Targeting Journals
Finding a good home for research papers is hard, and I don't mean getting the paper past gatekeeping referees. Just deciding the right journal is critical. Making a mistake on this results in poor fit, rejection of the paper, and consequent delays in getting to final publication. There are four simple criteria that one may use to determine the best journal to which a paper may be sent. These are: Fit : The paper must be appropriate for the journal. Appropriateness has two aspects to it, that the subject matter must be that of the journal, and the paper must be accessible to the readership of the journal. There is no use sending an empirical paper to a theory journal, nor is there any point in sending a highly abstract, theoretical paper to a practitioner journal. Timeliness J: The subject matter of a paper may be time-sensitive, i.e., the topic is a hot one and a quick publication offers a chance to be first and make an impact simply because early work may end up being seminal, and...