Choosing where to submit a paper is a decision that gets made too quickly, too often — usually by defaulting to whichever journal the author has published in before, or whichever one currently has the most prestigious reputation in casual conversation. Both instincts miss most of what actually determines whether a submission succeeds.
Start With Scope, Not Prestige
Before checking any rating, read a journal's aims and scope statement and skim three or four recent issues. Does the journal regularly publish papers that ask similar questions to yours, using similar methods, for a similar audience? A highly-rated journal whose recent issues are dominated by a different subfield or methodology than yours is a weak match regardless of its rating — you're more likely to face reviewers who don't fully engage with your framing, and a slower, less constructive review process as a result.
Then Check the Ratings, Plural
Once you have a shortlist of journals that genuinely fit your paper's scope, that's the point to bring in ABDC ratings and SJR quartiles — not before. Checking both together, rather than just one, gives a fuller picture: an ABDC rating reflects expert judgment about a journal's standing in the field, while an SJR quartile reflects citation-weighted influence calculated from actual data. Journals that score well on both are a strong signal; journals that diverge are worth a closer look at why before deciding.
Weigh Turnaround Time Realistically
A journal's typical time from submission to first decision, and from acceptance to publication, matters enormously depending on your situation — a paper needed for a tenure file with a fixed deadline has very different constraints than a paper with no external timeline pressure. Many journals publish average turnaround statistics, and academic communities on your own campus or field-specific mailing lists often have more current, realistic estimates than the journal's own stated numbers.
Consider the Actual Audience You Want to Reach
A journal's rating tells you about its standing; it doesn't tell you who will actually read your paper. A well-regarded but narrow specialist journal might put your work in front of exactly the researchers most likely to build on it, while a broader, higher-profile journal might bury a niche paper among content aimed at a different readership. Think about who you most want citing and using this specific paper, and let that shape the decision as much as any rating does.
Have a Realistic Backup Plan
Even a well-matched submission to an appropriately-targeted journal can be rejected — desk rejection rates at top journals often exceed 80%, regardless of paper quality. Decide on a second and third choice journal before submitting, not after a rejection arrives, so you're not scrambling to re-scope the decision under the disappointment of a rejection.
Do the Research in One Place
Checking scope fit, ABDC rating, and SJR quartile across several candidate journals is far faster with a single lookup tool than switching between several sources. Know Your Faculty's [Journal Rankings tool](/journal-rankings) lets you search all 2,649 journals in the ABDC Journal Quality List 2025 and see each one's rating, SJR quartile, and papers published per year on one page — free, with no sign-up required.