Skip to Main Content

SWSLHD Libraries Research support : publication

Where to publish my research output

This page introduces some useful tips and tools to select a suitable journal to publish your article. 

What to consider and how to find a journal

What to consider when you want to publish a paper:

1 - What journal will best meet your goals in sharing your research?  Who is your target audience?

  • Are you aiming to improve patient care by influencing practitioners?
  • Are you sharing cutting edge research with fellow researchers or seeking a broader audience?
  • Do you want to reach a local audience or an international audience?
  • Are you expected to publish in a prestigious high impact journal?

2-  What journals would be suitable for your paper?

  • What journals have published on similar topics? Where have papers you have read and referenced been published?
  • What are you publishing? Is it a clinical case study, primary research or a review article?
  • What is the journal's average time period to publish a paper?  
  • Are you aiming to publish in an open access journal?

One piece of research might yield several papers, each focused on a different audience, on different aspects of the topic or stages of the research.  Consider where you are aiming to publish early in the process of designing your research project.

Find a journal to submit your article to:

  • Use the journal selection tools to find potential journals to publish your manuscript
    • Journal selection tools, title/abstract matchers such as  JournalGuide, JANE  
    • Tools that compare the impact and metrics of journals e.g Scimago, Google Scholar Metrics, DOAJ. ERA list of journals  
  • Compare journal characteristics and metrics (Impact Factor, number of published articles, number of citations ...) 
  • Make sure the journal's aim and scope matches your manuscript research subject 
  • Look at the type of articles that the journal publishes to make sure it matches the article you want to submit 
  • Read the "Author Guides" very thoroughly, so you are sure your manuscript includes all the elements required
  • Be aware of Predatory journals

Journals selection tools- title/abstract matchers

Journal selection tools provided by publishers

Journal selection tools- to assess journal quality, ranking and metrics