by other companies that offer support services to researchers.

The services work differently depending on the subject area but can make things easier if you wish to publish outside your usual area (for example through interdisciplinary projects).

Avoid questionable journals and conferences

Not all journals are serious, or what they claim to be. There are publishers and journals that are happy to publish your manuscript without offering quality improvement in the form of, for example, peer review, editorial help, and language review. The practice of article processing charges (APCs) for open access publishing means that there is a larger market than before, where it is possible to make money from promising quality improvement assistance which is subsequently not delivered. Therefore, research an unfamiliar journal or conference before you decide to send them your manuscript.

Some relevant questions to consider

  1. Have you received e-mails from the journal/conference/publisher inviting you to send them your manuscript without a clear justification as to why you are receiving the invitation?
  2. Is the journal or conference indexed in any of the databases you usually use when searching for literature? Check, for example, the Web of Science, Scopus or one of the subject-specific databases in your field.

    Specialized or local journals may be legitimate even though they are not indexed in the international databases. This applies somewhat more frequently to conferences and publishers. If the journal website states that the journal is indexed in a certain database, check the database to see if this is correct.
  3. If the journal is open access, ensure it is listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). However, there are some legitimate journals that are not listed in DOAJ.
     
  4. If a book publisher publishes open access, you can check to see if they are listed in the Directory of Open Access Books (DOAB) or OAPEN. However, there are some legitimate publishers that do not list their books in DOAB or OAPEN.
     
  5. Run a Google search for the journal/conference/publisher and "predatory" (the term for dubious journals/publishers) - read what is written and make your own judgment call.
     
  6. Who is actively producing and participating in the journal or conference (editors, editorial boards, organizing or publishing organizations, authors)? Can you determine from the relevant individual or organizational websites that they really have the roles claimed on the journal or conference's website?
     
  7. Read a few articles published by the journal in question and try to assess its quality. If expert opinions are published, you can analyze how they have influenced the published article.
     
  8. Try to verify through other sources that a conference will actually be hosted according to the information provided.
     
  9. Find more tips for journals and book publishers at Think Check Submit.

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