12

I got an e-mail this morning inviting me to submit papers to a journal. I looked at the website and found that the journal has no back issues. It would appear to be a brand new journal. Naturally, a brand new journal isn't all prestigious, so I have to wonder about publishing in it. But on the other hand, the journal has to start somewhere.

Should someone even consider publishing in such a place?

Winston Ewert
  • 927
  • 1
  • 6
  • 11
  • 4
    Related (duplicate?): http://academia.stackexchange.com/q/8915/102 –  Jul 12 '13 at 16:14
  • 18
    Only if you know for a fact that senior, very well regarded researchers in your field are on the editorial board and are pushing this journal. (Which is very unlikely to be true, unless the e-mail came from one of them.) – Anonymous Jul 12 '13 at 16:31
  • 1
    @CharlesMorisset, it seems different to me because in this case isn't obvious (at least to me) that its just spam. – Winston Ewert Jul 12 '13 at 16:44
  • 1
    @WinstonEwert: Perhaps JeffE's answer is still valid though? –  Jul 12 '13 at 18:51
  • 11
    I agree with @Anonymous. If you recognize and trust the editorial board, no problem; otherwise, it's best to assume the journal is a scam. – JeffE Jul 12 '13 at 21:30
  • 1
    If the journal is on Beall's list (http://scholarlyoa.com/publishers/), then don't submit to it. – JRN Jul 13 '13 at 09:52
  • 1
    At least in biology, new journals aiming to be prestigious tend to generate PR in established respectable journals and conferences, so you tend to hear about them even before their first issue. This is in addition to having notable scientists on their editorial board. Even then, many authors would probably be careful submitting their best work to a completely new journal. – Bitwise Jul 13 '13 at 15:48
  • 3
    I published my first paper in a rather new journal. The editorial board was full of famous names, it's an open access journal published by a very respectable agency, and for the first two years, publication costs were zero (most open access journals in my field do have publication costs). Downside, it took some years before it got indexed by sites like Scopus. – gerrit Jul 15 '13 at 10:56

1 Answers1

14

I get the same emails as well.

Things to consider when looking at a brand new journal:

  • As Anonymous, Charles and JeffE commented, make sure it is not a scam and that the editorial board are well respected (well-published) academics in your field.
  • Make absolutely certain that the journal caters to your exact research field - try and find, or ask, what their focus is.
  • Find out about costs if any.

If the journal is legitimate and relevant, then consider publishing a smaller paper first, publish your main papers in well established highly ranked and highly distributed journals (especially if you are starting out in academia).

  • 5
    Yes, especially if you are "new", you need to generate "status" for your papers and yourself, and brand-new journals will not achieve this. If you have a paper that is good-but-not-great, and if the editorial board is reputable, and if there's not some weird page-cost deal that they're not telling up front, you might consider sending it. – paul garrett Jul 12 '13 at 23:08
  • 4
    Also, when checking the editorial board, make sure that the prominent people listed as editors on the journal's web site have in fact agreed to be editors. – Andreas Blass Dec 16 '14 at 02:15