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BASICS << Journal selection
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Journal selection
Published 7 July 2008, written by Tony Reardon
Identifying appropriate peer-review journals to which manuscripts (e.g. clinical trials, disease-area review articles, symposia proceedings) will be submitted is an important part of the publication planning process. The publishing environment has always been competitive; the most prestigious general medical journals (N Engl J Med, Lancet, BMJ, JAMA, Ann Intern Med) have for many years been extremely challenging to publish in, with upwards of 90% of submitted manuscripts rejected. However, similarly high rejection rates are now found for leading journals within some medical specialties. Many journals also have a backlog of articles that have been accepted and are awaiting publication, and this can impact on future acceptance rates.
Selection of an appropriate target journal is therefore important if the chance of acceptance is to be maximised. It is important to seek the opinion of author(s) on where they think the manuscript should be submitted, and the choice of journal should be realistic if the delays and possible additional costs associated with a paper being rejected are to be avoided. The principal considerations when recommending a target journal are discussed below.
Target audience
– Who do you want to read the paper (specialists, primary care physicians, nurses, pharmacists, payers, scientists)?
The circulation of the journal
– Ideally, the paper should reach as many of the target audience as possible. The ‘reach’ of a publication can be extended if the journal content is freely available to download. Some journals provide free downloads of individual articles for payment of a fee.
The quality of the target journal should match the quality of the manuscript.
– When referring to the quality of the manuscript, we usually mean the scientific quality of the data, and how likely the results are to influence clinical practice or enhance the medical and scientific community’s understanding of a new treatment approach. Clearly, a top-tier general medical journal is unlikely to accept a report of a clinical trial that only confirms what is already known from the literature.
– The most widely used and accepted measure of a journal’s quality is its impact factor, which is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a given period of time. Impact factors are calculated based on a three-year period, and can be considered to be the average number of times published papers are cited up to two years after publication.
Publication lead time
– This comprises time for the peer review process (submission to acceptance) plus production time (acceptance to publication). While some journals will provide this information on their website or on request, others do not. Another way to obtain this information is to consult a sample issue of the journal: often, the date of submission and acceptance will be included on published manuscripts, and the date of publication will be known from the issue in which the paper appears. This information can be used to estimate publication lead times.
An increasing number of journals now offer an expedited review for suitable articles, so it is worth looking into this. Be aware, however, that these services often require a fee to be paid. As a rule of thumb, the higher the impact factor of the journal, the longer the publication lead time. If speed of publication is a key factor, it may be necessary to compromise on the prestige of the target journal.
Is the journal indexed on Medline?
– This will impact on the potential reach of the paper.
Geographical distribution of subscribers to the journal
– For example, if the manuscript is reporting a clinical trial of a drug that is not/will not be available in the US, a journal whose readership is predominantly European may be most appropriate.
Review articles – additional considerations
While original research will be published in most peer-reviewed journals, a substantial proportion do not publish review manuscripts; those that do often have specific criteria that should be carefully checked when assessing suitability. The following additional considerations are therefore important when researching target journals for review manuscripts.
Invited versus unsolicited review
– Some journals will only publish review articles that have been submitted at the invitation of the editor, while others will consider manuscripts without the need for an invitation. It may be possible to approach a journal with a summary of the proposed review to assess suitability/level of interest before a full submission.
Type of review
– While some journals only publish systematic reviews, others will consider non-systematic (narrative) manuscripts. A check of a recent sample copy is worthwhile to confirm the type of review articles published in a particular journal.
Has a review on a similar topic been recently published by the journal?
– If so, they are obviously unlikely to publish another with similar content.
Final thoughts
It is always worthwhile looking at a recent sample issue of any potential target journal to confirm the article you are assisting with is compatible with the types of articles published in the journal. During the final stages of manuscript preparation, it is also advisable to re-check the journal choice is still appropriate and that there have been no changes to the instructions for authors or editorial policy of the journal.
Unfortunately, there are no guarantees in the peer-review process and even manuscripts submitted to entirely appropriate journals can be rejected, so it is always advisable to have a back-up target journal. The final decision on where to submit a manuscript should rest with the author(s), but by considering the factors discussed above when researching potential target journals you can be sure your recommendations are entirely appropriate and will maximise the chances of acceptance.
About the author:
This article was contributed by Tony Reardon of Spirit Medical Communications, an independent medical communications agency with expertise in publication planning and implementation.
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Feedback: Do you have any comments about this article? Contact the Editor, Mary Greenacre.
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