Why should you publish in the Indian Journal of Ophthalmology?

Choosing a journal for publication of research is a common dilemma faced by every researcher after completing his/her research. In most cases, the authors of biomedical journals are neither paid nor do they expect any monetary compensation for their publication. What then is the driving force behind researchers′ eagerness to publish their work? It is probably, the satisfaction of being a part of the advancement of science through research and subsequent publication. However, the real value of a research lies in its citationby other researchers after publication. For this the article should be read by as many scientists as possible. The purpose of this editorial is to discuss the important factors that the researcher should consider while choosing a journal for publication, so as to enhance the chances of acceptance to add value to their research, and most of all ensure a wide readership.

With a large circulation in the print version a journal has the advantage of reaching out to a majority of the target audience. The Indian Journal of Ophthalmology (IJO) has a circulation of 11,000 print copies which go to almost every ophthalmologist in the country, besides various libraries world over. Indian ophthalmologists shy away from subscribing to foreign journals because of their high cost. Indian authors who choose to publish their work in any foreign journal lose their chances of being recognized for their work among Indian fraternity – a place where they can be identified most. ″Everyone wishes to publish in the best quality journals but also need to target the most appreciative audience.″1 It is important to note that most Indian researchers conduct their study on an Indian population. The outcomes of these studies are more relevant to Indian ophthalmologists, since their clinical practice is on a similar population and environment. From this viewpoint, IJO is a good option as it has the highest circulation among Indian ophthalmologists.

IJO has adopted the policy of ′open access′,2 wherein anyone can view and download the full text of any article published in IJO free of charge. ″We as academicians strive to create wonderful sculptures in the form of published research in the hope of sharing it with all our colleagues and the general public.″3 No researcher would like that his/her article is not read due to monetary constraints of the reader to pay for journal access since that would restrict its readership to only a privileged few. ′Open access′ fulfills the ultimate goal of disseminating and sharing scholarly information. Shidham et al,4 point out four broad benefits of ′open access′ for science as well as public. The first is the widest possible dissemination of work. Free online articles have been found to be cited more often.5 Secondly,; literature search is not restricted by library budget. Third, the results of publicly funded research will be available to all tax payers and not just limited to those who can afford to subscribe. Fourth, researchers from the developing world will not be handicapped due to the poor economic state of the country. In addition to the advantages of ′open access′, the IJO website http://www.ijo.in has uploaded full text of all the articles since its inception. Very few journals, more than 50- years old, have achieved this feat. The IJO website has more than 80,000 visitors every month.

There are many indexing and archiving systems for biomedical publications. Indexing with as many systems as possible increases the visibility of articles in that particular journal. The list of bibliographic listing of IJO is large, which includes the prestigious PubMed/Index Medicus and PubMed Central. The others are Biological Abstracts, Biosis Preview, CAB Abstracts, Caspur, CINAHL, DOAJ, EBSCO Publishings Electronic Database, Expanded Academic ASAP, Genamics JournalSeek, Global Health, Google Scholar, Health and Wellness Research Center, Health Reference Center Academic, Index Copernicus, Info Trac One File, Journal Citation Reports, Science citation Expanded, SCOPUS, SIIC databases, Ulrich′s International Periodical Directory, and Web of Science.

It is said that biomedical literature is biased toward the English language. If the researchers are not from an English-speaking country, their knowledge and literature search remains confined to their own language and are unable to understand articles published in English which has the largest database compared to any other language. The IJO website has the unique feature of giving instant translation into 34 other languages with full text of all the articles. IJO has thus crossed the language barrier. With its large circulation of printed versions coupled with ′open access′ policy, colossal bibliographic listings, and unique features of its website, IJO stands far ahead of all other ophthalmic journals as far as visibility of its articles is concerned – a great value for the authors.

Researchers prefer to publish their works in journals with a high ′Impact Factor′.6 IJO is included in the ′Science Citations Index′ from the year 2008 and the first official ′Impact Factor′ for IJO will be available for the year 2010 in the Journal of Citation Report in the year 2011. The interim analysis of ′Impact Factor′″ of IJO shows a rising trend.7

Authors also look for the convenience in manuscript submission. The complete processing of manuscript right from submission to peer-review is online at http://www.journalonweb.com/ijo. This has made the functioning of the system smooth and transparent, wherein at any point of time authors can track the progress of the manuscript. It has also reduced the processing time of the manuscripts.7

Peer-review process adds value to the manuscripts.8 ″Science requires that publications be properly vetted (peer-reviewed) and experimental findings logically presented.″4 Therefore, authors prefer to get their articles published in peer-reviewed journals. Due to the online processing system, IJO had developed a robust peer-review system with more than 700 national and international reviewers. Each manuscript is reviewed by at least two external experts followed by the internal sectional expert before it is considered for acceptance by the editor.

IJO scores fairly well in all the pointers mentioned above. Then why not publish your best research papers in IJO and add value to your research/ paper.