Thinking of writing for publication? Before you submit an article to a journal for possible publication, it is worth considering that not all journals are reputable. Some journals are published by so-called 'predatory publishers' that may ask for payment to peer-review and publish your article, but then don't provide the editorial and publishing services associated with legitimate journals.
Many legitimate open access journals may make a charge to publish (Article Processing Charge) but these will provide a proper peer-review, editorial and publishing service and your article will be properly published and usually indexed in relevant subject databases (assuming it is accepted!).
It is worth visiting the thinkchecksubmit website, that has a useful checklist to follow to check the trustworthiness of a journal.
These include questions such as:
- Do you or your colleagues know the journal?
- Can you easily identify and contact the publisher?
- Is it clear what fees will be charged?
- If the journal is open access, is it listed in the Directory of Open Access
Journals (DOAJ)? - If the journal is open access, does the publisher belong to the Open Access
Scholarly Publishers’ Association (OASPA)?
If you're considering publishing an article, it can also be useful to look into which journals have the highest impact factors in your subject area. If you're interested in finding out journal impact factors, please contact Jason Curtis in the Shrewsbury Health Library on 01743 492507.
