Identifying a Journal for Your Research
Selecting a journal that enhances your research visibility and reaches your intended audience can help maximize your impact.
Consult Colleagues and Professional Societies
Ask peers and mentors about journals they read, cite, and recommend.
Consider journals affiliated with your professional organization to connect with others in your field.
Use Journal Matching Tools
Find journals that publish research similar to yours.
- Journal/Author Name Estimator (Jane) Matches your title, abstract, or keywords to journals indexed in PubMed.
- Clarivate Master Journal List Manuscript MatcherUses Web of Science data to suggest relevant journals based on your title, abstract, and references.
- SPI-Hub: Scholarly Publishing Information Hub Enter keywords or search by author to find journals publishing related research.
Search Article Databases
Look for articles on your topic to discover journals publishing in your field.
Biomedical databases:
Multidisciplinary databases (for research bridging medicine and other fields):
Explore Journal Databases
Use these resources to evaluate journal impact, rankings, and quality standards.
- Journal Citation Reports Assess impact factors and rankings
- SCImago Journal & Country Rank Compare journal rankings and influence
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)Find quality, peer-reviewed open access journals
Evaluating Journal Quality and Relevance
Before submitting your manuscript, ensure the journal fits your research and follows ethical publishing practices.
Check Journal Scope and Policies
Confirm that the journal covers your research field, accepts your study design, and reaches your target audience.
Review author instructions for policies, submission requirements, and publication timelines to ensure the journal is the right fit.
Verify Journal Quality and Ethics
Make sure the journal is credible and follows ethical publishing standards.
- Use the Think. Check. Submit. checklist to assess trustworthiness based on editorial transparency, peer review, and publishing policies.
- Check if the journal is a member of the Committee on Publication Ethics (COPE).
- For open access journals, verify inclusion in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) to ensure they meet quality standards.
Consider Metrics and Discoverability
Assess the journal’s reach and visibility.
- Check Journal Citation Reports and SCImago Journal & Country Rank for impact factors and rankings.
- See if the journal is indexed in PubMed, Embase, or Web of Science to improve discoverability.
Publishing Open Access
Open access (OA) makes research freely available online, removing cost and permission barriers for readers while protecting author rights.
Why Publish Open Access?
Open access expands global access to research, allowing anyone to read, share, and reuse findings. It supports UC’s mission to share knowledge widely, fostering innovation and public benefit. OA publications also tend to receive higher readership, downloads, and citations than subscription-based articles (Huang et al., 2024). While OA increases accessibility, publishing challenges remain. Learn about UC efforts to reduce publishing barriers and expand participation.
Your Open Access Responsibilities
The UC Open Access Policies require UC faculty and employees to make their scholarly articles publicly accessible.
How to Comply:
- Deposit your article: Upload a copy of your article or provide a link to an open version in eScholarship, UC’s open access repository, using the UC Publication Management System.
- Check for additional requirements: Some funding and government agencies may have additional OA policies that apply to your work. For example, NIH-funded research must be deposited in PubMed Central.
Making Your Article Open Access
UC authors have two main options:
Option 1 – Post in an Open Access Repository (No Cost)
- Deposit your article in eScholarship, UC’s open access repository, using the UC Publication Management System.
- Submit the Author’s Accepted Manuscript (AAM) – the final peer-reviewed version without publisher formatting.
- Some funders require deposits in specific repositories, such as PubMed Central for NIH-funded research.
- Find more repository options at OpenDOAR.
Option 2 – Publish Open Access With a Journal (Fees May Apply)
- Choose to publish in fully OA journals or subscription journals with OA options for individual articles.
- Some journals charge Article Processing Charges (APCs) for OA publishing.
For help choosing the right OA path, explore the flowchart guide or view the text-based version.
Support for OA Publishing Fees
UC Libraries have agreements with publishers that may reduce or fully cover article processing charges (APCs) for open access publishing.
Check UC's publishing agreements and discounts:
Source Acknowledgment: Content adapted from the UC Office of Scholarly Communication’s resources for authors and researchers.
Managing Copyright and Author Rights
Knowing your rights as an author helps you protect your work.
Many publishers require copyright transfer, but you may be able to retain certain rights by negotiating your publishing agreement.
For open access publishing, Creative Commons licenses allow you to control how your work is shared and reused while ensuring proper attribution.
Learn more about Copyright & Author Rights.
Enhancing Your Research Profile with ORCID
After publication, link your article to your ORCID profile to keep a reliable record of your work and integrate it with research systems.
ORCID (Open Researcher and Contributor IDentifier) is a unique, persistent ID that helps distinguish you from other researchers and ensures proper attribution of your publications.
Your ORCID profile consolidates your research outputs, affiliations, and professional activities in one place. It also integrates with manuscript submission systems, funding applications, and institutional repositories, reducing manual data entry and improving author identification.
Get started — register for free at orcid.org.
Find tips and best practices in the Library's ORCID Guide.
Finding Further Support
For additional publishing support, consult the Library’s Scholarly Communication Services.