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

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

3. 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.

4. 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!

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

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

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

8. 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?

9. 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”

10. 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?