Authors' criteria for selecting journals
E. Frank
Department of Family and Preventive Medicine, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, Ga. 30303-3219.
OBJECTIVE--To evaluate authors' methods of selecting the journals to which
they submit manuscripts. DESIGN AND SETTING--In 1992, all of the active
clinical and research faculty of Stanford University School of Medicine (n
= 479), Palo Alto, Calif, were sent up to three mailings of a one-page
questionnaire. RESULTS--Our response rate was 63.7% (n = 305). On a scale
of 1 (unimportant) to 6 (very important), respondents ranked factors
affecting initial manuscript submission to a journal in the following
descending order (mean values are reported): the journal's prestige, 5.2;
the makeup of the journal's readership, 4.8; whether the journal usually
publishes articles on the topic, 4.8; the likelihood of manuscript
acceptance, 4.4; the size of journal circulation, 4.1; the rapidity of
manuscript turnaround, 4.1; the existence of good editors, 3.9; the
likelihood of useful reviewer suggestions, 3.4; a history of having
published in that journal previously, 3.4; colleagues' recommendations,
3.1; the likelihood of useful biostatistical suggestions, 2.6; the
existence of editors who are personally known to the author, 2.1; and the
likelihood of press attention, 1.9. For subsequent submissions, the most
important factors were the likelihood of manuscript acceptance (5.0) and
whether the journal usually publishes articles on the topic (4.7).
CONCLUSIONS--Journal prestige, most frequently published journal topics,
and readership composition were the most important factors for initial
manuscript submissions. For subsequent submissions, more pragmatic
variables, such as likelihood of acceptance, gained importance. These
findings should help editors make their journals more attractive to
potential authors.
