Consider the copyright and archiving policies when choosing a journal. Do you want to be able to post your article on your website? Do you want it to have increased discoverability? Do you need to use the article in your dissertation or future anthology?
Knowing your rights as an author per the copyright and archiving policies of a journal can help you make a more informed decision about where to publish.
SHERPA/RoMEO is a useful resource to find the copyright and archiving policies of journals.
This video overviews SHERPA/RoMEO, how to search for policies, and how to interpret them.
Swift, A. K., Taylor, A., Tagge, N. M., Brown, M., & Heskett, K. (2022, June 29). Deceptive Publishing Workshop. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/PS8R4 (workshop blog post and description)
Swift, A. K., & Sklar, A. (2022, December 15). 2022 IFLA STL and Author Carpentries - Identifying Reputable Journals. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/BVZMA
Swift, Allegra (2021). Good Publishing Practices and the Risks of Predatory Publishing. figshare. Presentation. https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.14582964.v1
Have you been told that you should aim to publish in a "high impact" journal? That means you should be seeking a journal with a high Impact Factor. The official Journal Impact Factor is determined by Thomson-Reuters.
The Impact Factor is the average number of times an article in a particular journal is cited. This is a journal-level metric and does not actually reflect your impact as an author.
However, for some departments Impact Factor does contribute to determining promotion and tenure. You may want to discuss Impact Factor with your department head before letting the Impact Factor determine your publishing decisions.
