The scope of a journal can be broad, multidisciplinary, or very specific. Usually, journals publish papers from a very specific subject area. Even within that subject area, the journal may focus on a particular aspect of that subject.

Check whether your target journal publishes the article type you intend to submit. If your article is a review, check that the journal publishes reviews. Even if your topic of research matches the journal’s scope but your article type is not published by the journal, your paper will get rejected.

It is more important to reach the right readership than reaching a wide readership. If your research findings would benefit a larger audience, look for a multidisciplinary journal that reaches a wide and non-technical audience. If your topic of research is highly specialized and would be relevant only to researchers in that field, choose a journal with a specific target audience.

Your paper may get accepted and published in your target journal. However, your research should be easy to find by other researchers. Journal visibility increases the visibility of your research and hence the number of times your work is cited. Once you have a journal in mind, check if it is indexed in the popular subject-specific databases in your field. You should also check if your journal is available online. Journals that are only circulated in print will greatly limit the number of people reading your article.

If you want your paper to be published by a particular date, it would be wise to consider the peer review period of the target journal. A journal that publishes monthly is likely to have a shorter review period than a journal that publishes only once a year. It is also a good idea to check whether the journal has an online edition and whether it posts accepted articles online once approved for publication. Open access journals are a good option for authors looking to get published as soon as possible (within two months).