The history of scholarly publication dates back to 1665 when Journal des Sçavans and Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society began publishing. With the growth in scientific output, the number of journals has simultaneously increased at the rate of 3.5% per year (STM Report, 2015). The process of selecting an appropriate journal has become increasingly complex for researchers because of the proliferation of journals, areas of specialization, and the emergence of interdisciplinary fields. Often, submitting an article that is not within the scope of the journal, not relevant to the target audience, or not complying with the journal guidelines leads to outright rejection. Authors, therefore, need to optimize several criteria before arriving at a decision about where to publish their research.

In this infographic, we provide an overview of the different criteria and constraints such as accessibility, readership, quality, and scope to help authors narrow down their search for the right journal.