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SOC 513: Qualitative Research Methods

A course guide for SOC 513, a graduate level course on qualitative research.

Find a Publication Venue

One of the easiest ways to locate a journal to publish in is to search for articles similar to what you want to write, and to see what journals have published them. The tools linked below can help you through that process:


Search for topics similar to yours in Google Scholar. You might already be doing this for your literature review, but have you been looking closely at the journals these articles are published in? If you see a handful of journals that publish articles similar to your own work, these might be good to review for your own work.


Another useful tool for finding journal articles in your subject areas is Browzine. To start, type in a basic keyword related to your subject, like Physics, Philology, or Economics. Then, click on one of the responses with a red folder that appears in your results list: 

On the next page, you can browse the journals in that subject area or select another related subject to browse, like Economic Theory or International Economics

The final place you might consider looking to find journals is your own bibliography! As you've done research to inform your thesis or dissertation, you've pulled together a list of articles and other resources on topics similar to your own. The journals and publishers who supported those works will likely be a good fit for your research as well.

If you have noticed a particular journal mentioned multiple times in your research, be sure to add it to your list to evaluate in our next step!

Evaluate Your Options

If you have a journal you're interested in, look for the Information for Authors section on the journal's website. Most journals place this information prominently to guide prospective authors to place their manuscripts with the journal and to follow publication directions in terms of style, subject scope, citation style, and how to submit your article for review. 

Four things to look out for when reviewing journal articles include: 

  • Scope of the Journal: do they publish on the topic you are writing about? What types of articles do they publish (original research, reports, opinion pieces)?
  • The Peer Review Process: does the journal clearly articulate how they perform peer review on their website? Is the editorial board listed online?
  • Cost to Publish: does the journal require a fee to publish and, if so, are you able to pay that fee? For open access journals, be sure to check if your fees can be covered by the University library through one of our OA Agreements
  • Reach and Impact: Is the journal open access or indexed in a major database for your field? Ulrichsweb (linked below) can help you look up the Abstracting and Indexing for journals you're interested in publishing with.

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