The Office of the Dean of Research (DOR) held the third workshop of the Bethlehem University Research Workshops series for the 2022-2023 academic year titled, “How to select the appropriate journal for you publications and how to deal with the submission guidelines,” on Thursday, Dec 1, 2022.
Prof Jamil Khader, Dean of Research, noted that many Palestinian universities require that faculty publish their articles in journals that are indexed in Scopus or Web of Science. As predatory and commercial journals become more deceptive in tricking researchers into publishing in these fake journals, it has become imperative for researchers to identify credible journals where they can publish their articles.
Publishing in these journals does not only secure faculty members’ bid for promotion. Moreover, it can help contribute original knowledge to advance the field, since the review process is guaranteed to put the researchers in conversation with the global research community.
Prof Khader pointed out two major websites namely, Scimago and Resurchify, that can help researchers verify the credibility of these journals. These sites offer information about the journals’ Impact Factor and H-index. They also include links to the journals’ homepage as well as links to the guidelines on how to publish in these journals.
Finally, Prof Khader reiterated the importance of reading the journals’ publication guidelines thoroughly before sending the manuscript out. Moreover, he suggested that researchers should read at least 5-7 recent articles in that journal to get a better sense of the structure and content of the articles that the journals published.
Publishing articles in international journals can be daunting and challenging. However, it can be very rewarding and can help increase one’s visibility and impact in the global research community.