Criteria to compare journals

I have recently been talking to some people who are interested in establishing a journal. I was sent some journals links to explore as publication examples, but realised that - while the links were helpful, what I  really needed was a framework in order to evaluate them in a meaningful way.

I had a bit of a dig around in some peer-reviewed journals to get a feeling for the type of criteria that academics were looking for. I found a range of things that researchers considered were important, but interestingly, most came up with perhaps ten items (Huang et al., 2022; Knight & Steinbach, 2008; Miller & Serzan, 1984; Wijewickrema & Petras; 2017). I was interested in a lot more detail than that: how could we learn from others if we lacked detail?

So I put together my master list of criteria that I wanted to know more about, as follows. I have pulled these into a four column table, with the following desired criteria in column one; with the early thinking for the new journal is column two; other journal names in column three, and a weblink in column four. I was also thinking that we could only list the top three examples in columns three and four, to reduce clutter. So the first cut of the desired criteria is:

1. Field specification. This is the scope of the journal. What is in, what is out
2. Journal philosophy. A strapline that embodies what this journal is about
3. Journal values. Detailing the values this journal embodies
4. # issues/year. How many issues are delivered each year (and perhaps how many articles/issue)
5. Article types accepted. Research articles? Opinion pieces? Letters to the Editor? Literature Reviews? Book reviews? Case studies?
6. Range of authors. Not the same authors publishing in each issue
7. Technical v. theoretical. The spectrum end that the journal caters to
8. Themed issues (Y/N). Self explanatory
9. Likely Readership. Who the audience is
10. # circulation. How many notifications go out; how many articles are clicked through; how many subscribers there are
11. # Editorial Board members. Self explanatory
12. Editorial Board member academic reputation. Who the board members are and what academic clout they have (to build reputation and impact factor; see 29)
13. Organisational alignment. Is the journal aligned with a university, field, or professional organisation
14. Peer-review process. The clarity and documentation of the peer review process
15. # peer-reviewers. How many peer reviewers the journal has, and how many review each article
16. # words/range. The word count per article type (see 5)
17. Ethics requirements. What ethical process is required for each article type (see 5)
18. Preferred methodology. What methodology/methods are preferred for each article type (see 5)
19. Submission guidelines. The clarity and documentation of the submissions process
20. Submission format. The format required for submission
21. Submission tracking. Details of article submission tracking 
22. Illustration format. The format required for illustrations, including captions, placeholders in articles
23. Raw data required (Y/N). Raw data to be submitted to the journal alongside research articles
24. Style guide. This includes NZ English; Referencing style; Readability; Semantic difficulty; and First v. third person
25. Likely acceptance rate. How many articles are submitted versus how many are rejected
26. Likely time delay. How long it takes from submission to publication
27. Likely Visibility. How widely-read the journal is
28. Indexing. How easy indexing is, and how much that might cost
29. Impact Factor. What is the journal's impact factor
30. Electronic only?. Is the journal online only, or also printed in hardcopy
31. DOI. Is the journal registered for DOI numbers
32. Article costs. How much does a single article cost
33. Publication fees. Do authors have to pay to have their article published.
34. Who owns copyright?. Does copyright rest with the journal; with the author; or it is shared
35. Administration responsiveness. If the journal is emailed, how long does it take them to respond. 

I hope this helps anyone else doing this type of exercise!

Sam

References:

Huang, R., Tlili, A., Zhang, X., Sun, T., Wang, J., Sharma, R. C., ... & Burgos, D. (2022). A Comprehensive Framework for Comparing Textbooks: Insights from the Literature and Experts. Sustainability, 14(11), 6940, 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14116940

Knight, L. V., & Steinbach, T. A. (2008). Selecting an appropriate publication outlet: a comprehensive model of journal selection criteria for researchers in a broad range of academic disciplines. International Journal of Doctoral Studies, 3, 59-80. https://doi.org/10.28945/51

Miller, A. C., & Serzan, S. L. (1984). Criteria for Identifying a Refereed Journal. The Journal of Higher Education, 55(6), 673–699. https://doi.org/10.1080/00221546.1984.11778688

Wijewickrema, M., & Petras, V. (2017). Journal selection criteria in an open access environment: A comparison between the medicine and social sciences. Learned Publishing, 30(4), 289-300. https://doi.org/10.1002/leap.1113