Illustrative best-practice case study
Build a journal shortlist with a defensible decision trail
A hypothetical interdisciplinary team needs to choose a first submission target without reducing the decision to a journal metric.
01
Starting situation
The team has a complete manuscript, a defined audience and a maximum publication budget. Its members favour different journals, but the reasons have not been recorded consistently. This is an illustrative workflow, not an Outlier Science client result.
02
Best-practice intervention
- Agree mandatory conditions, including the accepted article type and relevant institutional or funder rules.
- Use Springer Nature journal discovery guidance, Wiley Journal Finder and Emerald journal publishing guide to explore relevant options without assuming that one portfolio contains the best destination.
- Read candidate journals’ scope, recent papers and author instructions. Record a dated source for costs and other material conditions.
- Use the comparison worksheet to show reasons for inclusion, rejection and unresolved questions.
- Let the authors select one target and prepare the required materials using the readiness checklist.
03
Illustrative handover
The output is a shortlist with an explicit decision note, rather than a ranking that hides trade-offs. Each author can see why the leading option reaches the intended readers and which requirements still need confirmation. The expected deliverables are a dated comparison record, an author-approved target and a submission task list.
04
How to assess the workflow
Check that each mandatory condition has supporting evidence, the selected journal accepts the article type and all authors have reviewed the decision. These checks assess preparation; they do not predict acceptance, editorial speed or future indexing.
05
Apply it to your project
Start with the publisher author-guidance comparison and the journal-selection guide. If the manuscript still needs substantive work, address that before final formatting. Publication support can be scoped around the shortlist and submission package.
06
Sources and tools
- Springer Nature journal discovery guidance — Explore candidate journals, then assess the journal itself.
- Wiley Journal Finder — Search Wiley journals and investigate scope and submission requirements.
- Emerald journal publishing guide — Work from the intended audience and article type to the chosen journal’s author instructions.
07
Continue with your research
External resources reviewed 22 October 2026. Check the current instructions for the selected journal, tool or institution before acting. These links identify independent resources and do not imply an affiliation with or endorsement by their providers.