How to select appropriate journals in Agriculture ?

Hi folks, Today, I would like to share thoughts on the complex topic of how to select an appropriate journal for the prepared manuscript. This is one of the most difficult tasks in research work. If you have already published a manuscript then it does not mean that your other manuscript would be accepted easily. No one can assure you that he can publish your manuscript in an easier way. If you have someone in mind who is ideal for you in the concerned area then I would assure you that, they also have faced rejection and I believe they must have unpublished work too. 

Above all, I also noticed that some editors reject manuscripts based on the authors' profile to even your manuscript fitted well to the aim and scope with good quality data. I don't want to write specifically name but I have seen rejection five-time even though that manuscript has a big name. After all, it is a reality that we have to face it. Don't assume that there is any type of magic that can solve any problem within a minute.  Since I worked and published in agriculture journals below Figures 1 and 2 so I will talk about those journals but not specifically.

Figure 1: Published papers in reputed journals (https://sites.google.com/view/rk-srivastava/publications)

Figure 2: Published papers in reputed journals

Folks, It looks easy but it is still the most challenging task in reality. I noticed during my Ph.D., my most colleagues were confused about where to publish and how to get to publish manuscripts inappropriate journals even in Germany too. My colleagues are all confused too. Don't frustrate that you are alone there are many including me too.  You may select a journal yourself thereafter maybe you succeed in publishing articles too. But trust me, if it gets rejected the first time then rejection will increase a lot, and in the end, you will be frustrated. The easy way is to add someone's name who has published already or by asking to add your name. You would not believe this problem is everywhere and in western countries, people join with another hand or hire a specific person for publication purposes. Well, they have money too so for them it is not challenging to get the publication in comparison to a developing country. 

Where to get help

Well, I don't know too (Sorry😝). I tried to search on google and I get one website that shows some criteria to publish a journal for example Figure 3.

Figure 3: How to choose a journal

If you are interested to read something then here is something to read. You can download and read it (Figure 4) and if you are successful in pushing the article please comment below in the comment section.

Figure 4: Read this paper

Another website is below in Figure 5 with a link suggesting how to select appropriate journals. Somehow it looks good but what happens if you see some journals with the kind of same aim and scope.

Figure 5: A quick guide to select journals

Another last link screenshot of the website for spent time. Oh, I am tired now of taking these screenshots.

There are many websites for guiding publication but are they really helpful? Who can reply to me? 

Figure 6: Guide for publications

What is the actual problem?

Principally, I never take the help of this website and the reason is very clear. I finished my Ph.D. at IIT Kharagpur, India with a high facility. What about other universities or institutes which do not have facilities another question is really do all IITians enjoy these facilities or developed countries people. I have doubts about it. I remembered one colleague's statement which he used to say to me that he doesn't like to search and read articles despite his love to read books later I found that most students also don't like to search and read papers but they can read several books. This is the main problem from my point of view. If you come up with old material for publication definitely there are high chances of being rejected. 

So, you have to come up with new ideas with a new approach or at least you have to update with the new research and technology. Otherwise, for you, it is work and getting a degree but for them, it is business and in a more polite way, it is repetitive old work. Don't try to mess up with editors.

What to do?

The perfect answer is "Don't fly from the situation face it". If your manuscript get rejection then tries in another journal. Don't feel bad and remember those editors also faced rejection. The Thumb rule is that you need publication (Figure 7). It does not matter if it has or has not an impact factor. But if it has an impact factor or cites score it means your article will receive some citations in the future and if Journal has an h-index or alt metrics then the article will get more citations. Ultimately, after publication, you need citation with h-index too. Be careful, that journal must be indexed in SCI and if possible Scopus, google scholar, and many more (Check the journal website). Otherwise, your article will publish without knowing others and this is what we called it predatory journal. 

Figure 7: Criteria of good publication

Stay out of Predatory Journals

If you look carefully at predatory journals. Maybe you noticed that they are hardly indexed in many indexes. For example, if you look at MDPI Journals, they are mostly indexed in Proquest, Scopus, SCI and Google scholar and nothing else but if you look at Wiley, Springer, and Elsevier journals they are indexed in a lot of indexes. ACS, Nature journal has a lot more than Elsevier, Springer. That's why when anyone published their article in this publisher. They became happier by knowing that everyone will notice them. Think about that journal that takes the money and publishes your article and except for you no buddies know that you have publication. Your research has been wasted. At least the MDPI publisher will provide you open access. This is one simple idea I presented to you "how to identify predatory journal".

What should you do?

Well, there is some way to get the publication in a good publisher without wasting money and time but you have to follow strictly.

1. Listing appropriate journals

I think this is the most important and first step that you have to make a list of appropriate journals list for your prepared manuscript. I used to do with NAAS rating. It lists all journals except some Chinese, American, African, and South American journals including open-access journals too. Worst Indian journals considered with lower NAAS rating. However, it was a 10-year-old thing when i used to do during making a list of Journals thereafter I used to check the aim and scope of all of those. Much boring work I did in past. But now all publishers and other websites are allowing you to make a list of appropriate journals. Those websites are listed below. 

Suggested publisher's sites:

Elsevier

https://journalfinder.elsevier.com/

 Springer Nature

https://journalsuggester.springer.com/

Taylor and Francis

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

Wiley

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

MDPI

https://www.mdpi.com/about/journalselector

Sage, Ednaj

https://www.edanz.com/journal-selector

JournalGuide

https://www.journalguide.com/

Jane

https://jane.biosemantics.org/

Endnote

https://endnote.com/product-details/manuscript-matcher/

(you must have an account)

ACS

https://acs.chronoshub.io/?fq=

ieee

https://publication-recommender.ieee.org/home;jsessionid=90D6A5FCBF940E6C31DB4025224A0FF8

Emreald 

https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/publish-with-us/publish-in-a-journal/find-a-journal

Hindwai

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/

RSC, Royal Society chemistry

https://pubs.rsc.org/is/search/advancedsearch

BMJ author

https://authors.bmj.com/before-you-submit/how-to-choose-a-journal/

You have to insert the title and abstract of your prepared manuscript then you can check the list of the appropriate journals with Journal titles, acceptance rate, best match rate, impact factor, and possible journal ratings i.e. Q1, Q2... or SCIMAGO, and many others depend on publishers what they have or allow. 

One additional suggestion Don't trust the "Acceptance rate" because these results are based on artificial intelligence and depend on which journals were searched more. You may notice that "Environment-based journals have more acceptance rate". Be careful, those journals do not accept agriculture manuscripts unless it is not related to the environment or environmental substance. Since agriculture has an impact on the environment too hence, those search results showed that environment journals. They will never accept your manuscript and they will return in a few days. So, my suggestion is to look best match score instead of the acceptance rate then you can look at the impact factor.

2. Check Aim and Scope

Yes, this is another crucial step. You may see that aim and scope of each journal are still similar and environmental-based journals have included that aim and scope which is related to or the same as agriculture journals but actually they are not. 

3. Some journals have the same aim and scope

Yeah, another crucial step to identifying the best journal with the same aim and scope. For example, Field crop research, European journal of agronomy, Agriculture and Forest Meteorology, Industrial and crop production, and Environmental and experimental botany have the same aim and scope and have little difference. You need very good eyes to identify the difference that comes after experience based on rejections😉.  

Just check another blog. I will write the basics differences between these Journals

4. Don't stop if it gets rejected

Yeah, never stop uploading your manuscript to other publishers if it gets rejection by an editor. There are several other publishers too such as ASCE, IWA, Hindawi, Taylor, and Francis, and Springer and there are many or you can submit as a book chapter. Don't let it go down.

5. Limitations

After publication, don't assume that your publication will get citations more and more immediately. In some cases, it works but not for every topic as I mentioned earlier if your article is published in a good indexed journal you will get more citations. Have patience guys!

6. Last but not least, Open Access Journals 

The whole thing is depend on money. Do you have money? I never had the money for my publications. No buddies provide money for these Journals. If you don't have money then go for subscription-based journals. They are still best. However, open aces journals provide fast review process and make it available for every one. Please note that publishing articles is good but it does not mean you will get citation immediately still you have to wait. One anther point, these publisher also looked to content carefully. So, if you don't have strong content or it is repetitive of older work then be ready to see rejection. It does not matter how much money you have. MDPI publisher can be option and you can publish in three days. As there review process is very fast.

Rest, as your wish after all it is your article. You have to decide what you want to see. All the best!