Ever wonder how to select journals
Spoiler Alert: I have not mentioned any list of UGC/Scopus indexed journals for quick publication
Selection of suitable journals or even finding one is a difficult task for most of the budding researchers and in my opinion, many don't really care where they are publishing. Agriculture researchers in India, primarily depend on NAAS (National academy of agricultural sciences) rating which releases an updated list each year and most of the universities accept articles published in above 4.00 NAAS rated journals for evaluation purposes. So for many students, it seems to be a reliable option to select a journal from the NAAS listing.
But is it enough!!!!
I would rather say it is not enough, as NAAS seemingly don't care about the quality of journals listed in its database. I would be confident in saying so, as I personally could see a number of predatory type journals which were given NAAS scores within a range of 4.00 to 6.00. Now, you may ask how these invasive journals get higher scores!! The answer to this lies in the calculation of NAAS score which considers number publication in a year as a determining parameter. As these predatory journals are usually monthly editions climbs the ladder quite quickly.
Does that mean NAAS is not at all reliable!!!
No, a number of reputed and high profile journals are also listed but only a handful of predatory journals finds a place in between the list. So it is our responsibility to cull out the malign journals. Another interesting point to note is that the journals with a score equal to or above 6.00 are of high quality and possess impact factor assigned by the web of science. Hence, we can select journals in this category even with a blindfold. Also, NAAS list of journals is the go-to spot for agriculture researchers to find relevant journals of their respective fields, though it is not the only place where we can find agri-related journals.
Link to NAAS Journals: NAAS Score 2020
UGC CARE listed Journals??
In simple words, this has been a valiant effort from the side of University grant commission (UGC) to uphold the values of research ethics which will aid the many institutions in evaluating the published work and this list of journals gives the researcher a sense of security that their work is in safe hands, at least under Indian circumstances. Initially, the CARE (consortium for academic research and ethics) list of journals came up with four categories which have been now replaced with a two-category classification. The group I of CARE list include journals that meet the requirements of UGC-CARE protocol, whereas group II consists of journals that are widely indexed in recognised global databases (Scopus/Web of Science).
Though a reliable list than that of NAAS, still we can observe discrepancies in a handful of listed journals. There will be many niches in the listing of journals which these predatory type journals always try to cash-in to breach the research integrity.
Link to UGC-CARE database: UGC CARE
Scopus/Web of Science indexed??
By far this is the most reliable database where I personally rely upon to find quality journals. Searching for journals in the UGC list could be a bit tedious, whereas these global databases provide us with a more user-friendly interface. Scopus provides a more interactive search criterion where it is easy for finding agriculture-related journals. Master clarivate database (web of science) also provides you with a list of quality journals but Scopus seems to have more number of journals. As far as am concerned, I haven't come across predatory type journals in these databases as often I do in other databases. Still, there may be some suspicious journals in the list also.
Who must be more responsible, indexing agencies or researchers???
Without any doubt, both should be responsible to uphold the research ethics but personally, I feel as researchers we should be more accountable and responsible in selecting quality journals. The simple theory behind the existence of predatory journals is that there is more number of researchers itching to publish their work within a short frame of time. As the demand is high, money-minded people come together to create a platform where we can process our articles and get accepted for publication, literally within a blink of an eye (LOLzzz). We have to consider every database and filter out the journals by doing our own background research which many fails to do.
Why there is a rush to publish!!!
In my opinion, many universities and agencies in India work on a tight timeline where many researchers (especially scholars) are forced to publish more and frequently so that they can either make advancement in career or require these articles to submit their thesis. I have seen many examples for this during my very short career as a researcher and due time is not given to scholars or they even fail to plan accordingly. Thus, not only scholars even principal scientists of reputed institutes resort to this fast publishing journals where there is no peer review of any sort, whatsoever.
What are predatory journals??
These are those journals that publish your work for a sum of money, within a short timeframe (mostly within a couple of days) and peer review will be a mere joke. If we can search in google, we can find a list of these invasive journals but a single index can't list them all.
Hijacked Journals - Another menace in the making!!!
Recently only, I came to know about this category of journals much worse than the category of predatory journals. Though predatory journals lack in quality of any sort, still the articles get indexed in various databases, whereas hijacked journal or cloned journals are merely a mimic of an already established journal with high reputation. Many authors are fooled by these journals as they give the false claim of being indexed in various databases but in reality, none of the papers published would appear in any of the databases.
"It is too good to be true or believe, good things happen but takes time"
Remember these words whenever we are about to publish our work. Being said that, the harsh reality is that many of us don't really give importance to these factors, many do not have the awareness and many deliberately publish in these journals.
Why I should go for quality journals when predatory journals are giving me the same platform??
My Opinion,
This is the question I have faced during my post-graduation and being very frank as a new member of this research community I was also not aware of these malicious activities doing rounds in academia. Initially, I too have published my papers in such journals and was very excited to share these works to my peers who were also not aware of these underlying dark concepts. But as I progressed more as a researcher and my passion grew day by day, I started to realize that something is fishy or something does not feel good. That is when I explored more regarding these aspects and tried to correct myself thereafter. My first Scopus indexed publication came only one year after the submission of my manuscript but I knew patience was key for quality.
Coming back to the question, though these predatory journals give a similar platform, it is heartbreaking to see our hard work being indexed with many other poor and even laughable papers (applies to those who have submitted manuscript from their genuine research). On a more technical front, these journals don't attract many citations and the audience would be hesitant to believe our results. I personally felt disheartened when one of my potential paper which I published in such predatory journal. Also, when as a researcher you need try to expand your horizon beyond the Indian shores and collaborate with institutions of international repute, these publications in your resume becomes a matter of shame.
Whether my work will be accepted in reputed/indexed quality journals!!!
This is the statement I have repeatedly asked myself and to my friends, whether my work is good enough to Scopus indexed journals or other similar ones. During the course of time, I realized that there are journals available that would accept a range of articles that present the most basic research to the most advanced ones. The only difference is that the journal ranking would be less which publishes basic common research but that does not mean that they are predatory or in any way poor in quality.
Disclaimer: The write up is mainly for scholars who are not aware of the publication conundrum.
How to select journals and prepare manuscripts??
I would point out some major things to keep in mind;
- Search for suitable journals - We can search journals by matching our MS title and abstract
- Search for the ranking or impact factor of the journals.
- Visit the official webpage of the journal and browse for articles that are similar to your work.
- Check what lacks in your MS and improve accordingly which increases the chance of acceptance.
- Try to include something in new or innovative in your research (must be done while planning research)
- Even if the paper deals with old or conventional strategies, try to visualize and interpret data with a fresh viewpoint (explore more statistical arena that will fit our data)
- Some journals now prefer negative results also which could give the needed impetus to your paper.
- Do not make any claims that are scientifically invalid and try to support your claim with references, unless you are the pioneer in the study.
- Each manuscript would find it's match when presented in the right way.
- Give the ample time and keep patience until the process of peer reviewing is complete.
In this blog, I have only shared a piece of my mind regarding the issue in a very brief manner. As a newbie, there are lots and lots of scope for improvement and criticism. Here I am restraining myself from naming any journal or publisher as it is each individual's responsibility to find a home to represent your work.
