Many authors go straight to the Journal website when submitting a paper. But have you looked at the website of the Journal Publisher? Many Publishers have a wealth of information on their websites, and are constantly improving the service they provide to authors, including guidelines and tutorials on how to prepare your article. Here’s an example from Springer:

Here’s a list of some of the Journal Publishers in science, technology, engineering and medicine, with links to their author homepages.

Major Publishers of the full range of journals include:

• Elsevier 2000+ journals
• Springer  2000+ journals
• Taylor & Francis1750+ journals
• Wiley-Blackwell1400+ journals
• Sage 700+ journals in the humanities, social sciences, and science, technology and medicine (165 STM journals)
• Oxford Journals (Oxford University Press): 300+ journals in the humanities, social sciences, law, science and medicine

Some of the large traditional journals publish a cluster of other journals. For example:

• The British Medical Journal publishes a collection of 40+ medical journals in addition to the BMJ
• The Nature Publishing Group publishes 30+ journals in the Nature group, plus more than 60 other academic journals.  Check out the Nature China page. Their sister company, Macmillan, publish more than 70 journals in business, social sciences, and the humanities

Other Journal Publishers include:

• PLOS ONE: well-known as an open access publisher, submissions to PLOS One are considered on the basis of scientific validity and technical quality, not perceived impact
• Subject area specialists, e.g. Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) publish 100+ journals in this subject area
• Society journals: some academic societies publish their own journals. For example, the American Chemical Society (ACS) publishes 39 journals. Check out their information ACS ChemWorx
• And many, many more Journal Publishers, perhaps more than 2000 worldwide

Next time you access a journal, try clicking through to the Publisher’s website and look at what they have to offer to authors. You can search their lists of journals for one that matches your subject area when submitting your article. In addition, you will find many things of interest to authors: blogs, webcasts, guides, and links to customer service desks. Some Publishers offer customer support in Chinese or other languages. Remember that Publishers want to support authors in their efforts to get published.

Do you feel a bit confused about the role of the publisher, the journal editor, and other people involved in journal publication? Check out the article “Who’s Who in Journal Publishing”

If you feel overwhelmed by the information available, you will find more straight-forward information on journal publishing on the International Science Editing website or contact our office at admin@internationalscienceediting.com.