Abstract
IntroductionScholarship is a key activity in health professions education (HPE). When disseminating scholarly work, how one selects the journal to which they submit is often argued to be a key determinant of subsequent success. To draw more evidence-based recommendations in this regard, we surveyed successful scholars working in HPE regarding their perspectives and experiences with journal selection.MethodsWe conducted an international survey of HPE scholars, investigating their decisions regarding journal choice. Corresponding authors were identified from a sample of 4000 papers published in 2019 and 2020. They were invited via email with up to four reminders. We describe their experience and use principle component and regression analyses to identify factors associated with successful acceptance.ResultsIn total, 863 responses were received (24.7% response rate), 691 of which were included in our analyses. Two thirds of respondents had their manuscripts accepted at their first-choice journal with revisions required in 98% of cases. We identified six priority factors when choosing journals. In descending order of importance, they were: fit, impact, editorial reputation, speed of dissemination, breadth of dissemination, and guidance from others. Authors who prioritised fit higher and who selected a journal earlier were more likely to have their manuscripts accepted at their first-choice journal.DiscussionBased on our results we make three recommendations for authors when writing manuscripts: do not be disheartened by a revise decision, consider journal choice early in the research process, and use the fit between your manuscript and the journal as the main factor driving journal choice.Supplementary InformationThe online version of this article (10.1007/s40037-022-00698-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.
Highlights
Scholarship is a key activity in health professions education (HPE)
We surveyed successful scholars working in HPE regarding their perspectives and experiences with journal selection
This study aimed to investigate how HPE scholars choose to which journals to submit their manuscripts, whether or not strategies differ between subgroups of scholars, and what their publication experience was like once a choice was made
Summary
Scholarship is a key activity in health professions education (HPE). When disseminating scholarly work, how one selects the journal to which they submit is often argued to be a key determinant of subsequent success. Making one’s efforts publicly available with peer review is a defining feature of scholarship according to Boyer’s classic model [2]. This creates a particular challenge for our field because most come to it through serendipity, with little formal training in scholarship, and with a wide array of backgrounds, interests, and roles [3]. Much advice has been generated in an effort to support individuals who are new to the field to have publication success, but little empirical work is available to help separate good advice from lore. What journals should they choose and why? What journals should they choose and why? How should they engage with or rely upon peer review processes? To what extent are publication priorities malleable and what impact might changing perspectives have?
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