Choosing a title for your journal
The choice of a new journal’s title should ideally link to its scope, aims and focus, by referencing the subject discipline of the journal (see Scope, aims and focus). Deciding on a title Before deciding on a title, it is vital to search the ISSN Portal (International Standard Serial Number International – the official journals […]
Publication frequency and journal issues
Journals have to decide how frequently they wish to publish new submissions, as this will have an impact on workload, peer review management, IT costs and more. In the traditional publishing paradigm, where the print format was most common, it was typical for journals to publish issues as collections of peer-reviewed articles or other submissions, […]
Building an editorial board
The editorial board is typically an internationally diverse group of recognised researchers who have a strong interest in academic publishing. Members of the editorial board are sometimes seen as a proxy for the quality of the journal, so it is essential to make efforts to recruit the right individuals: these are expected to have strong […]
Types of content accepted
Depending on their chosen scope, aims and focus, journals should choose an appropriate mix of content types to publish. It is important to note that journals often publish a mix of peer-reviewed and non-peer-reviewed contents, which have to be clearly labelled on journal pages to ensure readers are not misled (e.g. research vs opinion pieces). […]
Attracting authors
Attracting and retaining authors is a significant challenge for new and growing journals alike. This is key to maintaining a healthy pipeline of submissions and building the journal’s success in the long term. As a starting point, journals should check the Think.Check.Submit. website to ensure that they meet all the criteria which mark out credible […]
Compliance with funder policies and mandates
Today, many national and international funders (including the European Commission, government agencies and private foundations) have open access policies and mandates. These require grant recipients to provide open access to published results arising from funded research. In some cases, funders have specific requirements in terms of immediate open access publishing, licensing and copyright retention. Broadly […]
Search engine optimisation and technical improvements
Many researchers begin their online investigation with search engines such as Google. Ensuring journals are well placed in organic search results through search engine optimisation will increase discoverability and opportunities for dissemination. Search engine optimisation involves tweaking a website, content and social profiles to ensure they rank well in organic search results. This is different […]
Article and journal metadata
Metadata is data that provides information about other data. In scholarly publishing, metadata refers to structured information that describes the attributes of an article, including its title, authors, date of publication, copyright and licensing status, and more. Metadata should be created following appropriate standards and it is commonly deposited via Crossref (article metadata), DataCite (metadata […]
Copyright and licensing
Copyright gives its owner the exclusive right to copy, distribute, adapt, display and perform a creative work, usually for a limited time. In the context of academic publishing, copyright is an essential concept, as it has long underpinned the traditional subscription model: in this case, publishers own the copyright of published work and are able […]
Structured content
Structured content is information or data that is organised in a predictable way. There are various formats for structured content, the most notable are XML (Extensible Markup Language), JSON (JavaScript Object Notation) and YAML (YAML Ain’t Markup Language). XML is used widely in academic book and journal publishing. It makes scholarly content layout-independent, more flexible […]
