Journal Finder: Find the Right Journal from Real Published Papers (No AI)

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Find the right journal for your paper

Paste your title, keywords or abstract. See the journals that published the closest papers, with indexing, impact factor, review time and APC.

Filter the journals 1indexing, review time, access, APC waiver, paper mills
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How it works

No AI or language model is used. Your words are matched against the titles of 156,503 real published journal papers, by our mentors and by other researchers (shown without names); journals are ranked by how many closely matching papers they published. Indexing comes from the SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, ESCI, Scopus and JCR 2024 lists, matched by journal name; the impact factor is calculated from OpenAlex open data, not the official Clarivate value, and no quartile is shown until the official JCR or SJR quartile can be; review time comes from the dates publishers deposit in Crossref (not every publisher deposits them). Always check a journal’s scope and current indexing before submitting.

Want a PhD expert to shortlist and handle the submission? Journal Selection & Submission matches your manuscript to up to 5 suitable journals by indexing and quartile. Check price →

Why this journal finder is different

ScholarsColab Journal Finder Typical journal finders
How it suggests journals Matches your words against titles of real published papers, then ranks the journals those papers appeared in AI or text models predict likely journals, or a publisher matches you to its own journals
Evidence shown The actual matching papers, their year and citations, and the researchers who published them Usually a match score or a short journal description
Journals covered Every journal our mentors have published in, across all publishers, including smaller and specialised journals Often one publisher’s journals only
Indexing shown All the lists a journal appears in: SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, ESCI, Scopus, JCR 2024 Varies
Next step Talk to the researcher who published there, or ask a PhD expert to shortlist and submit Go to the journal’s website

The hidden journals behind the suggestions

ScholarsColab mentors have published journal papers in 12,533 different journals. 4,642 of them (37%), holding 55% of those papers, appear in at least one of the SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, ESCI, Scopus or JCR 2024 lists, and 3,282 appear in more than one.

8,298 of these 12,533 journals (66%) appear only once in our data: the long tail of smaller and specialised journals that general-purpose tools rarely suggest. When a small, specialised journal has published work close to yours, the finder can surface it, because the suggestion comes from what was actually published rather than from a journal’s marketing description.

Journals used by our mentors, by indexing listScopus4,437JCR 20243,286SCIE2,235ESCI828SSCI227AHCI39
Number of journals in which ScholarsColab mentors have published that appear in each list. A journal can appear in several lists.

What the indexing of a journal tells you

Of our mentors’ journal papers, 32% appeared in Web of Science core journals (SCIE, SSCI or AHCI), 7% in ESCI journals, 16% in journals found only in Scopus, and 45% in journals not found in any of these lists.
Where our mentors’ journal papers appeared, by indexingWeb of Science core (SCIE / SSCI / AHCI)31.7%9,080 papersESCI6.7%1,910 papersScopus only16.2%4,633 papersNot found in the lists45.5%13,027 papers
Share of ScholarsColab mentors’ journal papers by the indexing of the journal (Web of Science core takes priority, then ESCI, then Scopus). Source: ScholarsColab Journal Finder data, updated daily.
For papers published 2010–2022, the median number of citations was 32.0 in Web of Science core journals, 14.0 in ESCI journals, 7.0 in Scopus-only journals and 3.0 in journals not found in the lists.
Median citations by journal indexingWeb of Science core (SCIE / SSCI / AHCI)324,970 papersESCI14888 papersScopus only72,734 papersNot found in the lists37,364 papers
Median citations per paper, papers published 2010–2022, by the indexing of the journal. An association, not proof that indexing causes citations. Source: ScholarsColab Journal Finder data.

Indexing is not everything, and these are associations, not proof that indexing causes citations. But if your university, funder or promotion committee asks for SCIE, SSCI or Scopus journals, use the filter in the finder to show only those.

How to use the results

  1. Read the matching papers under each journal: are they really close to your work?
  2. Check the indexing badges against what your institution requires, and use the filter if needed.
  3. Open the journal’s website and confirm its aims and scope, article types and fees.
  4. Confirm the indexing officially on the Web of Science Master Journal List or the Scopus source list.
  5. Talk to the mentor who published there about the journal’s review process, or ask our team to shortlist journals for you.

Frequently asked questions

Is the ScholarsColab Journal Finder free?

Yes. You can search as often as you like; there is no sign-up.

Does the Journal Finder use AI?

No. It matches the words of your title, keywords or abstract against the titles of real published papers and ranks journals by how many closely matching papers they published. No AI or language model is involved.

Where does the indexing information come from?

From the SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, ESCI, Scopus and JCR 2024 journal lists, matched by journal name. A journal marked “not found in our indexing lists” may still be indexed under a different name, so always confirm on the official lists.

Is my text stored?

Your search is used only to calculate the suggestions and is not saved with your identity.

Can a PhD expert choose the journal for me?

Yes. The Journal Selection & Submission service shortlists up to 5 journals for your manuscript by indexing and quartile and handles the submission.

Want a PhD expert to choose the journal with you?

Our Journal Selection & Submission service shortlists up to 5 journals that match your manuscript, indexing requirement and target quartile, and handles the submission. If your paper was rejected before, a Manuscript Audit shows what to fix first.

More journal guides

About the data on this page. Journal suggestions and statistics come from the Google Scholar publication lists of PhD researchers who mentor on ScholarsColab, updated daily. Indexing is matched by journal name against the SCIE, SSCI, AHCI, ESCI, Scopus and JCR 2024 lists; a journal “not found in our indexing lists” may still be indexed under a different name, so always confirm on the official Web of Science Master Journal List or Scopus source list. Figures describe this group of researchers and may not apply to research as a whole.