It can be tempting to begin writing a paper before giving much thought to where it might be published. However, choosing a journal to target before you begin to prepare your paper will enable you to tailor your writing to the journal's audience and format your paper according to its specific guidelines, which you may find on the journal's website.
Here are the top ten things to consider when choosing where to submit your paper.
1Peer review Does the journal provide a peer review service? Peer review is considered a stamp of quality from the research community.
2Relevance Does the journal publish other papers similar to the one you are preparing? Does it publish theoretical, experimental or applied research?
3Reputation Does the journal have a strong reputation in your field? Where do your peers publish?
4Scope Is the journal broad in its scope or is it a specialist journal read mainly by a particular community?
5Timeliness Is fast publication important to you? Have you checked the publication times for the journal?
6Cost Will the journal charge you for publishing your paper? Will your institution cover the publication charge if there is one? Will you be charged for extra pages/colour figures/supplementary data?
7Language Most international journals publish papers written in English. Will you need to have your paper checked by a native English speaker?
8Citation Is the journal likely to be cited by other researchers working in your field?
9Indexing Is the journal indexed in the major online databases such as ISI Web of Science?
10Appearance Does the journal publish papers in a format that is suitable for your work?