Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to introduce and develop the methodology of journal benchmarking. Design/Methodology/ Approach: The journal benchmarking method is understood to be an analytic procedure of continuous monitoring and comparing of the advance of specific journal(s) against that of competing journals in the same subject area, together with the application of best practices defined in order to improve a journal's own advance and gain a position among leading scientific journals. Findings: As a realization of this method, it is suggested to build up a journal scoreboard, which is a matrix of journal indicators, distributed for different journals. For the journal scoreboard on the subject of lasers and optics (36 journals, five indicators) a series of regression equations was built up that allow forecasts to be made for journals' impact factor levels, depending on the International Collaboration and Reference per Document indicators included in the SCIMAGO database. Practical Implications: The detailed journal scoreboard and prediction calculations allow elaborating strategies and policies for the promotion of journals in the Web of Science and Scopus databases. Originality/Value: The research presents the building up of a journal scoreboard in combination with prediction calculations that can be helpful for improving journal positioning in international Scientometric databases.