Some of the first questions you should ask are: What focus does the journal have? What type of articles does the journal publish? Does my manuscript fit into this journal?

To get answers to these questions we should go to the journal's website. Read the descriptions of the journal's focus under such headings as Aims & Scope and Author Guidelines etc. Here is an example of such a description:

The description below lets you know within which main topics the journal will publish articles, what types of articles as well as which focus they like the articles to have ("Authors are encouraged to submit manuscripts which bridge the gaps between research, development and implementation."). They also describe the intended audience. From this type of information, you can better match your manuscript with the journal.

  Selecting a Suitable Target Journal for Your Manuscript [6:59]