Section 9: Things to consider when choosing a journal for publication

Things to consider when choosing a journal for publication

When considering societal impact, a considerable proportion of respondents to our 2019 survey said their choice of journal was influenced by the intended societal impact of their research.

In addition, publishing research open access was the third most popular option chosen by researchers when asked what they’ve done to increase the societal impact of their work. And was seen as the option most likely to have a societal impact.

Open access was also mentioned by many of the researchers we interviewed as a ‘first step’ in ensuring that research was more accessible to a broader audience. However, they also noted the need to ensure research was adequately interpreted – with some suggesting that lay summaries or documents outlining the policy implications of the research could be provided alongside the academic article.

Open data was also spoken about by some of our interviewees as an important step in ensuring that research findings could be developed further by others.

Researchers we spoke to – and the findings in the survey – also point to the need to consider the audience you wish to have an impact with when choosing where to publish. For example, if researchers across different disciplines could build on your work, publishing in a subject-specific journal may not be the best option.

Research insights

Intended societal impact shows some influence on journal choice

40% of all respondents said that their choice of where to submit was influenced by the intended societal impact for their research:

Only 13% of respondents said that choice of journal was ‘not at all’ influenced by their intended societal impact.

Respondents in India were most likely to be influenced by intended societal impact (65% selected ‘a great deal’ or ‘a lot’, vs mean of 36%)

Respondents in Medicine were most likely to say choice of journal is influenced by intended impact (43% selected ‘a great deal’ or ‘a lot’).

A journal’s reputation, open access and interdisciplinarity contribute to societal impact

Respondents to our survey considered a journal’s reputation made it more likely to increase societal impact. But it is notable that nearly half of those who said that their journal choice was influenced by societal impact said that a journal being interdisciplinary (46%) or providing an OA option (45%) was an influence.

Interview insights from academics based in the Netherlands

We carried out a series of interviews with researchers from a variety of disciplines who have made a societal impact with their research.

The researchers we spoke to felt open access was definitely a step in the right direction, but more could be done to make research accessible…

Another communication issue is around making research more accessible to non-academic audiences. Open access is one step towards this. But simply making the paper accessible doesn’t necessarily mean that lay readers will read it or be able to understand it. I know that some patient organisations in the Netherlands and further afield contacted publishers with the idea that for major publications, which are of interest to patients and the public, there should be an accompanying version rewritten in lay language. In a similar vein, authors could be asked to provide a lay summary of any paper.

Pim de Boer, senior strategic policy advisor EU at Vrije Universiteit (VU) Amsterdam and Amsterdam University Medical Center, and former pathobiologist

Read the interview.

They also mentioned the importance of considering which journals your intended audience(s) would be reading…

We made a strategic decision to publish the results first in Dutch journals that we knew policymakers would read. The experience of my supervisors was incredibly useful in this regard because they knew which journals would be suitable.

Floris Peters, postdoctoral researcher at Maastricht University and winner of the 2018 FASOS Valorization Prize

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There are any number of ways to have an impact in my area of research, I think. It could be taking part in committees or commissions, presenting at relevant conferences, publishing in specific policy journals – and so on.

Professor Frank Cörvers, scientific director at the Maastricht University School of Business and Economics (SBE)

Read the interview