Measuring Journal and Research Prestige

1
Measuring Journal and Research Prestige

• Anna Saar McGonigle, Publisher
• 23 June, 2009
• a.saar_at_elsevier.com

2
Opening Questions

• What is the best scientific journal that you know
  of?
• Why is that one the best?
• Why cant another journal be just as good as that
  one?

3
Objectives

• Why is there a need to discern quality among
  different journals?
• What metrics are used to compare journals?
• Which journal is appropriate for me to submit my
  research to?

4
Why is there a need to discern quality among
different journals?
5
Growth of peer-reviewed journals

• Number of journals and disciplines is increasing
• The need to discern journal quality becomes that
  much more important

6
What metrics are used to compare journals?
7
Journal Competition
For example In the category of Analytical
Chemistry
Analytica Chimica Acta
Analytical Sciences
Analytical Chemistry
Current Analytical Chemistry
Analytical Biochemistry
Reviews in Analytical Chemistry
Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry
Electroanalysis
Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry
Journal of Analytical Chemistry
Analyst
And gt50 others!
How can you tell which of these are high quality
journals?

• Journals must vigorously compete with each other
  for the best papers and the best authors
• The concept of journal prestige originates from
  this competition

8
Overview of Journal Metrics

• Journal citation data and bibliometrics can be
  used to measure the impact or influence of
  articles, authors, and journals

• Impact Factor
• H-index
• SCImago Journal Rank
• Usage

9
Impact Factor

• Citation index of Science, Social Science, Arts
  Humanities journals
• Impact Factors of Science and Social Science
  journals

Impact Factor is the most well-known citation
metric
10
Impact Factor Definition Calculation
Definition A ratio between citations and recent
citable items published in a journal (i.e. the
average number of citations received per
published article)

• IF is published 6 months after the end of the
  year it relates to (i.e. 2006 data published in
  mid-2007)

11
Influences on the IF Article Types
Reviews
Impact Factor is largely influenced by the
article types and the measured citation time
period (it is possible to measure a 5-year IF too)
Citations
Notes
Articles
4
8
12
16
0
2
6
10
14
18
20
Years after publication
12
Influences on the IF Subject Area
13
Influences on the IF Subject Area
Impact Factors carry little meaning unless they
are compared within the same subject area and
discipline
14
Impact Factor Use and Abuse

• Used for library collection development

?

• Used as a lone proxy for journal quality

?

• Used to compare journals of different types

?

• Used to compare journals in different fields

?

• Used to derive a personal IF

?

• Open to manipulation by authors,
  reviewers,editors and publishers

?
15
Other IF-related metrics

• Cited Half-life
• The cited half-life for the journal is the median
  age of its articles cited in the current JCR year
• Immediacy Index
• The immediacy index is the average number of
  times an article is cited in the year that it is
  published
• Influence
• The influence indicates the share of citations
  that an individual title or publisher has within
  a given subject category or subject group

16
h-index

• Proposed by physicist Jorge Hirsch in 2005
• Rates individuals or journals based on career
  publications
• Incorporates both quantity (no. of publications)
  and quality (no. of citations)

17
Calculating the h-index
If you list a scientists papers in descending
order of the number of citations received to
date, his/ her h-index is 8 if 8 papers have
each received 8 or more citations
18
SCImago Journal Rank

• Produced by experts in Spain
• Data sourced from Scopus
• A ratio of citations in current year to articles
  published in the previous 3 years
• Citations are weighted by the SJR of the
• citing journal (like Google weights
• links to webpages)

19
Usage

• Usage is a new concept for measuring journal
  value and impact
• Typically defined as when a full-text article is
  downloaded or viewed
• COUNTER is attempting to standardize usage
  reporting and develop a Usage Factor metric
• Libraries already use usage statistics heavily to
  evaluate their collections and spending
• Authors also interested to see how much their
  works are used

20
Usage
21
Summary of Different Metrics

• H-index, SJR, and usage are gaining weight as
  more users include them as evaluative tools
• Other metrics are also being studied and
  developed not mentioned here Eigenfactor
• But IF is still the industry-standard and first
  metric that is used to assess journal importance

22
Which journal is appropriate for me to submit my
research to?
23
Journal Selection

• Selection of a journal will depend on many
  factors in addition to journal metrics
• The aims and scope of the journal
• The type of manuscript you have written (review,
  letter, articles)
• The specific subject area
• The significance of your work
• The prestige/quality of the journal
• The respect of the editors in the field
• The editorial and production speed of the journal
• The community and audience associated with the
  journal
• The coverage and distribution (regional,
  international)

24
Summary

• Why is there a need to discern quality among
  different journals?
• Increasing number of journals and disciplines
• What metrics are used compare journals?
• Impact Factor
• H-index
• SCImago Journal Rank
• Usage
• Which journal is appropriate for me to submit my
  research to?
• Consider the significance and scope of your work.
  Ask professors in your field what journal would
  be appropriate for the area and level of research
  you have conducted
• Consider the aims, scope, subject area, prestige,
  editors, editorial and production speed,
  community/audience, and coverage of a journal