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4. Contributing

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T. Latrille edited this page Feb 2, 2026 · 5 revisions
Wiki page Description
About the Project Goals, motivations and journal inclusion criteria
Using the Website Column definitions and how to filter journals
The Data Data sources and processing pipeline
Contributing How to add journals, edit data, report issues, or contribute code

Where to Publish? is a community-driven project. There are many ways to contribute, from sharing the website to adding data or code.

I. Share the project

Help spread awareness of sustainable publishing alternatives:

  • Share the website with colleagues: wheretopublish.github.io
  • Mention the project in conversations about where to publish
  • Include Where to Publish? in lab meetings or journal clubs discussing publication ethics
  • Link to us from your institutional open science resources

II. Add new journals

Know a journal that should be in our database?

📝 Submit a Journal via Google Form

You'll need to provide:

  • Journal name
  • Main scientific field
  • Any additional information you have (publisher, website, etc.)

Scimago rank and quartile will be added automatically during our monthly data update. All submissions are reviewed by maintainers before inclusion.

III. Edit existing data

Found an error or outdated information?

📊 Edit the Database (Suggestion Mode)

  1. Open the Google Sheet
  2. Find the journal entry you want to correct
  3. Make your edit — it will be recorded as a suggestion
  4. Maintainers will review and approve valid changes

Please include a comment explaining why you're suggesting the change, especially for non-obvious corrections.

IV. Contact us

For questions, suggestions, or collaboration inquiries:

📧 thibault.latrille@ens-lyon.org

V. Report issues

Found a bug on the website? Have a feature request?

🐛 Open an Issue on GitHub

When reporting a bug, please include:

  • A clear description of the problem
  • Steps to reproduce the issue
  • Your browser and operating system
  • Screenshots if relevant

VI. Contribute to the code

Where to Publish? is open source. We welcome code contributions!

1. Getting started

  1. Fork the repository: github.com/WhereToPublish/WhereToPublish.github.io
  2. Read the developer documentation in the README
  3. Set up your local environment (see README for instructions)
  4. Make your changes on a feature branch
  5. Submit a pull request with a clear description of your changes

2. Areas where help is needed

  • Improving mobile responsiveness
  • Adding new data visualizations
  • Enhancing accessibility
  • Documentation improvements
  • Bug fixes

Technical stack

  • Frontend: HTML, CSS, JavaScript
  • Libraries: DataTables for interactive tables
  • Data Processing: Python with Polars
  • Hosting: GitHub Pages

See the README for detailed developer documentation.

VII. Decline reviews from for-profit journals

One way to support change in academic publishing is to decline review invitations from journals with unsustainable practices. Here's a template you can use:

"I thank you for your invitation. However, I need to decline it. I have a strict personal policy to check the publishing guidelines of the publishers I receive review invitations from. I consider that your journal has extremely high APCs that do not reflect the true cost of publishing. Money which is mostly public is rendering high profits. I do not agree this should be the case."

Feel free to adapt this text to your own voice and circumstances.

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