Journal quality and visibility: Is there a way out of the scientific periphery?

Abstract

Scientific journals play an important role in the transfer of scientific information, and international visibility is a prerequisite for fulfilling this role. However, entering international bibliographic databases is a major challenge for the journals from the so-called scientific periphery. These journals have an unfavourable starting position because of the small number of manuscripts received, an insufficient pool of reviewers, the low quality of published articles, and poor international visibility, all of which reduce the pool of potential authors and close a "vicious circle of inadequacy". To break this circle, editors have to make a great effort to improve basic journal publishing standards, especially timeliness; to find a "niche" for their journal; to increase the international diversity of the Editorial Board; and to actively seek for authors and help them to improve the quality of their manuscripts. The example of the Croatian Medical Journal (Zagreb, Croatia) shows that it is possible to get out of the scientific periphery if editors have a clear vision and willingness to work really hard.