Graduate Studies

When checking the legitimacy of a journal, you should visit its website, research scholars who have published with that journal, research the publisher itself, and most importantly, talk to colleagues. 

CONSIDER THESE FIVE INDICATORS:

1. Do you or your colleagues know the journal? 

Have you read articles in that journal before?

2. Can you easily identify and contact the publisher? 

Is the publisher name clearly displayed on the website and do they provide complete contact information: email, street address, working phone number?

3. Does the journal have an International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)?

The ISSN is a unique eight digit number that identifies each journal title.  In many countries, an ISSN is mandatory for all publications subject to the legal deposit.  Check the ISSN portal to verify if the number is legitimate: https://portal.issn.org/

4. Does the website list any fees which authors may be charged for publishing their article?

Does the journal site explain what these fees are for and when they will be
charged?

5. Is the journal a member of an industry initiative or trade association?

Do they belong to the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE)? - 7,000 members

If it's published by a professional society, do they belong to ALPSP (Association of Learned & Professional Society Publishers)? - 10,000 members

For example: The  International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) provides Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.

Also consider these if it's an Open Acess Journal:

Is it listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)?

The DOAJ vets journals before listing them. However, there is a significant backlog of journals waiting to be listed, and not all legitimate open access journals are listed in the directory.  There are currently more than 11,000 journals listed.

Is the publisher a member of the Open Access Scholarly Publishers Association (OASPA)

Many of the largest open access publishers are members of the OASPA, though there are legitimate open access publishers that do not belong.

The more ties to well-known organizations and the more a journal follows best practices, the more likely it is to be a legitimate operation.

Adapted from Think, Check, Submit

ADDITIONAL CRITERIA FOR DETERMINING THE QUALITY OF A PUBLICATION

1. Articles are indexed in subject-related research databases and/or services.

2. The journal is clear about the type of peer review it uses.

3. The Editor/Editorial board are recognized experts in the field.

They mention the journal on their own websites.

4. The scope of the journal is well-defined and clearly stated.

Consequently, articles are within the scope and meet the standards of the discipline.

5. Journal is registered in Ulrich'sWeb: Global Serials Directory

The journal record provides lots of info including whether it is refereed (peer-reviewed) as well as a link to the journal website.

6. Articles have DOIs (Digital Object identifiers)

7. And for Open Access journals, the journal clearly indicates rights for use and re-use of articles at the article level (for instance, Creative Commons license)

Adapted from Grand Valley State University's and  Boston College's OA Journals Quality Indicators libguides, and Think, Check, Submit

TEN NEGATIVE SIGNALS THAT SEND UP A RED FLAG ABOUT A JOURNAL AND/OR PUBLISHER

1.  Journal website is difficult to locate or identify

2.  Publisher "About" information is absent on the journal's website

3.  A single editor is listed and editorial board information is absent

4.  Publisher uses direct marketing (spamming) or other obtrusive advertising

5.  Instructions for authors are not available

6.  Information on peer review and copyright is absent or unclear on the journal website

7.  Journal scope statement is absent or extremely vague

8.  No information is provided about the publisher, or the information provided does not clearly indicate a relationship to a mission to disseminate research content

9.  Repeat lead authors appear in the same issue

10. Publisher has a negative reputation

See documented evidence in The Chronicle of Higher Education and other reputable publications, list-servs, etc.

Adapted from Grand Valley State University's and  Boston College's OA Journals Quality Indicators libguides, and Think, Check, Submit

Journal rankings are used in some disciplines, particularly the sciences and social sciences, to identify an academic journal's impact and quality.  They're intended to reflect the importance of a journal within its field which often correlates with the difficulty of being published in that journal, and the prestige associated with it.

View these short videos on Journal Citation Reports from Web of Science training on YouTube

REFERENCES INCLUDE:

SUBMIT YOUR MANUSCRIPT TO A CHOSEN JOURNAL, IF YOU AGREE WITH MOST OR ALL OF THE STATEMENTS BELOW.

♦ You are confident that your chosen journal will have a suitable profile among your peers to enhance your reputation and your chance of gaining citations.

♦ Publishing in this journal is appropriate for your research and will raise your professional profile, and help you progress in your career.

♦ Your paper will be indexed or archived and be easily discoverable.

♦ You can expect a professional publishing experience where your work is reviewed and edited.

If you agree, only then should you submit your article.

Adapted from ThinkCheckSubmit.org

This worksheet from the Where Should I Publish workshop includes checklists for two scenarios: 

Scenario 1:  I have the name of a journal and I need to know more about it

Scenario 2:  I'm looking for an appropriate journal to publish my manuscript.  How do I find one?