Academic Publishing Resources

The tools below help identify journals that might be potential journals for submitting an article for publication. Most require that you enter a title and an abstract of your work in order to receive a list of suggestions. In addition, some will offer suggestions based on reference lists.

Use the following three strategies to ensure that your work will be found by other researchers, especially if you are submitting to a journal that is not familiar to you.

Strategy 1: Use Ulrichsweb to learn where a journal is indexed. If your article is published in journal that is indexed in databases commonly held by academic libraries, researchers will be more likely to find your article as they search.

1. Search for the journal title.
2. View the Abstracting & Indexing information section as well as Online Availability information.
3. You will want to recognize a number of databases listed. The more databases you see, the more places researchers will be able to find your work.

Strategy 2: Search for the journal in the UW-Whitewater Journals A-Z listing

Strategy 3: Use the Google Scholar Advanced Search to search for the journal by name. 

Results provide:

• Peer-review information. Look for the referee shirt icon:   
• A list of databases that index/ abstract that journal or provide its full text, essential for verifying that your article will be readily "found" by other researchers
• A brief description of its contents and content type (academic or popular, etc.)
• Journal's URL and subscription information
• Ulrich's does NOT quality-check the journals. You must evaluate the journal yourself. See our Evaluate Journals suggestions.

Search Tips for Identifying Potential Journals:

Search for information regarding known journal titles by entering the journal title in quotation marks: e.g. "Journal of Adolescent and Adult Literacy". 

If you would like to locate additional potential journals, follow these steps:

1. Go to Ulrichsweb

2. Tap Advanced Search.

3. Use the dropdown menu and select Keyword, unless you are searching for a known title. NOTE: You do not have to enter Keywords. You may leave the search box empty and use filters instead.

4. Review available filters, and check desired characteristics. 

• Key Features box: select Refereed and the "Abstracted or Indexed" option. 
• Status box: select Active journals, as Ulrichsweb includes historical information about ceased publications.
• The Subject Area allows you to narrow results to broad disciplines such as Business & Technology or Education.

5. In the search results: Click the journal title to view detailed information.

6. Continue to narrow your results using the facets on the left side of the results list.