Ready! Aim! Fire! targeting the right medical science journal

Area of Science:

• Medical research publishing
• Scientific communication strategies

Background:

• Manuscript rejection by first-choice journals wastes resources and delays research dissemination.
• A significant proportion of scientific manuscripts face rejection from their initial target journal.

Purpose of the Study:

• To review existing literature for guidance on journal selection to minimize manuscript rejection.
• To evaluate web-based tools designed to aid authors in selecting appropriate journals.
• To describe a practical journal selection process for interdisciplinary research.

Main Methods:

• Conducted a comprehensive literature search across Embase, PubMed, and Medworm for articles on journal selection.
• Identified and analyzed articles focusing on journal selection or including it in broader publishing discussions.
• Compared the performance of four free, web-based journal selection applications.

Main Results:

• Searches yielded 286 articles, with 26 directly addressing journal selection.
• Only one article presented a comprehensive model for submission decision-making.
• Web-based journal selection tools showed erratic performance; the Jane database offered the most reliable suggestions.

Conclusions:

• The scientific literature provides limited guidance on journal selection mechanisms.
• Authors generally possess an intuitive sense of suitable journals for their work.
• An objective assessment of a manuscript's scientific contribution is crucial for successful publication, alongside meeting journal requirements.