Should You Start This Journal?

Overview

A dean, a society president or a department head has decided the field needs a new journal, and it has landed on your desk. You suspect there are already forty journals in the area, that the budget has not been thought through, and that the likely outcome is a title that publishes two issues and stops. But you cannot say that without evidence.

The Journal Launch Feasibility & Positioning Study gives you the evidence. We map the existing journals in the proposed scope, where they are indexed, what they charge and how fast they publish. We test whether the proposed journal has a genuine gap to fill and who would submit to it. We define the positioning, governance and funding model that would give it a chance, cost it over five years, and give a clear recommendation: go, go with changes, or do not go.

It is for publishing offices, research deans, society councils and founding editors who need to make or defend a launch decision.

What’s Included

• Landscape map — existing journals in and adjacent to the proposed scope, with indexing status, model, fees, output and turnaround where public.
• Gap and demand assessment — whether there is a real gap, the size and location of the likely author base, and how those authors currently publish.
• Scope and positioning statement — a proposed title, aims and scope, article types and the one-sentence reason an author would choose it.
• Governance and editorial model — ownership, editorial independence, board structure, editor appointment and term, and the minimum board needed at launch.
• Funding and cost plan — five-year budget covering platform, production, identifiers, indexing, archiving and staff, under the recommended funding model.
• Indexing pathway — the realistic sequence and earliest dates for DOAJ, Scopus, Web of Science and relevant national lists, given the plan.
• Go / no-go recommendation — a written decision with reasons, risks and conditions, and a two-page brief for the person who asked.

How It Works

1. We interview the sponsor and the likely founding editor to understand the intent and constraints.
2. We build the landscape map and demand assessment.
3. We develop the positioning, governance and cost plan and test them with you in a working session.
4. We deliver the report and recommendation, usually within four to six weeks.
5. If the decision is go, the study becomes the launch plan and its fee is credited against a launch engagement.

Priced per study, for one proposed journal.

What Stays With Your Editors

The study recommends a governance model in which editorial decisions are independent of the journal’s owner and sponsor. If the journal launches, its editors hold full authority over reviewer selection, editorial assessment and acceptance from the first submission. NeucitePress advises on the design and, if engaged, runs the launch process and infrastructure.

Important Limitations

• We will say no if the evidence says no. Roughly the same effort goes into a no-go report as a go report, and the fee is the same.
• Indexing timelines in the study are estimates based on published criteria. Inclusion is decided solely by each database. NeucitePress prepares, remediates and submits but cannot sell inclusion.
• Demand assessment is based on public publication data and, where possible, interviews. It does not guarantee submissions.
• Cost projections are estimates on agreed assumptions, not fixed quotations.

Common Questions

The decision has already been made. Is the study still useful?
Yes. In that case it becomes a positioning and launch plan, and it will tell you which parts of the existing plan need to change to give the journal a chance.

How often do you recommend not launching?
Often enough that the sponsor should be prepared for it. A common alternative recommendation is to launch as a section or special-issue series in an existing journal, or to revive a dormant title instead.

Do you help with the launch itself?
Yes: platform, policies, board search, identifiers, and the first-year operation are separate engagements, and the study fee is credited.

Request a proposal, or begin with the Journal Health Check.