Publishing Resources

Before you write, it is good practice to have an idea of where you plan to submit so you can develop your manuscript to meet the requirements of the publisher, journal, or website.

Some strategies for identifying where to publish:

• Decide on your priorities; e.g. impact factor, shortest editorial time, acceptance and rejection rates, type of peer-review,intended audience, indexing in databases, reputation of the publisher.
• Investigate journals and publishers that appear in your working bibliography.
• Consider professional organizations' publications.
• Look to journals you regularly read or receive table of contents from.
• Talk with colleagues and collaborators about current and past projects and their experiences.
• Read about publishing in your discipline.
• Use the resources below to learn more about specific journals once identified.

Once you have identified a potential journal:

• Check the journal's reputation
  Be sure to document why you chose the journal to submit to.  This can be very helpful when writing your tenure case or annual review. Some information you will want to keep for each journal include things like impact factor if available, where the journal was indexed, how you discovered it, and what made you decide to publish there.

• Read author guidelines
  Guidelines for authors can typically be found on the journal or publisher's website or in posted calls for submissions. Some journal directories, such as Cabell's, publish abbreviated author guidelines. Always check to make sure that you are using the most complete and up-to-date set of guidelines available.

• Review samples
  Look at previously published materials from your potential publication outlet to get a feel for the type of work accepted and the quality of their end product.  If you need help tracking down issues of the journal please contact your librarian. 

Open access is a trend in academic publishing promoting unrestricted access and reuse of scholarly work.  Open access can take a variety of forms, and importantly, does not require an author to relinquish their copyright.  Publishing open access has a number of benefits to authors, including having their work more easily available and the potential for higher citation counts.  Purdue Fort Wayne does have an Open Access Policy, which the faculty senate passed in 2015.  See the links below for information about the Open Access Policy and resources for locating potential open access publications.

Discernment between reputable, questionable, and even predatory publishers is crucial for scholarly authors deciding where to publish and for departments and other entities who are called upon to make judgments about the academic achievements of faculty members.

Predatory practices in academic publishing refer to false promises and deception perpetrated by some publishers relating to impact factor, peer review,editorial processes, revenue and marketing, or overall business practices and transparency. The label, whether predatory, deceptive, or in bad faith, is less relevant than being aware of the criteria for which to watch when judging a journal.