Evaluating journals
Is this journal peer-reviewed? Where is it indexed? What are the credentials of the editorial boards?
- You can find this information by searching for the journal in:
- Ulrich’s periodical directory (sub)
- Journal website (free)
- Scopus sources (sub)
- Journals indexed in the Web of Science (sub)
Where is this journal ranked in its research field(s)?
- The key resources for journal ranking and impact information are:
- SCImago Country and Journal Ranking (free)
- Journal Citation Report (sub)
- Search for the journal title, or browse subject categories.
- Additional resources include:
- ERA 2018 Journal List (free)
- ERA 2023 Submission Journal List (free)
- Google Scholar Metrics (free)
- Where Should I Publish? (Deakin Research tool)
Video: Think. Check. Submit.
Think. Check. Submit. from Think. Check. Submit. on Vimeo.
Think. Check. Submit. is an easy to use checklist which researchers can follow to help them identify trustworthy journals to publish their work in.
Go to Think.Check.Submit
Evaluating book publishers
Evaluating the quality of book or monograph publishers can be challenging, as not all books and book chapters are indexed in the major databases. Guidance from your supervisors and colleagues is extremely important.
To evaluate the scholarly quality and impact of a monograph (e.g., a book), you could consider:
Is the book peer-reviewed? What are the credentials of the editors and publishers?
- You can find such information at:
- Global Books in Print (free) - global directory of book publishers and titles
- Book Citation Index (free) - list of publishers indexed within Thomson Reuters most recent citation index
- The publisher’s website
Is the publisher considered a high impact or quality publisher?
- For limited books and chapters, scholarly quality/impact indicator may be available at:
- Scopus (sub)
- Web of Science (sub)
- Google Scholar (free)
Evaluating Conferences
For information about evaluating the quality of a conference see the Conferences: The how-to-choose guide page on this guide.