University of Kentucky, Lexington Choosing the Right Journal Mary Vore University of Kentucky, Lexington You are building a career - not just publishing a paper.

Choosing the Right Journal Factors important in selecting a journal 1. Prestige 2. Impact 3. Circulation 4. Frequency

Choosing the Right Journal How significant are your findings? 1. Earth-shattering discovery of general import? A. YES  Nature, Science, PNAS, Cell B. NO  Go to next question.

Choosing the Right Journal How significant are your findings? 2. Seminal advance of importance in a broad sphere? 3. A major advance in a particular discipline? 4. A solid observation that will only be of importance to a small group working in the field? 5. Ask a trusted colleague!

Choosing the Right Journal Who will be interested in reading this paper? A. Clinicians? B. Basic Scientists? C. Clinician-scientists?

Choosing the Right Journal Whom do you want to ensure reads this paper? Members of NIH Study Section? Promotion and Tenure Committee? The competition?

Choosing the Right Journal Helpful strategies: 1. Have a journal in mind as you design your experiments. 2. Select the journal BEFORE you write!

Choosing the Right Journal Helpful strategies: 3. Where are many of the recent papers you cite published? 4. Where do the scientists you cite most publish their work?

Choosing the Right Journal Helpful strategies: 5. Read the advertising statements of society journals. (Check society web sites) 6. Read the “scope” paragraph in the “Instructions to Authors”

Choosing the Right Journal Helpful strategies: 7. Read the Table of Contents of a current issue of potential journals. Have you heard of any of the authors? 8. Examine several articles in potential journals. How many figures and tables do they have?