A 1999 report (Swan & Brown, 1999) summarized the findings based on a survey of researchers on why they chose a particular publishing venue. The most important factor to researchers was the prestige or reputation of the journal. This page provides information on assesing the prestige of a journal. It discusses criteria such as metrics, indexing, circulation, acceptance / rejection rate, discipline ranking lists, affiliation with a professional organization, the publisher and the editors and authors affiliated with a journal. Colleagues and mentors might also be willing to provide an opinion on a journal, so you might wish to ask them. Questionable practices of disreputable publishers are included in each section under the heading NOTE OF CAUTION.
Swan, A., & Brown, S. (1999). What Authors Want: The ALPSP Research Study on the Motivations and Concerns of Contributors to Learned Journals. Worthing, West Sussex [England]: The Association of Learned and Professional Society Publishers, 1999.
The tab above links to other pages with information on assessing journal prestige. They include information on:
Colleagues and mentors are one of the best sources of information about publising. If you have an idea for a journal article, they may be willing to suggest an appropriate publishing venue. Librarians are also able to help find a publishing venue, so consider asking your Library Liaison for assistance.