Publishing in academic journals
Finding the right journal for publication is an important step for researchers. The right journal will foster academic integrity, while maximizing the visibility and impact of the research. The following considerations and tools will help researchers navigate the publication process.
Peer Review
The peer review process is an integral step towards ensuring the quality and scientific credibility of an academic publication. Simply put, peer-reviewed (or refereed) journals have an editorial board of subject experts review and evaluate submitted articles before they are accepted for publication.
In general, the following steps are taken during the peer review process. Steps vary depending on the journal, see image.
NOTE: A journal that is NOT peer reviewed will not be indexed in important bibliographic and citation databases like Web of Science and Scopus.
FAO is stepping up efforts to implement a peer review process for FAO-published works. The Publications Board has formally endorsed peer review as an integral part of the publishing process, to be managed by the Editorial Committees. For more information, contact the Publications Division
Open Access publishing has gained a lot of momentum across the academic community. Major publishers usually provide Open Access options. Some journals are uniformly Open Access, offering academic content up to the research community as a global public good. Other journals provide hybrid solutions, allowing individual articles to be published Open Access for a fee, or allowing post-review manuscripts to be published in institutional repositories following a designated embargo period.
The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is a reputable source for identifying quality, peer-reviewed, Open Access journals from around the world. It includes information on publishing fees, copyright, and publishing time frames.
Sherpa Romeo is another useful tool. It provides simple summaries of journal copyright and Open Access archiving policies in one database.
Both Sherpa Romeo and DOAJ are Open Access.
Reputable journals can be found a few ways:
Web of Science (WoS) – FAO Staff has access to WoS, a database which indexes only high-quality, peer-reviewed publications. Users may consult the following tools through the WoS “Products” tab:
Master Journal List – This tool includes a “Manuscript Matcher”, which allows researchers to enter the title and abstract from their manuscripts to match with the best, and most relevant, journals indexed in Web of Science.
Journal Citation Reports (JCR) – Researchers can use the JCR to identify the most highly cited journals in their field and gain a better understanding of the journals specializing in their area of study.
Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – mentioned above, is a good source for finding Open Access journals specifically.
Researchers must be aware of predatory publishers. These journals are of low quality and can be fraudulent, charging mysterious handling fees and making misleading claims about journal quality. Predatory journals tend to reach out via email and offer easy publishing options. Inclusion in a predatory journal can harm both the academic reputation of the researcher and affiliated institution. A list of potential predatory journals can be found here.