Tag: publishing

Finding a Journal for your Manuscript

One of the most common reasons for manuscript rejection is submitting to an unsuitable journal. Start your publication journey by choosing the right journal for your manuscript and you’ll improve your chances of acceptance and publication.

Having a preferred journal in mind will help you align your writing to meet the journal’s aims and scope. Below are some tools and resources that will help you to find the right journal to publish in.

Tool Name

Link 
 

Journal/Article Name Estimator

 https://jane.biosemantics.org/

Just enter the title and/or abstract of the paper in the box, and click on ‘Find journals’, ‘Find authors’, or ‘Find Articles’. Jane will then compare your document to millions of documents in PubMed to find the best matching journals, authors, or articles.
 

Scopus Journal Comparison

 https://www.scopus.com/source/eval.uri

Scopus metrics help measure the impact of scholarly research, including the h-index, citations, and journal metrics such as the CiteScore, SNIP and SJR. Allows you to compare 10 journals at once.
 

Jot: Journal Targeter

 https://jot.publichealth.yale.edu/

Jot is a web app, hosted by Yale School of Public Health, that identifies potential target journals for a manuscript, based on the manuscript’s title, abstract, and (optionally) references. Jot gathers a wealth of data on journal quality, impact, fit, and open access options that can be explored through linked, interactive visualizations
 

Springer Journal Suggester

 https://link.springer.com/search?facet-content-type=%22Journal%22

Publisher Springer’s journal matching technology finds relevant journals based on your manuscript details. You can search over 2.500 journals (all Springer and BMC journals) to find the most suitable journal for your manuscripts.
 

Elsevier Journal Finder

 https://journalfinder.elsevier.com/

Publisher Elsevier® JournalFinder helps you find journals that could be best suited for publishing your scientific article. Simply insert your title and abstract and select the appropriate field of research for the best results.
 

Taylor & Francis Journal Suggester

 https://authorservices.taylorandfrancis.com/publishing-your-research/choosing-a-journal/journal-suggester/

Publisher Taylor and Francis Author support services helping you find the best journal
 

SPI-HUB

 https://spi-hub.app.vumc.org/

The SPI Hub: Scholarly Publishing Information Hub is authored and managed by the Center for Knowledge Management at Vanderbilt University Medical center.
 

Think. Check. Submit

 https://thinkchecksubmit.org/journals/

Think. Check. Submit helps researchers identify trusted journals and publishers for their research.
 

Wiley Journal Finder

 https://journalfinder.wiley.com/search?type=match

Publisher Journal Finder can suggest Wiley journals that may be relevant for your research. You can simply enter your title and abstract to see a list of potential journals.
 

SCImago Journal Rank (SJR)

 https://www.scimagojr.com/

The SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) indicator is a measure of the scientific influence of scholarly journals that accounts for both the number of citations received by a journal and the importance or prestige of the journals where the citations come from.
 

DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals

 https://doaj.org/

DOAJ contains almost 17.500 peer-reviewed, open access journals covering all areas of science, technology, medicine, social sciences, arts, and humanities. If you are looking only for open access journals, there are also ways of searching for these by filtering your search results through journal comparison tools.
 

Sage Journal Recommender

 https://journal-recommender.sagepub.com/

Publisher Find relevant journals for your manuscript, verify against aims & scope, and submit to one directly or use Sage Path.

 

 

 

 

Types of Literature Reviews

Overview of a Literature Review

A literature review is a generic term used to describe a synthesis of information to answer a research question. The purpose of a literature review is to present the scholarly information that is available on a topic, provide support to the proposed research, and relate the literature to the proposed research question. There are numerous types of literature reviews. These vary from a narrative review to a systematic review.

Review types differ by:

      • the precision of the research question (broad to specific)
      • the goal of the review
      • the standards of the searching method
      • if the articles are appraised
      • how information from various sources is synthesized
      • the analysis of the results
      • showing the current state of the literature around a particular topic

The IHS Library offers assistance “How to Write a Literature Review.”

 

Types of Literature Reviews

Literature or Narrative Review

    • Team: May be completed by a single author
    • Definition: Generic term: A synthesis of current literature surrounding a specific topic. The purpose of a narrative review is to provide background information on the topic, support the proposed research and/or answer a research question.
    • Search Methods: Non-specific; Author chooses relevant articles based on research question.
    • Appraisal: Determined by the author
    • Synthesis: Narrative
    • Analysis: Chronological, conceptual, thematic, etc.

 Scoping or Mapping Review

    • Team: Requires a minimum of 2 authors
    • Definition: Preliminary assessment of potential size and scope of available research literature on a broad topic. Aims to identify nature and extent of research evidence. Includes grey literature, preprints and ongoing studies. Scoping reviews are conducted based upon the JBI manual of evidence synthesis.
    • Search Methods: Broad scope of literature available. Search methods must be transparent and reproducible. Search strategies are peer reviewed & documented in full.
    • Appraisal: All evidence is independently screened by 2 reviewers to ensure evidence meets the inclusion criteria. The critical appraisal process is optional but recommended
    • Synthesis: Narrative
    • Analysis: Characterizes quantity and quality of literature based upon the elements of the PCC research question and the inclusion/exclusion criteria

Systematic Review

    • Team: (Requires a minimum of 2 authors)
    • Definition: Seeks to systematically search for, appraise and synthesize all available research evidence on the topic. SRs answer a specific research question and are conducted based upon the JBI manual of evidence synthesis.
    • Search Methods: Exhaustive, comprehensive, & systematic search. Search methods must be transparent & reproducible. Search strategies are peer reviewed & well documented.
    • Appraisal: All evidence is independently screened by 2 reviewers to meet inclusion criteria and critically appraised using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklists
    • Synthesis: Narrative
    • Analysis: Synthesizes what is known within the existing literature. Highlights what is unknown and recommends future research.
  • Umbrella Review
    • Team: (Requires a minimum of 2 authors)
    • Definition: Reviews the results of multiple systematic reviews on a specific topic. All reviews must analyze a shared methodology, facilitating comparison and analysis. Umbrella reviews are conducted based upon the JBI manual of evidence synthesis
    • Search Methods: Exhaustive, comprehensive & systematic search of reviews. Does not include primary studies. Search methods must be transparent, reproducible, and well documented.
    • Appraisal: All evidence is independently screened by 2 reviewers to meet inclusion criteria and critically appraised using the JBI Critical Appraisal Checklists
    • Synthesis: Graphical and tabular with narrative commentary
    • Analysis: What is known; Recommendations for practice. What remains unknown; recommendations for future research

Rapid Review

    • Team: Requires a minimum of 2 authors
    • Definition: Assessment of what is already known about a policy or practice issue, by using systematic review methods to search and critically appraise existing research. RRs are conducted according to the JBI manual of evidence synthesis
    • Search Methods: Completeness of searching determined by time constraints. All search strategies must be transparent, reproducible, and documented
    • Appraisal: Time-limited formal quality assessment.
    • All evidence is independently screened by 2 reviewers to meet inclusion criteria
    • Synthesis: Narrative and tabular
    • Analysis: Quantities of literature and overall quality/direction of effect of literature

Meta Analysis

    • Definition: Statistical analysis of quantitative evidence provided within a Systematic Review.
    • Team: Interdisciplinary
    • Meta-analysis are conducted according to the JBI manual of evidence synthesis
    • Search Methods: Exhaustive, comprehensive & systematic search of reviews. Does not include primary studies. Search methods must be transparent, reproducible and documented.
    • Appraisal: All evidence has been critically appraised in the systematic review
    • Synthesis: Graphical representation in a Forest plot.
    • Analysis: Numerical analysis of measures of effect assuming absence of heterogeneity

 

Reproduced from Grant, M. J. and Booth, A. (2009), A typology of reviews: an analysis of 14 review types and associated methodologies. Health Information & Libraries Journal, 26: 91–108. doi:10.1111/j.1471-1842.2009.00848.x

Preprints

What exactly is “Preprint”?
As you read several news publications you may come across the term “Preprint”.  What exactly does that mean and what does a preprint article entail?

A preprint article is a version of a manuscript that is published on an open-access preprint server.  This kind of manuscript is published before any peer-review process.  They are generally published electronically and can be located on publicly available databases or preprint servers.

One reason a group of researchers may choose to do a preprint submission is because of the length of submitting an article through the traditional publication process can take a while.  Preprint allows for the dissemination of information at a faster pace.  Generally, the authors will still seek to have their work published in a peer-reviewed journal at a later date.

Skipping over the peer-review process may seem unconventional but there are some benefits to preprint.  Preprint allows you showcase to your colleagues where your interests lie, as well as establish early claims to your research findings.  Preprints are the fastest way that a researcher can disseminate their knowledge and research and start scholarly conversations.  Since most are located on an open access platform anyone can read them without paying which increases their accessibility and outreach.

It is important to keep in mind that while preprints may be scholarly, they have yet to be formally peer reviewed.  While some preprint servers may have a simple peer review process to determine that the content is legitimate, they don’t necessarily check on the reliability or accuracy of the information.  It is still best to be cautious when reading a preprint paper and to use your best judgement.

Did you know that we have our own Seton Hall Google Custom search for preprints?! A custom search will search multiple preprint servers simultaneously, including researchsquare.com, medrxiv.org, Preprints with The Lancet, semanticscholar.org, biorxiv.org, and outbreaksci.prereview.org.

Preprint Servers Custom Search

If you have any further questions regarding preprint documents reach out to your librarian!

— Kyle Downey kyle.downey@shu.edu