How do I find the right journal to publish in?
Answer
Before you submit your research you should take time to assess the quality of prospective publication venues using tools such as Think.Check.Submit and Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). If you are ever unsure about a publisher or journal you can seek advice by e-mailing repository@newman.ac.uk.
As well as ensuring your publication venue is appropriate, you should also ensure that you are compliant with any Open Access policy which applies to your work.
This includes the Newman Open Access policy which requires you to deposit your research in Newman’s repository. You should therefore check that this is permitted by your chosen publisher.
Post REF2021 Open Access requirements
The REF2021 concluded in March 2021. From this point until the announcement of any future research assessment exercise the advice from Research England is that the current REF open access policy should be followed.
- Check that the publisher allows you to deposit your research in an institutional repository, also known as self- archiving.
- You should check that embargo periods do not exceed 12 months for panels A and B and 24 months for panels C and D.
You can check the details of individual Open Access policy by searching the SHERPA ROMEO tool.
Funded research
If your research has been funded then you must comply with all requirements of the funder’s Open Access policy. If you are acknowledging more than one funding body you must meet the requirements of all policies that apply.
In many cases funders will require you to publish Gold Open Access. You should therefore ensure there is a way to cover the costs of any article processing charges (APC’s) before making your submission. It may be that there is a suitable transformative arrangement in place to support you in covering these costs. For more information contact repository@newman.ac.uk.
Your funder may allow you to comply with their Open Access policy by self-archiving your Authors Accepted Manuscript (AAM) and this may be your only option if there is no Open Access funding available, or your chosen journal does not offer a suitable Gold route.
You can search for information on funders Open Access policy using the SHERPA JULIET tool.
If your funder is a signatory of ‘Plan S’ and you are publishing via the Gold route to Open Access, you will be required to publish your article in a fully OA journal, a Transformative Journal or under a Transformative Agreement. You can use Plan S’s Journal Checker Tool to see what route is available for your chosen journal.
You must also ensure that the licencing options available for your chosen publication venue align with any funder requirements. Increasingly funders require you to retain the copyright in your work and to publish your work under a Creative Commons CC BY licence.
