A Guide to Purposeful Placement
Publishing is more than a destination; it’s an act of alignment. Where you choose to publish your work signals not only what you want to say, but also to whom, and with what impact. In an increasingly saturated and metrics-driven publishing world, selecting a journal with care can feel overwhelming. But when approached with values and clarity, it becomes a powerful part of your scholarly or creative practice.
This guide helps you move beyond questions like “What’s the highest impact factor?” or “Where do people in my field usually publish?” Instead, it invites you to ask: Where will this work be heard, supported, and most fully alive? It supports first-time authors and seasoned researchers alike in placing work intentionally and with resonance.
1. Clarify the Purpose of the Piece
What is this piece meant to do, and who is it for?
Not all writing is about knowledge production. Some is about building bridges. Some clarify, challenge, affirm, and provoke.
☑ Consider the core function of your piece:
☐ Contribute to a scholarly debate
☐ Introduce a new theoretical lens
☐ Share practitioner wisdom or applied insight
☐ Challenge dominant narratives or uplift unheard voices
☐ Test a method, explore a boundary
☐ Offer a first public articulation of an emerging idea
✍ This piece exists because ____________________________
✍ I hope it becomes a tool for ____________________________
🟦 Prompt: Imagine your piece as a gift. What kind of conversation is it offering, and what does it ask in return?
2. Define the Real Audience
Not just academic peers, but real-world users of the ideas inside.
Your “real” audience might differ from the traditional readership of certain journals. Think relationally.
☑ Possible primary audiences:
☐ Disciplinary scholars
☐ Interdisciplinary researchers
☐ Practitioners or professionals
☐ Community organisations
☐ Policy and systems stakeholders
☐ Students and early-career contributors
☐ Readers beyond academia
Tool: Try the Think. Check. Submit. Journal Selection Guide to explore the legitimacy and scope of journals you’re considering.
✍ This piece is meant for ____________________________, and they tend to read ____________________________
🟦 Prompt: Go where your audience already is. Don’t force them to find you in unfamiliar spaces.
3. Explore the Tone and Form of Your Piece
How does the work sound, move, feel, and what kind of publication space can hold that well?
Match tone, length, and format to the journal’s usual approach.
| Tone / Style | Suitable Journal Qualities |
| Deeply theoretical | Journals that welcome conceptual depth and disciplinary specificity |
| Practice-based or applied | Journals with strong practitioner readership or “practice notes” sections |
| Interdisciplinary | Journals that support hybrid forms and collaborative authorship |
| Narrative or reflective | Journals open to first-person writing, storytelling, autoethnography, or situated knowledge |
Tool: Use DOAJ – Directory of Open Access Journals to search by format, subject, or openness preferences.
✍ The tone I’m working with is ____________________________
✍ Readers should walk away feeling ____________________________
🟦 Prompt: Pay attention to how other published pieces feel, not just what they say. Does your voice belong in that room?
4. Map Journal Options Against Your Values and Vision
Where will your work be reviewed with insight, shared with care, and not distorted by gatekeeping?
Here are the key alignment criteria:
| Journal Feature | What to Check |
| Inclusivity | Are the authors diverse in background, geography, and career stage? |
| Accessibility | Is the content open access? Affordable to read or publish? Transparent about fees? |
| Ethics & Process | Does the journal clearly explain review criteria and editorial timeline? |
| Positionality | Does the journal’s history and focus align with your field’s current ethical conversations? |
Explore:
- Sherpa Romeo – shows publisher open access and self-archiving policies
- JournalGuide – filter journals by aims, scope, and metrics
- Scimago Journal Rankings – visualise impact and disciplinary relationships
✍ Three values this publication must honour are ____________________________
✍ One journal I’ve ruled out because it contradicts ____________________________
🟦 Prompt: A journal’s politics show in who it centres, cites, and gives space to. Let your values shape the shortlist.
5. Check for Strategic and Technical Fit
The dream journal still needs to fit your genre, timeline, and goals.
☑ Fit checklist:
☐ Topic and keywords are inside the journal’s scope
☐ Length and format match expectations
☐ You’re ready to tailor your manuscript (abstract, style, citations) to the guidelines
☐ You understand their review process (double-blind? desk rejection rate?)
☐ Publication timeline matches your career or project milestones
🧭 Tip: Search the journal’s website for “Instructions for Authors” or download their submission checklist.
✍ A journal I’m considering seriously is ____________________________ because ____________________________
✍ Their latest issue tells me they care about ____________________________
🟦 Prompt: If you can see your piece as the next article after the one you’re reading, you’re probably in the right place.
6. Redefine What Publishing “Success” Looks Like
Don’t let metrics alone define the impact of your work.
Your success may be:
☑ Immediate
☐ Connecting with a niche but vital audience
☐ Inviting collaboration or response
☐ Supporting a grant, promotion, or proposal
☑ Long-term
☐ Becoming a foundation others build on
☐ Developing a profile across related journals
☐ Referring back to this piece as part of a body of practice
✍ This piece will be “successful” if ____________________________
✍ What I want most is for it to be used by ____________________________ in ____________________________
🟦 Prompt: Let usefulness, integrity, and resonance be part of your success metric, not just citations.
Final Reflection: Choose the Conversation You Want to Join
You don’t just want to be published; you want to be in conversation. Placing your work is about contributing, belonging, and being in the right rooms. When you choose with care, publishing becomes less extractive and more relational. You don’t just send something off. You place it where it might live, move, and matter.
🟦 Prompt: ✍ The community I most want this work to reach and resource is ____________________________
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