By publishing in a fully Open Access journal (one that is not funded by subscriptions, does not charge for readers to access the content and usually uses the Creative Commons licenses), you can get maximum exposure for your work as everyone will be able to access your research.
If you are a staff member or student at the University of Reading it is worth checking out the fully Open Access journals included in our Read and Publish deals with some of the major publishers. Check SciFree to find journals included in the deals. You can filter by publishing model to restrict your search to only fully gold Open Access journals.
There are several tools that can help you find a suitable Open Access journal for your research.
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ)
Search DOAJ to find fully open access journals in your subject area. Journals awarded the DOAJ Seal of Approval have achieved a high level of openness, have committed to best practices and have adopted high publishing standards.
SCImago Journal Rankings
The SCImago Journal and Country Rank website is a freely available portal that helps you find journals by subject area and country. You can also opt to search for only Open Access journals using a filter on the search screen. The search is based on information from the Scopus database. In the search results you will see some metrics, such as the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) and which SJR quartile the journal belongs to, and the country of publication. By clicking on the name of the journal, you can find out more about the publisher, subject categories covered by the journal and some data on past citation history.
Screen shot of a journal search on the SCImago Journal and Country Rank website
Scopus
The Scopus database (accessible to University of Reading staff and students via an institutional subscription) has a useful journal finding tool that also lets you search for just Open Access journals in your subject area.
You can also use the Scopus Journal Analyzer tool to make some direct comparisons between journals, for example, what percentage of articles published in the journal are uncited.
Publisher and other helpful websites
Many publishers also offer ways of finding just their Open Access journals, check out their webpages for more information. For example,
- SAGE journal recommender: https://journal-recommender.sagepub.com/
- Taylor & Francis journal suggester: https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/publishing-your-research/choosing-a-journal/journal-suggester/
- Elsevier journal finder: https://journalfinder.elsevier.com/
- Wiley journal finder: https://www.wiley.com/en-gb/publish/journal-finder?utm_source=wileysjf&utm_medium=web
- SpringerNature Journal Suggester
Endnote has a journal finding tool and a manuscript matching tool that can help you find the most appropriate Open Access journal for your paper. Filter the search by journals listed in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) to find only Open Access titles.
The JANE Journal/Author Name Estimator can also be used to suggest journals and the results can be filtered to show Open Access journals only.
JANE works best for STEM content as it relies on content from PubMed. It may also mine content from possible low quality ‘predatory’ publishers and so each journal is given a quality rating in the search results. Do further research on any suggestions that you generate.
Don’t forget to Think, Check, Submit
Before you submit your precious research output to any journal, open access or a traditional one, always follow the guidance from the Think, Check, Submit campaign to make sure that you are dealing with a reputable publisher/journal. There’s a handy video on the Think Check Submit website to guide you to a reputable publisher: https://vimeo.com/151882443
This post is an updated version of an original article published in 2018 and includes updated information and additional links.
For further advice on choosing journals and to find details of University of Reading’s deals with publishers, visit the Open Access Libguide.
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