Online Journal Selection Tools

There are four primary journal selection tools that are available online, and you can use them for free. It is important to note that only one of these, ResearchGuide, produces an unbiased, impartial search result, while the remainder are proprietary tools hosted on publisher sites, whose search results will include only that single publisher’s journal titles.

Some tools allow you to view and compare the relative Impact Factors of selected journals. As discussed in the article on How to Choose the Right Journal, a journal’s impact factor, a statistic derived from annual Journal Citation Reports, gives some indication of how likely an article published in that journal may be cited elsewhere in other journals.

JournalGuide from Research Square

Link: http://www.journalguide.com/

On JournalGuide, you can search by journal name, category or publisher, or input your manuscript’s title and abstract to generate a list of journals that have already published articles on similar topics. In addition, its comparison engine allows you to select up to three journals and compare them side-by-side on key factors such as selectivity, cost, speed of publication, and open access options.

Elsevier Journal Finder

Link: http://journalfinder.elsevier.com

JournalFinder is very straightforward; users enter the paper title, abstract and field of research, and the results are restricted to Elsevier journals only. Elsevier also publishes fee-based Scopus, which they call “the largest abstract and citation database of peer-reviewed literature.” Click the following link for Scopus Facts and Figures.

Edanz Journal Selector

Link: http://www.edanzediting.com/journal_selector

You can search here by journal name, publisher or field of study, or enter your abstract or article keywords to view journals that have published related papers. Since Edanz is affiliated with Springer, AIP (American Institute of Physics) and BioMed Central, search results are limited to these affiliations.

Springer Journal Selector

Link: http://www.springer.com/gp/authors-editors/journal-author/journal-author-helpdesk/preparation/1276

To use Springer’s selector tool, you enter your manuscript’s abstract. Results are limited to Springer journals only.