HOW TO CHOSE APPROPRIATE JOURNAL FOR

PUBLICATION

Vijay SardanaMD. DM. (Neuro)

Professor & Head Deptt. Of Neurology.

Member,Medical Education Unit Medical College, Kota.

WHY PUBLISH ?

Provokes desire to advance human knowledge &/or enhance patient care & communicate to others.

WHY PUBLISH ?

• Provide useful peer review of one’s research.• Encourage networking with individuals &

groups with similar research interest.• Aid career advancement.• Assist in wilnning grant & research support.• Act as catalyst for attracting high quality staff

& students.

GOALS

? Publish in Journal with brand readership (NEJM, JAMA, Lancet, BMJ)

? Specific Readership – ( Neurology, JNNP etc. )

WRITER SPECIFIC REASONS

• Publication for the sake of publishing- easy journal

• Journal respected by seniors – for promotion etc.

• Particular journal to impress / convince particular subset of clinicalian / Researchers.

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

• ISSN International centre, Paris - managed by UNESCO

• More than 1.5 Million Journals in various languages

Secondary Information services

• Index Medicus ( electronic version – Medline)

• Science citation index / journal citation reports (SCI/ JCR)

• Ulrich’s International periodical Directory 2004.

178650 , 897 subject headings

Index Medicus

• National Library of Medicine (NLM) Bethesda, USA

• Largest Medical database in the world• More than 4000 Journals• Has wide research through web versions – pub

med.• New journal seeking inclusions has to wait for

3 years.

Index MedicusCriteria for Inclusion

• Scope & Coverage of subject content • Quality of content• Editorial quality in term of peer review and

selection of articles.• Production quality• Geographical coverage

Journals – Global Scenario

. Index Medicus (Year 2000)

US - 1435 (42.0%)

UK – 600(17.6%)

. Science Citation Index

US - 41%

UK – 20.1%

Indian scenario

• Directory of periodicals (published 2000) 12000 serials including 681 newspapers.

• Directory of indian scientific periodicals 1992 (National institute of science communication &

information resources) ( NISCAIR )1991 journals

Table 1. Indian journals in four global databases analysed

Database Total Journals Indian journals

Index Medicus (2004) 4098 28 (0.683%)

BIOSIS (2001) 5012 96(1.915%)

SCI (2002) 3725 10(0.268%)

JCR/SCI (2002) 5876 49 (0.834%)

India: Poor Science, Poor Journal, Poor Recognition

• Average quality of research – Substandard research papers

• Leftover Papers published in Indian journal• Papers of Indian ‘Origin Ignored’ • Poor quality of printing / photographs• Poor Indexing• Lack of Regular & stringent peer review

system.• Publication schedule

India: Poor Science, Poor Journal, Poor Recognition

• Poor motivation for research - compulsion / pressures.

• Repetitive & confirmatory research rather than original & innovative.

• Poor infrastructure • Poor institutional support

Factors determining appropriate journal for manuscript

• Impact factor• Prestige factor• Readership • Editorial Board• General v/s speciality journals• Focus• Reputation• Punctuality• Availability• Periodicity / Time to print• Page charge

Thompson, P. J. Chest 2007;132:1073-1076

Interactions that influence a successful publication and can create a perpetual cycling

Impact factor

• A measure of extent to which articles published in it are cited

• More The citation to a journal’s articles , the greater is the impact.

Impact factor

• Controversial , Still useful parameter

• Factors influencing citation pattern :

• Intensive basic science area – more citation• Biomedical science > Mathematics / Physics• Periodicity of journal • Type of Article – Review > Original article

Impact factor - 2002

• Indian Highest - Journal of Biosciences – 0.606

• Global Highest - Annual Review of Immunology -54,455

Top Ten Journal Rankings sorted by Impact Factor for some fields

Ranking Journal name abbreviation

Impact factor

1 New Engl J Med 29.512

2 Jama-j Am Med Assoc 15.402

3 Lancet 10.232

4 Ann Rev Med 9.891

5 Ann Rev Med 9.833

6 Arch Intern Med 6.055

7 Am j Med 5.960

8 Brit Med J 5.331

9 Medicine 4.623

10 Amyloid 2.957

FieldMedicine –general & internal (n=104)

Medicine, Research & Experimental ( No. of journals= 74)

Ranking Journal name abbreviation

Impact factor

1 Nat Med 27.905

2 J Exp Med 15.236

3 J Clin Invest 12.015

4 Hum Gene Ther 6.796

5 Gene Ther 5.964

6 Mol Med Today 5.193

7 Lab Invest 4.165

8 Cancer Gene Ther 4.151

9 Mol Med 3.779

10 J Mol Med-Jmm 3.445

FieldMedicine Research & external (n=74)

Multidisciplinary Sciences (No. of Journals = 49 )

Ranking Journal name abbreviation

Impact factor

1 Nature 25.814

2 Sciences 23.872

3 P Natl Acad Sci USA 10.789

4 Sci Am 2.240

5 Ibm J Res Dev 1.944

6 J Res Natl Inst Stan 1.611

7 Philos T Roy Soc A 1.493

8 P Roy Soc Lond A Mat 1.403

9 Ann Ny Acad Sci 1.381

10 Naturwissenschaften 1.261

FieldMultidisciplinary Sciences (n=49)

(Source : Journal Citation Reports (JCR) on CD-ROM -2000 Science Edition)

Prestige factor

• Prestige & Impact factor are not synonymous

Readership

• Target Readership for Articles

• Specialists / General Physician / General Practitioner

Editorial Board

• Experienced & reputed editorial advisory board adds to prestige of journal

• Maintains quality of Articles.

General v/s Speciality Journal

• General Medical Journals do not encourage publication of highly specialized papers.

• General medical journals are not read by many specialists & vice versa.

Type of Article

• Full length research paper / brief or short communication / case report / review articles / opinion paper.

• Refer to instructions to authors.

Focus ( of journal )

• Basic or clinical or Mixed

• Theoretical or Applied or Mixed

Wrong choice of journal may mean burial of the paper forever as only selected few may access to

it.

Reputation

• Who read it.

• Journal manuscript acceptance rate

• How long has the journal existed.

Punctuality

Availability

• Library subscription • Library subscription + Personal subscription• Online version

Avoid only online journals

Periodicity / Time to print (Publication cycle)

• Time taken for review process

• Time take for Publication once the article is accepted.

• If articles are posted on website immediately after acceptance.

Page charge

• Page charges ( up to US $ 60 / page )

• Plate charges ( up to US $ 1000 / plate )

• ‘ handling charges ’

Can be waived on request

CHECKLIST FOR CHOOSING A SUITABLE JOURNAL FOR YOUR RESEARCH WORK

• Will the journal meet the author’s aspiration in terms of publishing his or her work ?

• Is the impact factor and the “prestige factor” of the journal sufficient for authors ?

• Is the focus of the journal similar to the main theme of manuscript ?

• Is the review process supportive, both in terms of timeliness and in providing constructive and useful criticism ?

• Is their some rapport with the journal staff ??• Is there a desire to support the organization that sponsors

the journal ?

Learning Points

• Chose a journal having –• High quality & editorial standard• minimal inclusions in reputed international secondary

database.• Tight time schedule

• Balance use of top quality journal with need for rapid publication in possibly lesser quality journal.

• Consult your peers & mentors for advice.

Learning points

“ If you do not get a manuscript rejected once in a while, you are not aiming high enough. ’’

Happy writing & publishing

Thank You