Saturday, April 18, 2009

What Are the Best Open Access Journals for Paleontologists?

The number of open access journals available for paleontologists is growing rapidly (see both my previous post as well as a more comprehensive post over at SV-POW!). When it comes time to submit something for publication, the options can be quite disconcerting. What journal will best get that paper out there? Search engines are great for finding specific papers on a specific topic, but it's nice to know that the casual journal reader might also happen across your paper. So, which journals do my colleagues pay attention to? Which journals do my colleagues respect most?

Although inherently flawed in some respects, ranking systems provide a first pass at trying to evaluate publications. So, I've been working on developing a rudimentary ranking system for today's open access paleontology journals. And, I'd like your help! I'll be incorporating citation counts, page rankings, and other metrics, but would also like to consider reader opinion. So, I have developed a highly unscientific survey as part of this effort. Please take a few minutes to fill in your opinions.

As a preview, the survey provides a list of open access journals in paleontology, and asks you to rank them as "excellent," "good," "fair," "poor," or "I've never heard of it." The form will be open until next Friday evening at 11:45 (Pacific time). Results will be published here soon thereafter.

Coming Up, After Your Hard Work on the Poll: The Top Open Access Journals for Paleontology 2009.

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