Journal ranking statistics on scimagojr vs. the "prestige" of its editorial board My advisor and I are considering where to submit a paper based on my thesis. Originally we planned to submit it to Journal X, but an opportunity arose to submit it to Journal Y following a conference invitation (where "X" and "Y" are so named to preserve the generality of the question and my privacy).

Journal X is a popular journal with a distinguished editorial board. On ranking sites such as scimagojr it appears to be ranked Q1 or Q2 depending on the subject field with the rest of the statistics similar.

In recent years, 2010 and onwards, Journal Y seems to significantly outrank Journal X in virtually all the statistics offered by scimagojr (e.g. its H-index and "impact factor" are several times higher), though their subjects of interest only partially overlap. It ranks among the top 5% journals in its listed subjects (it seems to have exploded in 2010 or so). So, to me it naturally seems a better target for publication.

The issue is this: my advisor (a well-known researcher in his field who knows a lot of people) is unfamiliar with this journal, and is generally unfamiliar with its editorial  board, which seems to him of not very high quality. As such, though he seems impressed by the rankings, he is unsure if I should submit it to this journal and left the decision to me. 

The question is this: how should I weigh the "prestige" of the editorial board of a Journal as compared to the more numerical statistics offered by scimagojr? Should I be concerned that my advisor doesn't know anyone on the board?
Sumbit where you think it will have a better visibility. Rule of thumb: do not submit to a journal that you barely know any member of the editorial board. You want to maximize the impact of your paper and, as such, submit somehwere where it would be most appreciated both by the editorial and by the readership of the journal. 

I do not think it will do your paper a big favour to submit to a journal with high (possibly artificially infated) statistics than to one well known and well respected, with distinguished editorial board most likely to take good notice of your work and, consequently, you.