which academic journal to aim at as a master's student?

[adel9216]

Hello, what type of academic journal should I aim at as a master's candidate? I am writing an article off my master,s thesis, which has a small sample and is a qualitative study. The first time I have submitted, my article was rejected. I am trying to incorporate revisions to resubmit elsewhere, but am feeling insecure and am afraid of being rejected again. Especially since I don't know who to ask for feedback (my article is in French, my mothertongue on top of that).

[polly_mer]

Where were the most useful articles in this area that you read for the literature review published?

What did your advisor say when you asked these questions?

[drbrt]

For qualitative studies, you often want to look at the journal's scope and sequence to see if they take qualitative studies at all. At least in my field, some journals are still a little hostile to qual methods. The best advice I give my masters students is to use Wendy Belcher's how to write a journal article book. It just came out with a new edition and provides step by step outlines for producing one's first few journal articles. It is less helpful in hard core STEM articles, but the work plan should work well for a qualitative study. One of the first chapters talks about why most articles are rejected, which might be a helpful place to start.

[adel9216]

Where were the most useful articles in this area that you read for the literature review published?

What did your advisor say when you asked these questions?

Yes, I have identified those, but it seems like it would be aiming to high for me as a master's student. My advisor is currently on vacation.

[adel9216]

For qualitative studies, you often want to look at the journal's scope and sequence to see if they take qualitative studies at all. At least in my field, some journals are still a little hostile to qual methods. The best advice I give my masters students is to use Wendy Belcher's how to write a journal article book. It just came out with a new edition and provides step by step outlines for producing one's first few journal articles. It is less helpful in hard core STEM articles, but the work plan should work well for a qualitative study. One of the first chapters talks about why most articles are rejected, which might be a helpful place to start.

Yes, I just bought that book :)

[polly_mer]

Where were the most useful articles in this area that you read for the literature review published?

What did your advisor say when you asked these questions?

Yes, I have identified those, but it seems like it would be aiming to high for me as a master's student. My advisor is currently on vacation.

My best advice to very early career folks is to focus on the value of the work rather than one's current official title.  Newcomers to the field do fabulous things that should be placed as highly as possible.  You can't nominate yourself for a Nobel prize as a newcomer to the field, but you can write a stellar paper that deserves to be in a stellar journal.

Have confidence in your work and polish, polish, polish instead of undervaluing your own work because you don't yet have the title.  Part of imposter syndrome is refusing to step up to bat rather than swinging as hard as possible and perhaps getting a homer.

[Vhagar]

Where were the most useful articles in this area that you read for the literature review published?

What did your advisor say when you asked these questions?

Yes, I have identified those, but it seems like it would be aiming to high for me as a master's student. My advisor is currently on vacation.

I would suggest waiting until your advisor gets back and asking. It would be better to wait a couple of weeks or a month and have a conversation with someone who knows your work and your field than to waste your time submitting to a journal that is a bad fit.

[Kron3007]

I see a lot of people start by submitting to the "top" journal and work  their way down.  Personally, I dont like chasing impact factors and hate this approach as it is a waste of your time as well as editors/reviewers for all the journals that reject your paper.  To me, this approach represents the poison in modern academia.

In my opinion, what is most important as an MSc student is to get out a publication (or more) quickly so that you have it published when applying for PhD programs, scholarships, etc.  When I am reviewing MSc grads, I do not expect that they are publishing in the top journals and if I see one I generally question their contribution as this is beyond most people at that level (obviously there are exceptions).  I value a "lower impact" article where the student was obviously the driving force more than a "higher impact" article where their contribution is less substantial.

The way to do this is to avoid the above approach and instead find a respectable, but perhaps "lower impact" journal.  Read through their scope, but also read through some recent articles to see if they publish papers similar to what you have.  Sometimes their stated scope is not in line with their actions.  I find the most important thing is finding the right fit, I have had an article ripped apart by one journal only to be praised by another simply because it was the wrong match. 

As a disclaimer, I am in Biology and everything seems to vary among fields so I definitely second the suggestion to wait and speak with your advisor.  In fact, it would be a faux pas for my students to submit to a journal while I was away. 

[youllneverwalkalone]

Hello, what type of academic journal should I aim at as a master's candidate? I am writing an article off my master,s thesis, which has a small sample and is a qualitative study. The first time I have submitted, my article was rejected. I am trying to incorporate revisions to resubmit elsewhere, but am feeling insecure and am afraid of being rejected again. Especially since I don't know who to ask for feedback (my article is in French, my mothertongue on top of that).

I would advise you to team up with your supervisor and/or some other experienced author and try to publish the article together rather than going solo.

They can most likely give you very qualified advice on what journal would be a good fit as well as how to best approach the reviewers' comments and the language issues.

[adel9216]

Yes! I have spoken with my supervisor, we'll collaborate on the article, me as a first author and her as a second author. It's going to be easier to be published that way, and my work will be probably better with her input.

[youllneverwalkalone]

Yes! I have spoken with my supervisor, we'll collaborate on the article, me as a first author and her as a second author. It's going to be easier to be published that way, and my work will be probably better with her input.

Good to hear that. She should also provide input as to what journal would be a good target. It is generally reccomended to decide that upfront and tailor the paper to the style of that particular journal.

[adel9216]

Yes, she has given me a journal that has a very high impact factor. She believes I could get published there, although I am still skeptical about my chances. But we'll see!

[youllneverwalkalone]

Yes, she has given me a journal that has a very high impact factor. She believes I could get published there, although I am still skeptical about my chances. But we'll see!

Fingers crossed :). It's a good idea to start high, worst case scenario you'll get rejected and have useful feedback to improve the paper.

[glowdart]

Yes, she has given me a journal that has a very high impact factor. She believes I could get published there, although I am still skeptical about my chances. But we'll see!

The work product matters. The "rank" of the author is immaterial. Yes, it takes time to develop a scholarly voice that sounds like you aren't new at this and yes, I'd hazard most of our work 15 years into a career has more maturely developed content and frameworks, but your rank doesn't mean you only publish in certain types of journals.

For other readers, I'll also say that I've seen too many graduate students place good ideas in underdeveloped articles in "grad student" journals to their detriment. Some of those journals are strong and focused on providing a space for early career scholars whose work isn't a good fit for our existing niche & subfield journals or they are focused on providing more extensive feedback as developmental support is part of their mission. But some are just not well-respected at all. (Ask your advisor.) And at some schools, most or all of them are discounted.

If the work isn't going to fit the curatorial goals of your top journals, then find the good subfield ones where your work does fit and start there. Or, look for the grad student journals that are long-standing, have a good editorial board, and are not run by grad students. We have a few journals that regularly publish work by respected senior scholars but which are also committed to early career developmental author support. That's where we send many of our grad students. No one questions publications there.

The Graduate Journal of Our Field that has an editorial board full of grad students or that isn't indexed anywhere? Run. Don't let the imposter syndrome win.

[adel9216]

Yes, she has given me a journal that has a very high impact factor. She believes I could get published there, although I am still skeptical about my chances. But we'll see!

The work product matters. The "rank" of the author is immaterial. Yes, it takes time to develop a scholarly voice that sounds like you aren't new at this and yes, I'd hazard most of our work 15 years into a career has more maturely developed content and frameworks, but your rank doesn't mean you only publish in certain types of journals.

For other readers, I'll also say that I've seen too many graduate students place good ideas in underdeveloped articles in "grad student" journals to their detriment. Some of those journals are strong and focused on providing a space for early career scholars whose work isn't a good fit for our existing niche & subfield journals or they are focused on providing more extensive feedback as developmental support is part of their mission. But some are just not well-respected at all. (Ask your advisor.) And at some schools, most or all of them are discounted.

If the work isn't going to fit the curatorial goals of your top journals, then find the good subfield ones where your work does fit and start there. Or, look for the grad student journals that are long-standing, have a good editorial board, and are not run by grad students. We have a few journals that regularly publish work by respected senior scholars but which are also committed to early career developmental author support. That's where we send many of our grad students. No one questions publications there.

The Graduate Journal of Our Field that has an editorial board full of grad students or that isn't indexed anywhere? Run. Don't let the imposter syndrome win.

Makes sense. I won't let it win! :) Thanks for the advice!