Department of Medical Education, University Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine, Chicago, IL, USA.
Public Knowledge Project at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, Canada.
Perspect Med Educ. 2024 Sep 9;13(1):442-451. doi: 10.5334/pme.1517. eCollection 2024.
For authors, selecting a target journal to submit a manuscript is a critical decision with career implications. In the discipline of medical education, research conducted in 2016 found that authors were influenced by multiple factors such as a journal's prestige and its mission. However, since this research was conducted the publishing landscape has shifted to include a broader variety of journals, an increased threat of predatory journals, and new publishing models. This study updates and expands upon how medical education authors decide which journal to submit to with the aim of describing the motivational factors and journal characteristics that guide authors' decision making.
The authors conducted five qualitative focus groups in which twenty-two medical education authors and editors participated. During the focus groups participants were engaged in a discussion about how they select a journal to submit their manuscripts. Audio from all focus groups was transcribed. Transcripts were analyzed using codebook thematic analysis.
Participants considered multiple factors when selecting a target journal. Factors included a journal's impact, the scope of a journal, journal quality, and technical factors (e.g., word limits). Participants also described how social factors influenced their process and that open access plays a role that could both encourage or deter submission.
The findings describe the motivational factors and influential signals that guide authors in their journal selection decision making. These findings confirm, extend, and update journal selection factors reported in medical education and other disciplines. Notably, these findings emphasize the role of social factors, relationships and personal experiences, which were absent from previous work. Additionally, we observed increased consideration of open acces and a shift away from an emphasis on journal prestige.
对于作者来说，选择目标期刊投稿是一个具有职业影响的关键决策。在医学教育领域，2016 年的一项研究发现，作者受到多种因素的影响，如期刊的声誉及其使命。然而，自这项研究开展以来，出版格局发生了变化，包括更多种类的期刊、掠夺性期刊的威胁增加以及新的出版模式。本研究更新并扩展了医学教育作者决定投稿期刊的方式，旨在描述指导作者决策的激励因素和期刊特征。
作者进行了五次定性焦点小组讨论，共有 22 名医学教育作者和编辑参与。在焦点小组讨论中，参与者讨论了他们如何选择期刊投稿。所有焦点小组的音频都被转录。使用编码簿主题分析对转录本进行分析。
参与者在选择目标期刊时考虑了多个因素。这些因素包括期刊的影响力、期刊的范围、期刊质量和技术因素（例如，字数限制）。参与者还描述了社会因素如何影响他们的过程，以及开放获取所起的作用，既可以鼓励也可以阻止投稿。
研究结果描述了指导作者进行期刊选择决策的激励因素和有影响力的信号。这些发现证实、扩展和更新了医学教育和其他学科报告的期刊选择因素。值得注意的是，这些发现强调了社会因素、关系和个人经验的作用，这在以前的工作中是不存在的。此外，我们观察到对开放获取的考虑增加，以及对期刊声誉的重视程度降低。
