Choosing a journal for publishing scientific articles

Publishing scientific articles that reflect the main ideas and provisions of the dissertation submitted for defense requires solving one of the most difficult problems: where to publish an article and what criteria should be followed when choosing a journal?

Before publishing a scientific article, authors often have to deal with the problem of choosing a journal. There are many nuances that should be thought about in advance so that the publication of an article does not turn into an ordeal with an unpredictable result. Sometimes it happens that a candidate submits an article to several publishing houses and is refused, or during the defense of a dissertation it turns out that the articles were published in publications that are not included in the List of peer-reviewed journals of the VAK. To prevent this from happening, let’s look at the main criteria for choosing a journal for publishing a scientific article.

Inclusion of the journal in the list of HAC

One of the main criteria is the inclusion of the journal in the VAK List. Only in these journals, articles are considered peer-reviewed and are taken into account by the Academic Councils and VAK. The list of journals is regularly updated and published on the official website of the VAK. You can check the presence of the selected journal in the VAK list not only by the title, but also by the publication index in the subscription catalogs. If the selected journal is included in the list, it should be clarified whether the specialty of the article is included in the list of specialty codes for published journal articles. If the specialty is not mentioned, serious problems may arise during the defense of the dissertation or when being approved by the Higher Attestation Commission.

Indexing journals in RSCI and Skopus

It will not be superfluous to check whether the selected journals are indexed in the RSCI and Scopus.

RSCI is the Russian scientific citation system. The RSCI system processes all information about journal articles and their authors. It is designed to assess the publication activity of the authors. The higher the level of citation of the author’s works published in indexed scientific publications, such as the RSCI, Scopus, WebofScience and others, the higher his assessment as a researcher.

Scopus is one of the world’s largest databases of scientific periodicals, abstracts and citations. Authors of scientific original articles in various fields of knowledge can publish their articles in journals indexed by Scopus. Articles in these journals are equated by the VAK with publications in the journals of their List. The Ministry of Education and Science is currently including Scopus data in the system for assessing the country’s universities in terms of their scientific effectiveness.

Frequency of journal release and publication terms

These factors are important, especially considering our national habit of postponing everything for later, and then solving problems in a rush mode. Then we remember the timing of the publication of articles, which, as a rule, do not coincide with the frequency of publication of the desired specialized journal. But more time is needed to correct the shortcomings indicated by the reviewer. It must be borne in mind that if the journal is published quarterly, and you do not have time to correct the shortcomings in this issue, then you will have to wait three months for the next issue.

Coincidence of the topic of the article with the scientific interests of the editors of the journal

The coincidence of the topic of the article with the scientific interests of the editors of the journal is of no small importance. Your article, even if it is a publication of an article in the HAC and is in terms of publication, can be replaced with another article if its content is more in line with the scientific interests of the journal. In any case, the coincidence of the subject matter of the article with the interests of the editors is better than their mismatch.

Possible problems when choosing a magazine

• The absence of the journal in the latest edition of the VAK List. It is being updated and this should be kept in mind.
• Checking the article for plagiarism is not carried out by all journals, although this is in the interests of both parties.
• Editing and reviewing should be carried out by experts in this field of knowledge. This is especially true for reviewers.
• The requirements of VAK journals for the design of articles are quite strict. Therefore, it will not be superfluous if the author gets to know them in advance and follows them.
• A magazine’s adherence to a scheduled release date. There is no need to take risks and delay the publication of the article until the very defense.

Editor’s refusal to publish article

The refusal of the editors of a specialized journal to publish, in accordance with all the rules, a formalized scientific article by a graduate student or applicant, and even with the existing positive review of the supervisor, is out of the ordinary, an exceptional case. From a purely everyday point of view, in this case, it is better to go to another journal than to wag your nerves before the defense and spend precious time trying to find out the reasons for the negative attitude of the editors towards the article. Or maybe it makes sense to listen to criticism if it is constructive?

The choice of a journal should be started well in advance of the completion of the work on the article in order to be able to slowly select the most suitable publication for the profile and take into account all its requirements during the final revision of the article.

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