Getting Started
Congratulations on reaching the writing stage of your research or quality improvement project! In publishing a manuscript in a journal, you are sharing your contributions to the field and engaging in the scholarly publication process. The purpose of this guide is to help you navigate and select potential journals for publishing.
Why Publish Your Research or Quality Improvement Project in a Scholarly Journal?
- Benefits your career as it provides evidence that you have completed a project and have an example of your professional writing,
- Shares experience of successful research so others in the field can implement it within their own workplace as well, and
- Grows the disciplinary field, expanding on the methodology and hopefully, impacting patient outcomes.
Simplified Journal Article Publication Process
- Find peer-review journal within the scope of your research or quality improvement project
- Explore and evaluate based on the criteria for selecting a journal
- Write your manuscript following the Author Guidelines of your selected journal
- Double-check the completed manuscript meets the Author Guidelines
- Submit for peer-review
- Receive peer-review comments
- Revise to address reviewers' concerns
- Resubmit for review
- Accepted for publication
- Receive manuscript proofs from publisher to make final corrections
- Published in an issue of the journal.
Strategies for Finding Journals
There are many strategies for finding a journal which fits your project. Below are some potential strategies to get you started:
- Consult your peers or mentors on where they have published their research or quality improvement projects
- Ask about their experiences submitting a manuscript to that journal.
- If they have not submitted an article, ask them about the journals they read or subscribe to in that discipline.
- Review the bibliography you prepared in your proposal or manuscript for potential journals options
- Review for multiple citations from the same journal. That might be a sign that your manuscript's topic is within that journal's scope and aims.
- Use a journal selector search like Edanz or J/ANE
- Search using your prepared abstract or relevant keywords related to your manuscript.
- Write using the SQUIRE Statement manuscript format if you are using a Quality Improvement methodology for your project.
- SQUIRE-friendly publications are listed on the SQUIRE Statement website
- Check disciplinary lists in various citation reports
- Lists of journals can be found at the National Library of Medicine website or the ICMJE website
- Use the Journal Citation Report list from Web of Science or the Scimago Journal Ranking to review the potential impact of a journal
Criteria for Selection
Resources for Journal Selection
Resources to Review Potential Journals:
- Edanz Journal SelectorSearch by keyword or field of study from over 28,000 journals to locate a potential publication opportunity.
- JANE: Journal / Author Name EstimatorEnter a manuscript's abstract in Jane to compare your manuscript to millions of abstracts in PubMed to find the best matching journals, authors, or articles.
- SQUIRE-friendly Journals ListListing of journal using the Quality Improvement standards for preparing a scholarly article, SQUIRE.
- Plan S Journal Checker Beta ToolThe Journal Checker Tool enables researchers to check whether they can comply with their funders Plan S aligned OA policy based on the combination of journal, funder(s) and the institution(s) affiliated with the research to be published.
Resources to Review Journal Quality:
- ICMJE List of JournalsA list of journals whose editors or publishers have contacted the International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) to request listing as a journal that says it follows the ICMJE's Recommendations for the Conduct, Reporting, Editing and Publication of Scholarly Work in Medical Journals.
- Ulrichsweb/Ulrich's Periodicals DirectoryUlrichweb provides comprehensive information on serials published throughout the world.
- Scimago Journal RankingsA ranked list of journals where you can narrow down to the disciplinary subject.
- Journal Citation Report from Web of ScienceThe JCR report the impact factor for journals. Use the browse by category option to filter to the Health Science journal category list.
Books on Writing for Publication
AMA manual of style : a guide for authors and editors by ISBN: 9780190246587Publication Date: 2020The AMA manual of style thoroughly covers ethical and legal issues such as authorship, conflicts of interest, scientific misconduct, intellectual property, open access and public access, and corrections
How to Publish in Biomedicine: 500 Tips for Success by ISBN: 1315349523Publication Date: 2016-11-03Based on the authors' successful training courses and extensive experience of healthcare communications, this book will answer your questions and help you to avoid the most frequent problems and pitfalls when publishing.
Medical and Scientific Publishing by ISBN: 9780128099704Publication Date: 2017-11-13Medical and Scientific Publishing will help fill the gap and help readers to understand processes of scientific and medical publishing, understand the role of an academic in medical publishing, become a better scientific communicator and develop skills to effectively serve as the editor of a medical journal.
Medical Writing by ISBN: 9781441982346Publication Date: 2011-08-17The first edition of this book (titled "The Clinician's Guide to Medical Writing") has become a standard in its field and remains an indispensible reference for any clinician, academic physician, or health professional who wishes to hone their writing skills.
Scholarly Publication Models
One aspect of selecting a publishing model is knowing your rights as an author. No matter what publication model you pursue, it is essential that you review any contracts associated with the publication of your manuscript.
When publishing, authors are presented with a contract or copyright transfer agreement drafted by the publisher. Many publisher drafted agreements transfer copyright fully to the publisher thereby restricting an author's subsequent usage of his or her published work, including reuse of the work in teaching and further research. After transferring copyright to the publisher, the author generally has little say in how the work is later used and restricts the dissemination and impact of scholarship.
- Think Check SubmitGuidance for authors to find trustworthy journals for their work.
- SHERPA/RoMEOA database of open access journals that provides summaries of self-archiving permissions and conditions of rights given to authors on a journal-by-journal basis
- Author Rights: UIC Library Publishing, Scholarly Communication, and Open Access GuideA comprehensive guide on author rights and guides of contract language in regards to copyright to your own work. Prepared by Sandy DeGroote, UIC Library Scholarly Communication Librarian.
- Understanding your rights: pre-prints, post-prints and publisher versionsAn article from the publication "Scientific American" explaining the versions of manuscript as it moves through the publication process and what you as the author can do with those versions.
The traditional model of academic publishing is the subscription-based journal. The subscriptions are either paid by the reader or libraries providing the journal in their collections. In effect, users are paying to read the content. Due to the cost of subscription fees, access to your article may be limited which can lessen the impact of your project. In addition, it usually takes longer from submission to acceptance and publication in subscription-based journals because:
- A certain number of articles are needed to publish an issue
- Publishers have a surplus of publishable articles due to space limitations
The following YouTube video "Open Access Explained!" created by Piled Higher and Deeper (PHD) Comics. The video explains open access in context of science research and publication.
- UIC Research Open Access Article Publishing (ROAAP) FundA fund administered by the UIC Library to support OA publication fees. Funds are available UIC Faculty, Staff, and Students.