Looking to publish?
The decision on which journal to submit your manuscript to for publication is multi-faceted. Some criteria you might want to consider include:
- What journals do you and your colleagues review on a regular basis?
- Which professional organizations do you belong to? Do they publish journals?
- What's the scope and aim of the journal?
- Is the journal searchable in the major databases, such as PubMed or CINAHL?
- What's the prestige of the journal in your field and in health literature in general?
- Quantifiable measurements are called Impact Factors (IF).
Below you'll find links to resources that might help you with your decision. But also, don't be afraid to ask for advice! Talk to your colleagues, advisors/mentors, librarian, etc.
- Jane - Journal/Author Name EstimatorJane is a search engine that you can use to come up with journals that might be interested in publishing your research. It works by matching words from your abstract or author-supplied keywords to the millions of records in PubMed/MEDLINE.
- Instructions to AuthorsThis website provides links to the publication guidelines for 6,000+ health and life sciences journals. You can search by keyword (e.g. "nursing" will result in all journals that contain "nursing" in the title) or by journal title (e.g. "JAMA").
- Guide to Scientific Writing - American Association for Clinical ChemistryThis free resource is made up of a series of educational articles on how to "design and write scientific research papers for publication." The articles are helpful to a wide variety of disciplines, not just chemistry. Just remember that ultimately you need to follow the requirements of the journal you're submitting to and/or your citation style (APA).
Grant-Funded Research
Do you have any grants from the National Institutes of Health? If you do, you need to be aware of the NIH's mandatory Public Access Policy, which stipulates that all investigators funded by NIH grants must submit electronic copies of their final peer-reviewed manuscripts when accepted for publication. The manuscripts must be publicly available no later than 12 months after official publication.
Please refer to these resources for more information:
- My NCBI Help - My BibliographyLearn how to use your MyNCBI account to track your professional publications. Authors with eRA Commons accounts can use this system to start the compliance process for their journal articles.
- CNPD Research OfficeDon't forget that you can contact Rashid Ahmed, PhD in the CNPD Research Office for questions related to your grant-funded research. Use the link above to be directed to her contact information. While you're there, feel free to explore the Research Office's website. You'll find lots of helpful information, including student research opportunities!
