Abstract
The scholarly publication landscape continues to grow in complexity, presenting researchers with ever-increasing dilemmas regarding journal choice. However, research into the decision-making processes associated with journal choice is limited. This article contributes by reporting on an international survey of researchers in various disciplines and with varying levels of experience. The study examines the extent to which various journal characteristics affect journal selection, perceptions of the extent to which university and national research policies impact on their journal choice, and the influence of academics’ familiarity, confidence and objectives on journal choice. The most important factors influencing journal choice were as follows: reliability of reviewing, usefulness of reviewers’ feedback, the reputation of the journal and confidence that their article is in scope for the journal. Publishing productivity, publishing experience, researcher role and discipline had little impact on the ranking of journal choice factors, suggesting that the research community is homogeneous.
Highlights
In academia, the phrase ‘publish or perish’ is more than a pithy witticism – it reflects the reality that researchers are under immense pressure to continuously produce outputs ([1], p.1)
The internationalisation of academic journals means that the boundaries are being continually re-drawn as to the most feasible and efficacious journal choice, taking into account, for instance, the subject area [5] and the language of publication of the journal [6]
This article examines the effect of journal characteristics, university and national policies, respondents’ familiarity, confidence and objectives on journal selection, as well as investigating the effect of publishing productivity, length of publishing experience, researcher role and discipline on the ranking of journal choice factors (JCFs)
Summary
The phrase ‘publish or perish’ is more than a pithy witticism – it reflects the reality that researchers are under immense pressure to continuously produce outputs ([1], p.1). With the significant increase in the number of journals, and journal types, and changes in the coverage and standing of some established journals, it is difficult for even experienced researchers to make sound journal choice decisions These changes are driven by new models of publishing, and increased pressure upon academics to publish in ‘high ranking’ journals, coupled with increased interdisciplinarity and internationalisation of research and publishing. Researchers have always shared notions of the ‘most highly regarded’ journals in their field, In addition, researchers are coming under increasing pressure from their universities and funders to engage in interdisciplinary research projects With such projects, a research team is often faced with evaluating the relative merits of publishing in journals in different disciplines [4]. The internationalisation of academic journals means that the boundaries are being continually re-drawn as to the most feasible and efficacious journal choice, taking into account, for instance, the subject area [5] and the language of publication of the journal [6]
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