Measuring Journal and Research Prestige Presented by: Jaap van Harten, PhD, Executive Publisher Elsevier BV, Amsterdam, The Netherlands Location: Laval University, Québec City, Canada Date: September 22, 2014 Open(ing) Questions • What is the best scientific journal you know? • Why is that one the best? • Why couldn’t another journal be just as good? 2 Objectives • Why is there a need to discern quality among different journals? • What metrics are used to compare journals? • Which journal is most appropriate “for me” to submit my manuscript to? 3 Why is there a need to discern quality among different journals? Growth of peer-reviewed journals “This is truly the decade of the journal, and one should seek to limit their number rather than to increase them, since there can be too many periodicals.” 5 Growth of peer-reviewed journals “This is truly the decade of the journal, and one should seek to limit their number rather than to increase them, since there can be too many periodicals.” 1789 Neues medizinisches Wochenblatt für Aerzte, Wundärzte, Apotheker und Freunde der Naturwissenschaft 6 Growth of peer-reviewed journals 25.000 Number Journals of Active Number 20,000 15,000 10,000 5,000 Source: 0 <1900 1900s 1910s 1920s 1930s 1940s 1950s 1960s 1970s 1980s 1990s >2000 Decade 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 >50 others! How can you tell which of these are high quality journals? • Journals for the best papers and the best authors • The concept of journal prestige originates from this competition 8 What metrics are used to compare journals? 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 et al. • Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) • SCImago Journal Rank • H-index • Article usage 10 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 11 Impact Factor and related parameters Impact Factor - Definition & Calculation Definition The 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. The “IF 2011” is published mid 2012) 13 Impact Factor – The Anomaly All types of communications All source items (e.g. editorials, letters, reviews) (articles, notes, reviews) Citations to many non-source items (editorials, letters, book reviews, abstracts, etc.) inflate the IF 14 Influences on the IF: Article Types Impact Factor Window Reviews Citations Notes Articles 0 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 18 20 Years since publication 15 Influences on the IF: Subject Area Fundamental Life Sciences Neuroscience Clinical Medicine Pharmacology & Toxicology Physics Chemistry & Chemical Engineering Earth Sciences Environmental Sciences Biological Sciences Materials Science & Engineering Social Sciences Mathematics & Computer Sciences 0,0 0,5 1,0 1,5 2,0 2,5 3,0 3,5 Mean Impact Factor (1998) 16 Pharmac[olog]y Journals Ranked by Impact Factor 2005 6 5 Impact Factor 2005 Pharmacology 4 3 2 Pharmacy 1 0 0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100 % of Journals with a higher IF 2005 Typical Ranges of IFs For example: In the category of “Analytical Chemistry” Analytica Chimica Acta 2.894 Analytical Sciences 1.589 Analytical Chemistry 5.646 Current Analytical Chemistry 1.500 Analytical Biochemistry 2.948 0.429 Reviews in Analytical Chemistry Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry 2.591 Electroanalysis 2.444 Journal of Electroanalytical Chemistry 2.339 Journal of Analytical Chemistry 0.444 Analyst 3.198 And >50 others! 0.133 – 5.646 Other journals: Science 30.028 Engineering & Mining Journal 0.008 Cell 29.194 Power Engineering 0.007 Nature 26.681 Naval Architect 0.001 18 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 19 Author versus Journal Impact Factors Author N.N.: ≈100 original research articles (Reviews excluded) ≈ 50% published in ISI category “Pharmacology & Pharmacy” 6 5 Impact Factor Impact 4 Avg. = 3.086 Personal IF 3 Journal IF 2 Avg. = 2.637 1 0 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 Impact Factor Year 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 IF year • Immediacy Index – The immediacy index is the average number of times an article is cited in the year that it is published 21 Source-Normalized Impact per Paper • Developed by Henk F. Moed (CWTS, Leiden) • “Raw impact per paper” divided by the “Relative database citation potential” – The impact of a single citation is given higher value in subject areas where citations are less likely, and vice versa. • Data sourced from Scopus • Tool to compare journals in different fields – Definition of “field” is not static (e.g. ISI category) but dynamic (i.e. journal-dependent) 22 SCImago Journal Rank • Produced by bibliometricians 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 web pages) 23 SCImago Journal Rank Note European decimal notation! 24 Journal metrics on homepages 25 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) 26 Calculation of the h-index If you list a scientist’s papers in descending order of the number of citations received to date, his/ her h-index is 8 when 8 papers have been cited 8 times or more since publication h-Index 28 h-index for journals Note European decimal notation! 29 Usage • Usage is a new concept for measuring journal value and impact • Full-text article downloads • COUNTER is attempting to standardize usage reporting and develop a “Usage Factor” metric • Libraries already use usage statistics to evaluate their collections and spend • Authors (and administrators) are also interested to see how much the works are used • “Industry” reads a lot, but publishes and cites much less 30 Which journal is appropriate for me to submit my research to? Journal Selection How would you pick an “Analytical Chemistry” journal? 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 >50 others! 32 Journal Selection Selection of a journal depends on many factors in addition to journal metrics – The aims and scope of the journal – The type of manuscript you have written • review, letter, research article – The specific subject area – The significance of your work – The prestige/quality of the journal – The reputation of the editors in the field – The editorial and production speed of the journal – The community and audience around the journal – The coverage and distribution • regional, international 33 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 – Source-normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) – SCImago Journal Rank – H-index – Usage • Which journal is appropriate for me to submit my research to? – Consider the significance and scope of your work. Ask your supervisor which journal would be suitable for the area and quality of research you have conducted – Consider the aims, scope, subject area, prestige, editors, editorial and production speed, community/audience, and coverage of a journal 34 Thank you! Questions welcome [email protected] .