Considering publication…

My paper about community in YouTube got a good grade, and the prof thinks I should think about publishing it. So I’ve been thinking about it. I would need to revise it at least one more time I think, because although the content is great, I think there are still some sentences that could be better and ideas that could be expanded. The problem is I have no idea where to even submit this paper because the topic is somewhat out of the scope of my studies. I am studying to get a Master’s in Library and Information Science, and this paper has nothing to do with libraries or education. It falls more into the category of popular culture, analysis, media, communication, society, and community. Those are the key words I would use to describe my paper. I basically analyzed the community formation process in YouTube by applying concepts in the literature about how virtual community forms. So the other issue is that my paper is more of a discussion rather than a case study or empirical study, and it therefore falls out of the scope of some of the more serious “hard-core” academic journals.

So I started looking at academic journals today, to see whether my paper would fit in anywhere. I found a few in the directory of open access journals (DOAJ). Publishing in one of these journals appeals to me because this means that anyone can read my paper without worrying having to pay a fee, or finding the article in a subscription database. Many of the journals in DOAJ are peer reviewed. However, I only found two or three journals where my paper might fit, and they were all thematic in nature.

This means they put out a call for papers about certain topics. My paper does not fit their themes, and I don’t think I could rewrite my paper enough to make it fit. I could wait around for a topic that fits my paper, but it could be awhile.

So I turned to my next strategy for trying to get published– finding a journal available through popular subscription databases. I did a search for journals that contained the words “media” or “communication” somewhere in the publication description, and came up with a list of about 80 journals. Most of them looked peer-reviewed. So I worked my way through the list. Some were really easy to rule out and I wrote down the names of the journals that looked like they might consider my topic. I narrowed down my list to five potential journals and began to look at their requirements for submissions.

I was a little surprised at how these publishers have all kinds of disclaimers about the rules for submissions and how they would actually retain the copyright on any articles that I submit. I am not sure that I like this very much. If my article was accepted for one of these journals, it would get more respect from the academic community. However, even I (as the author) would have to access my article through a subscription. Also, if I published it through one of these better known publishers, then it would be searchable in all kinds of subscription databases, and perhaps a tad more accessible this way. I’m not sure how many people use DOAJ.

My preference would be to publish this paper in a journal that is in the DOAJ, and this means it might be awhile before I publish this paper. Plus, it might not even get accepted. All I know is that I had trouble finding good research on my topic, and YouTube has very little treatment as of yet from the academic community in terms of analyzing the culture and community within.

If anyone has a good idea about an appropriate journal for this topic, let me know. Of course, I could always publish it via blog, but then it isn’t peer reviewed.