The Paton Welding Journal, 2026, №10

2026 №10 (04)

2026 №10 (01)

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The Paton Welding Journal, 2026, #10, 53-60 pages

Multi-criteria model for selecting journals for publishing scientific articles in the field of materials science and welding

V.M. Korzhyk, O.I. Bushma, O.T. Zelnichenko

E.O. Paton Electric Welding Institute of the NASU. 11 Kazymyr Malevych Str., 03150, Kyiv, Ukraine. E-mail: bushma.itb@gmail.com

Abstract
A quantitative decision-support model is proposed for selecting scientific journals for the publication of research results based on the integration of scientometric indicators and the Article Processing Charge (APC). The journal selection task is considered as a multi-criteria decision-making problem involving diverse scientometric indicators and limited financial resources available to researchers. The developed model represents each journal as a vector of normalized scientometric indicators (Impact Factor, Scopus CiteScore, SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), h-index, and Quartile), from which an aggregate journal score is calculated as the Euclidean norm. To minimize researchers’ financial costs, a publication efficiency criterion is proposed, defined as the ratio of the publication cost APC to the aggregate journal score. The methodology was validated using a sample of 23 international journals in the fields of materials science and welding. It was established that journals with the highest scientometric indicators do not necessarily provide the highest publication efficiency in terms of financial expenditure, whereas specialized journals with moderate scientometric performance may offer a more rational balance between scientific feedback and publication cost. The obtained results confirm the feasibility of an integrated approach to journal selection and demonstrate the potential of the proposed model as a decision-support tool for research publication activities.
Keywords: scientometrics, journal selection, publication cost, multi-criteria decision-making, bibliometrics, research evaluation

Received: 01.05.2026
Received in revised form: 11.09.2026
Accepted: 23.10.2026

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Suggested Citation

V.M. Korzhyk, O.I. Bushma, O.T. Zelnichenko (2026) Multi-criteria model for selecting journals for publishing scientific articles in the field of materials science and welding. The Paton Welding J., 10, 53-60.

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