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The first step in publishing your research is finding journals that are a match for your interests. Here are some strategies for creating a list of publications that might be the right outlet for your research...
After you choose some potential journals to publish in, it might be worthwhile to check its impact in the field and acceptance rate. Journal metrics such as Impact Factors, acceptance rates and h-indices can help you determine how a journal stacks up against other journals in the field. Recommend using SJR since its a free resource and is respectable (like Impact Factor but no cost), also includes recommended similar journals and links to journal publication sites
Impact Factors:
The best known journal metric is called Impact Factor from the Journal Citation Reports (JCR). Unfortunately the library does not have a subscription to JCR. However the library does have a subscription to the Web of Science. You can access a very brief overview of a journal's Impact Factor in the WoS by cllcking on View Journal Impact on the results page for an article.
An Impact Factor reflects the average number of citations a journal receives in one year from articles published the previous past two years. It is frequently used as a data point for comparing the relative importance of journals, though the real value of impact factors is a source of much debate.
These numbers are calculated from citation data in Web of Science (also known as Science and Social Science Citation Indexes). If a particular journal is not indexed in Web of Science, an impact factor will not be available and cannot be calculated. Web of Science's coverage of education journals is far from complete, so it will likely find fewer articles that have cited your work. Consequently, metrics gathered from this tool may seem lower than those from Scopus or Google Scholar.
More about Impact Factors
h5-index:
Find them at: Google Metrics
An h-index is the highest number of articles a journal has published that have been cited at least that many times. For example, an h-index of 57 means a journal has published 57 articles that have been cited at least 57 times. As the number of highly-cited articles rises, so does the h-index. An h-index considers citations over the journal's lifetime (or all the years the journal have been tracked by the tool doing the calculation). A h5-index looks at the most recent 5 years, and is often a better indicator of a journal's current influence.
Google Scholar's coverage of education literature is broader than other citation tracking tools (Web of Science and Scopus), so their h5-indices may be a more accurate representation of an education journal's impact.
More about the h-index
SJR Indictors:
Find them at: Scimago
SJR Indicators are similar to Impact Factors, but they are calculated from citation data in Scopus (a database that KU doesn't subscribe to). A journal's rank or impact may appear to be different using this metric for several reasons. 1) This calculation uses 3 previous years of citation data (rather than 2-years in Impact Factors and 5-years in Google Scholar h5-indices). 2) This calculation considers the relative influence of the journal where an article was cited. 3) The journal coverage is different. Scopus tracks more education journal citations than Web of Science, and fewer than Google Scholar.
Although the SJR Indicator is not as widely used as Impact Factors and h-indices, the Scimago site offers many other data points scholars may find useful when assessing a journal. It also includes a link out to the journals submission site.
More about SJR
Acceptance Rate:
Find in Cabell's Journalytics
Acceptance rates for education journals can sometimes be found in Cabell's Directories, though this tool is far from extensive in the list of journals they track. If your journal isn't included, or an acceptance rate isn't listed, check on the journal website or contact the editor/publisher.