To identify a journal publisher for your research, you will want to match your research topic to a journal that publishes in that area. You can use a variety of methods to locate journals, such as using subject databases, using Ulrich’s Periodicals Directory, or using a journal finder tool. Any or all of these methods can be helpful. You want to make sure that you identify a journal that will be a good fit for your research.

Journal finders help match your article to potential journals. Some use keyword matching from information pulled from your title and abstract, and others help you discover journals in a subject area. Journal finders may focus on journals in specific subject areas, or journals from specific publishers. The one thing to keep in mind is that no journal finder will include EVERY journal. You may need to use a variety of these tools to discover the journal that is right for you. The following list focuses on some of the free journal finder tools available. This is not a comprehensive list, and does not include subscription or fee-based tools.

1. Directory of Open Access Journals Browse Subjects : A directory that gathers information on open access journals. Use the Browse Subjects tab to discover open access journals in a subject area.
2. Elsevier Journal Finder : Journal finder matches title and abstract to journals available through Elsevier publishing.
3. EndNote Web Match : Create or sign in to your free EndNote Web account, then click on the tab for Match to match title, abstract, and reference list information to articles from Web of Science.
4. JANE (journal author name estimator) : JANE matches title, abstract, or keywords to documents in MEDLINE to help locate health science journals.
5. SJFinder : Browse journals by subject, or get journal recommendations based on keywords in your paper’s title and abstract. Does not supply information on how journal information is gathered or what journals are used.
6. Springer Journal Suggester : Journal suggester matches title and abstract to journals available through Springer publishing.
7. Wiley Find the Right Journal: Browse journals by subject or search journals by keyword to locate journals in a subject area available through Wiley publishing

Predatory publishing is an exploitative open access publishing business model that involves charging publication fees to authors without proper editorial & publishing procedures and scientific standards or merit associated with legitimate academic journals. Predatory publishing includes many open-access journals.

The Library recommendation is to check for predatory publishing is “Beall’s List”, a regularly updated report (https://beallslist.weebly.com/) (https://beallslist.net/) created by Jeffrey Beall to ensure that the journal is non-predatory. Additionally, further indications that the journal is predatory are:

1. The scope of interest includes non-biomedical subjects alongside biomedical topics.
2. The website contains spelling and grammar errors.
3. Images are distorted/fuzzy, intended to look like something they are not, or which are unauthorized.
4. The homepage language targets the authors.
5. The Index Copernicus value is promoted on the home page of the journal.
6. Description of the manuscript handling process is lacking.
7. Manuscripts are requested to be submitted via email.
8. Rapid publication is promised.
9. There is no retraction policy.
10. Information on whether and how journal content will be digitally preserved is absent.
11. The Article processing/publication charge is very low