Today sees the launch of CompassAI, a new feature for Cabells users which utilises AI to match journals to their article abstracts. Here, Simon Linacre takes us through the latest tool to help researchers in their publishing quest.
Publishers have long been obsessed with understanding the psychology behind authors’ decisions to publish in certain journals, spending large amounts of time and money commissioning surveys and conducting focus groups trying to unlock the secrets of researchers’ choices. It is clear that some of it comes down to brand and reputation, while a good deal is also to do with networks. And probably much of it is to do with ‘feel,’ or even pure luck as authors may choose almost any journal out of desperation following multiple rejections.
However, with the wealth of data available and advances in technology, it doesn’t have to be like this. It is quite possible to now come to an evidence-based decision on where research will have the best fit, as long as the data is trustworthy and the technology is applied in a targeted manner.
Welcome to CompassAI.
A new approach
A number of journal matching solutions have come onto the market in recent years, but the data may not have been comprehensive enough if, for example, it was provided by a single publisher. Similarly, the rush of solutions utilizing Generative AI may have some of the well-known gaps in knowledge – or worse gaps that have been filled with something made up.
With CompassAI, Cabells is attempting to help researchers – and their institutions – optimize decision-making by applying the latest technology to its tried and trusted Journalytics Academic database, as well as Journaltyics Medicine. But that’s not all – part of making the best publication decisions is knowing where NOT to publish. And this is why Cabells has also brought in checks against its Predatory Reports database of over 19,000 journals. Put all this together, and CompassAI provides researchers with a unique union of trusted data and innovative technology to support their journal choices.
Case study
So, how does it work? Well, from launch any Cabells customer will be able to use the beta version of CompassAI (see Fig.1) and simply paste their abstract into the text field. After hitting ‘Submit’, the AI will run through the data Cabells holds on 13,000 academic journals – as well as 9,000 medical publications – and offer a range of options for authors such as Great Match, Best Value and Open Access (see below).
For authors, often the most difficult research question is not which methodology to follow or how to interpret their data, it is where they are going to publish it once it has been completed. Hopefully, in the shape of CompassAI, Cabells is providing direction to researchers, many of whom have felt completely lost at some stage in their careers.
