Where to Publish — Target-Journal Directory
Part of the Research Portal (ahgResearchPlugin). PSIS/AtoM parity port of the Heratio
"target-journal directory" (#114 / Heratio #1107).
What it does
The target-journal directory is a curated catalogue of journals you might publish to. Each entry records the journal's subject scope (what it accepts) and its submission rules — reference style, structure, word and abstract limits, open-access status and APC, peer-review type, indexing/accreditation, languages and turnaround.
It feeds the auto-assemble flow: pick or suggest a target journal → pre-format the manuscript to that journal's rules → validate → package for submission.
The directory core is jurisdiction-neutral. The South-African DHET accredited list ships
as an accreditation module (accreditation_market = 'ZA'). Other markets seed their own
sets from DOAJ, Scopus, Web of Science or ERIH-PLUS.
Where to find it
Research Portal sidebar → Where to Publish.
Routes (under the authenticated /research group):
| Screen | URL |
|---|---|
| Directory (list + search + filter) | /research/target-journals |
| View a journal | /research/target-journals/:id |
| Add a journal | /research/target-journals/new |
| Edit a journal | /research/target-journals/:id/edit |
| Delete a journal (POST) | /research/target-journals/:id/delete |
| Seed DHET starter (POST) | /research/target-journals/seed-dhet |
| Best-fit suggestions (JSON) | /research/target-journals/suggest?text=... |
Using the directory
Browse and search
The index lists every journal with its scope, indexing and reference style. Search matches
title, scope, publisher and accreditation. Filter by market (e.g. ZA) to focus on a
single accreditation module.
Add / edit a journal
The builder form captures the full profile: identity (title, publisher, ISSN/eISSN, URLs),
scope, accreditation/indexing and market tag, and the submission rules block (reference
style, word/abstract limits, structure notes, peer review, open access, APC, turnaround,
languages). Status is active or discontinued.
Seed the DHET starter set
Seed DHET starter loads a representative set of DHET-accredited South African journals (LIS, archives, heritage and a few multidisciplinary titles). The operation is idempotent — it upserts by title, so re-running refreshes rather than duplicates. ISSNs and exact numeric limits are left for operators to complete/verify per journal via the admin form.
You can also run the seed from the CLI:
php bin/atom research:seed-target-journalsBest-fit suggestions (auto-assemble)
The suggestion endpoint scores directory journals by how many of a manuscript's subject terms
(from its abstract/scope text) appear in each journal's scope, and returns the top matches with
a match_score. The manuscript builder uses this to recommend targets before pre-formatting.
GET /research/target-journals/suggest?text=<manuscript abstract>&limit=5
→ { "count": N, "suggestions": [ { ...journal..., "match_score": K }, ... ] }Data model
Single table research_target_journal (InnoDB, utf8mb4). Key columns:
| Column | Notes |
|---|---|
title, subtitle, publisher, issn, eissn |
Identity (ISSN is unique) |
homepage_url, submission_url, languages |
Access |
subject_scope |
Free-text — what the journal mainly accepts |
article_types |
e.g. research, review, case study |
accreditation |
DHET, IBSS, Scopus, WoS, DOAJ, Sabinet, ERIH-PLUS … |
accreditation_market |
Per-market module tag (e.g. ZA) |
reference_style |
APA, Harvard, Vancouver, Chicago, MLA, IEEE |
structure_notes, max_words, abstract_max_words |
Submission rules |
peer_review, open_access, apc_amount, turnaround |
Submission rules |
status |
active or discontinued |
No ENUM columns are used — controlled vocabularies are VARCHAR with a COMMENT.
Notes
- Authentication is required for all screens.
- Cross-subsystem references (e.g. the manuscript builder) degrade gracefully when the other tables are absent.