
Scholarly communication is the system through which research and other scholarly writings are created, evaluated for quality, disseminated to the scholarly community, and preserved for future use. It encompasses all steps associated with a research project, from the first idea to the final publication.
Learn more above about how the library can support you at different stages of the publication lifecycle.
Get in Touch
For health science-related questions, email: medlibscholcomm@yale.edu
Learn more…
Publishing Considerations
Finding the Right Journal
Paid for by the Library
- Cabell’s Journalytics Medicine – relevant information about medical and academic journals to help research professionals looking to publish research, review scholarly contributions, or gain accreditation.
- Ulrichsweb.com – information about scholarly journals and other periodicals, along with what databases index a particular journal.
- Journal Citation Reports (JCR) – quantifiable statistical data that allows users to determine the relative importance of journals within a field – particularly in science, technology, and social sciences.
Available Open Access
- Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) – indexes quality open access journals and includes information on articles processing charges and editorial policies.
- Journal Author Name Estimator (JANE) – input your manuscript’s title and abstract and JANE tries to match your paper to related journals.
- SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) – find and compare journals contained in the Scopus database.
Factors to Consider
NIH Public Access Policy – learn more about the policy and how to comply
Aim & scope: who is the journal’s intended audience (readers) and what discipline(s) does the journal encompass?
Article type & formatting: what kinds of articles a journal accepts and publishes (i.e. original research, review articles, opinion pieces, etc.), formatting style for submission
Journal reputation: impact factor, acceptance rate, citation rate, or the attention a journal’s work receives on social media and in the news
Peer review process: how your manuscript will be handled, how you will receive reviewer feedback, and how long the process takes
Publishing timeline: how long from submission to publication
Copyright: “original works” are protected by copyright and the copyright holder determines how reuse permissions are granted; read a publishing agreement or contract in its entirety before signing. Consider negotiating with the publisher to retain rights to your work, especially if you plan to build upon the work in the future.
Database indexing & discoverability: what databases the journal is indexed in
Predatory Publishing
Journals that pose as gold open access but have little to no review or editing process and publish at the author’s expense are known as predatory.
Tools to distinguish between trustworthy and untrustworthy publishers/journals:
Think Check Submit (free tool) – Use one of their thorough checklists to ensure that you are submitting your research to a trusted journal before you submit.
Cabell’s Predatory Reports (subscription tool, paid for by the library) – uses 60+ behavioral indicators to examine journals’ practices, so that users are alerted to deceptive behaviors and steer clear of exploitative operations.
PubMed vs. PubMed Central
PubMed and PubMed Central (PMC) are often mistakenly thought of as the same database. To be officially recognized by PubMed, journals must be selected by the National Library of Medicine for inclusion in MEDLINE. This requires a review process to ensure that the journal meets the appropriate quality and technological standards necessary for inclusion in MEDLINE.
PubMed Central is a different database from PubMed and does not have the same stringent requirements for inclusion. Articles from PMC may be searchable in PubMed, but this does not mean they are indexed in MEDLINE. If a publisher claims that their journal is in PubMed, you should confirm that this means they are indexed in MEDLINE and not simply searchable in PubMed by appearing in PMC.
The National Library of Medicine provides more information on the differences between PubMed and PMC.
Open Access
What is open access?
“Open Access” publishing refers to scholarship that is made freely available worldwide to anyone with an internet connection. “Hybrid” publishers employ both models, giving authors the option to choose whether their research will be published open access or not.
Benefits
- Articles are:
- available to the largest number of potential readers
- indexed in the same services as their traditional counterparts, such as MEDLINE, Scopus, Web of Science, and Google Scholar, among others
- Authors:
- typically retain copyright, allowing them to reproduce, distribute, reuse, and remix their research
Drawbacks
- Some publishers charge article processing charges (APCs) that range from $500-$5,000 and may fall on the author
- Authors may face restrictions on green open access publishing options
Publishing Open Access
Open access publishing models fall primarily into 2 categories: gold and green.
Gold open access typically refers to an author working with a publisher to make the article version of record (VOR) freely available on a journal’s website.
The green open access model refers to an author self-archiving their research in an institutional repository (IR), preprint server, or other venue. An author may pair the green open access model with other publishing types by placing a preprint of an article in an IR or other repository while also submitting the article to journals for publication.
Yale Library maintains partnerships with several open access and hybrid publishers to provide Yale authors with a discount on APCs. View the list
Yale Library also supports initiatives that make scholarship more widely available to all researchers around the world. View the list of open access initiatives
Journals with APC Waivers
Here are 180 journals relevant to the medical campus in which Yale authors can publish open access articles without paying article processing charges.
View the full list of publishing agreements (comprising over 700 journals) funded by the library.
Journal Title | Journal Link | Publisher | Agreement Ends |
---|---|---|---|
Access Microbiology | Journal Homepage | Microbiology Society | 12/31/2025 |
ACM / IMS Journal of Data Science | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
ACM Journal on Computing and Sustainable Societies | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
ACM Journal on Emerging Technologies in Computing Systems | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
ACM Transactions on Computing for Healthcare | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
ACM Transactions on Internet Technology | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
ACM Transactions on Modeling and Computer Simulation | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
ACM Transactions on Privacy and Security | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
ACM Transactions on Sensor Networks | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
ACM Transactions on Social Computing | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
ACM Transactions on Spatial Algorithms and Systems | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
Acta Neuropsychiatrica | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Ageing & Society | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
American Journal of Law & Medicine | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Animal Health Research Reviews | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Animal Nutriomics | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Animal Welfare | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Antimicrobial Stewardship & Healthcare Epidemiology | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Applied Physics Express | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Applied Psycholinguistics | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Behavioural Public Policy | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Biochemical Journal | Journal Homepage | Portland Press | |
Biochemical Society | Journal Homepage | Portland Press | |
Biofabrication | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Biological Imaging | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Biology Letters | Journal Homepage | Royal Society | 12/31/2025 |
Biomedical Materials | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Biomedical Physics & Engineering Express | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Bioscience Reports | Journal Homepage | Portland Press | |
BJHS Themes | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
BJPsych Advances | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
BJPsych Bulletin | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
BJPsych International | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
BJPsych Open | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Brain Impairment | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
British Journal of Nutrition | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Cambridge Prisms: Global Mental Health | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Cambridge Prisms: Precision Medicine | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Cambridge Quarterly of Healthcare Ethics | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Canadian Journal of Neurological Sciences | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Cardiology in the Young | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Clinical Science | Journal Homepage | Portland Press | |
CNS Spectrums | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Data & Policy | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Development and Psychopathology | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Digital Government: Research and Practice | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Du Bois Review: Social Science Research on Race | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
ECS Advances | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
ECS Sensors Plus | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Emerging Topics in Life Sciences | Journal Homepage | Portland Press | |
Enterprise & Society | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Environmental Data Science | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Environmental Research Communications | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Environmental Research Letters | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Environmental Research: Climate | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Environmental Research: Ecology | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Environmental Research: Health | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Epidemiology & Infection | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Epidemiology and Psychiatric Sciences | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
European Psychiatry | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Expert Reviews in Molecular Medicine | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Finance and Society | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Genetics Research | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Geo-Bio Interfaces | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Global Health, Epidemiology and Genomics | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Global Sustainability | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Gut Microbiome | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Health Economics, Policy and Law | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
IEEE/ACM Transactions on Computational Biology and Bioinformatics | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
Industrial and Organizational Psychology | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Infection Control & Hospital Epidemiology | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Interface Focus | Journal Homepage | Royal Society | 12/31/2025 |
International Journal of Systematic and Evolutionary Microbiology | Journal Homepage | Microbiology Society | 12/31/2025 |
International Journal of Technology Assessment in Health Care | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
International Psychogeriatrics | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
International Review of the Red Cross | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Irish Journal of Psychological Medicine | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Agriculture, Food Systems, and Community Development | Journal Homepage | Thomas A Lyson Center for Civic Agriculture and Food Systems | |
Journal of Benefit-Cost Analysis | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Biosocial Science | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Breath Research | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Journal of Clinical and Translational Science | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Data and Information Quality | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of General Virology | Journal Homepage | Microbiology Society | 12/31/2025 |
Journal of Helminthology | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of International and Comparative Social Policy | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Laryngology & Otology | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Law, Medicine & Ethics | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Medical Microbiology | Journal Homepage | Microbiology Society | 12/31/2025 |
Journal of Neural Engineering | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Journal of Nutritional Science | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Pension Economics & Finance | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Physics: Complexity | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Journal of Psychologists and Counsellors in Schools | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Public Policy | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Race, Ethnicity and Politics | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Radiological Protection | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Journal of Radiotherapy in Practice | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Smoking Cessation | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of Social Policy | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of the International Neuropsychological Society | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Journal of the Royal Society Interface | Journal Homepage | Royal Society | 12/31/2025 |
Machine Learning: Science and Technology | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Materials for Quantum Technology | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Medical History | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Methods and Applications in Fluorescence | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Microbial Genomics | Journal Homepage | Microbiology Society | 12/31/2025 |
Microbiology | Journal Homepage | Microbiology Society | 12/31/2025 |
National Institute Economic Review | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Neuromorphic Computing and Engineering | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Neuronal Signaling | Journal Homepage | Portland Press | |
Notes and Records of the Royal Society | Journal Homepage | Royal Society | 12/31/2025 |
Nutrition Research Reviews | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Open Biology | Journal Homepage | Royal Society | 12/31/2025 |
Palliative & Supportive Care | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Parasitology | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Personality Neuroscience | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A | Journal Homepage | Royal Society | 12/31/2025 |
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B | Journal Homepage | Royal Society | 12/31/2025 |
Physical Biology | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Physics Education | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Physics in Medicine & Biology | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Physiological Measurement | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
PLOS Biology | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Climate | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Complex Systems | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Computational Biology | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Digital Health | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Genetics | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Global Public Health | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Medicine | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Mental Health | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS One | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Pathogens | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Sustainability & Transformations | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
PLOS Water | Journal Homepage | PLOS | 12/31/2027 |
Politics and the Life Sciences | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Prehospital and Disaster Medicine | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Primary Health Care Research & Development | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Proceedings of the ACM on Interactive, Mobile, Wearable and Ubiquitous Technologies | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
Proceedings of the ACM on Management of Data | Journal Homepage | ACM | 12/31/2025 |
Proceedings of the Nutrition Society | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Proceedings of the Royal Society A | Journal Homepage | Royal Society | 12/31/2025 |
Proceedings of the Royal Society B | Journal Homepage | Royal Society | 12/31/2025 |
Progress in Biomedical Engineering | Journal Homepage | Institute of Physics Publishing | 12/31/2025 |
Psychological Medicine | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Psychometrika | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Public Health Nutrition | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
QRB Discovery | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Research Directions: Biotechnology Design | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Research Directions: Cyber-Physical Systems | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Research Directions: Depression | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Research Directions: One Health | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Research Directions: Sleep Psychology | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Research Synthesis Methods | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Science in Context | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Social Policy and Society | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
State Politics & Policy Quarterly | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
The British Journal of Psychiatry | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
The Cognitive Behaviour Therapist | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
The Economic and Labour Relations Review | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
The Spanish Journal of Psychology | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Transactions Essays in Biochemistry | Journal Homepage | Portland Press | |
Twin Research and Human Genetics | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Utilitas | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Visual Neuroscience | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Wearable Technologies | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, OA | 12/31/2027 |
Zygote | Journal Homepage | Cambridge University Press, hybrid | 12/31/2027 |
Frequently Asked Questions
What is an APC?
An Article Processing Charge or APC is affiliated with the gold open access publishing model. Rather than funding publishing through institutional subscriptions, open access journals often fund their operations through APCs that the author, their institution, or funder pays after acceptance. The APC amount varies drastically by subject and journal – APCs can be as low as $200 or as high as $11,000. The best way to account for APCs is to build the cost of open access publishing into a grant application for sponsored research.
What is meant by “research impact”?
‘Impact’ describes the reach and influence of a scholar’s work. Learn more about measuring research impact in this guide.
Can the Library help cover the cost of an APC?
While the Library supports open access funding and is continually searching for ways to better support authors who choose this model, at this time it is not financially possible for the Library to cover all APCs for all authors. Much of the library’s collection funding goes toward providing access to subscription-based resources, which is still the prevailing model in academic publishing. The Library is current seeking out memberships with publishers that will offset the cost of OA publishing, either through discounted APCs or full waivers. While we cannot pay for individual APCs, we are continually working to develop solutions to shift the burden of these charges off of researchers and authors. APC costs differ dramatically by publisher and article type. The best place to find the cost of an APC is through a publisher’s website.
Where can I find out if a journal allows OA publishing avenues?
There are several tools that make finding information on open access, copyright, licensing, and publisher policies for individual journals easy (well, easier). Open policy finder is “an online resource that aggregates and analyses publisher open access policies from around the world and provides summaries of publisher copyright and open access archiving policies on a journal-by-journal basis”. The Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ) is another helpful directory for finding OA policies for a specific journal of interest. You should also check the publisher’s posted copyright policy for more information on gold OA availability and self-archiving options.
What is a preprint?
A preprint is a term generally used to describe an unpublished research paper. An author may decide to submit a preprint to a preprint server or repository to gather feedback from other scholars and/or make findings immediately accessible to the public, though these manuscripts do not go through a peer-review process. bioRxiv and medRxiv are two preprint servers that will likely align with the specialties of medical students and researchers at Yale. Yale helped co-found medRxiv.
What is an ORCID profile and how do I set one up?
ORCID is a unique identifier assigned to an individual author to link the author to their scholarship across all platforms and potential name disambiguations. ORCID is free to sign up for and can help paint a more accurate picture of author impact by linking all of the author’s works and distinguishing between similarly named authors. Some grant funding bodies now require an ORCID with manuscript submission. Sign up for ORCID.