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reUterS/Maxim Shemetov ConneCting the dots aCross the eCosystem A

JULy 2014 ConneCting the dots aCross the researCh eCosystem

Countries, institutions and corporations driving breakthrough , leading-edge innovation and thriving knowledge economies have established research standards and benchmark their performance. Quality, curated alongside cutting-edge and evaluation tools are essential to their success. the and inCites constitute the world’s only integrated platform that supports discovery and evaluation on a content set that reflects the standards of the .

We started with the science that the scientific research community identified as most meaningful and important – through – and we built a around that: the best science according to scientists. We’ve cultivated this scientific data collection for the scientific community, from the scientific community.a nd, today, it is depended on by 45 governments and thousands of institutions and corporations, to define their research standards, drive breakthrough science and benchmark performance. thomson reuters takes its responsibility as provider of this information, the world’s most trusted and authoritative collection of scholarly literature and benchmark analytics, very seriously. in today’s age of information overload, it is absolutely essential that the scientific and research communities have solutions and tools that cut through the noise and find the most relevant signal.

Gordon Macomber managing director, scientific & scholarly research thomson reuters introdUCtion

The process of conducting scientific research depends on an accurate understanding of a subject area. It originates from the scientific community. Peerreviewed research that is deemed meaningful and impactful is cited by future researchers and scientists. Following the thread of citations leads to subsequent work that branches from the original, respected science. That research can then be benchmarked against a body of high-quality research using citations and other metrics. Thomson Reuters produces, in the Web of Science Core Collection, the only body of research for and evaluation which reflects the standards of the scientific community., providing un-biased evaluation. the world has advanced to a point where the irish Council for science, technology research alone is not enough. rather, & innovation sums up the essence what matters is meaningful and impactful and importance of this balance in its research. in to determine the value statement: “Research by its is of research and make it as meaningful uncertain, novel and risky. Its impacts as possible, powerful tools can be long term, unexpected, or fail to are needed to identify and benchmark materialise. They can be greatly affected by individuals, institutions and countries. many external factors outside the scope of an effective scientific process is one that the initiative which supported the research. enables the researcher, administrator, As such, it is important that evaluation and funder or government official to conduct monitoring activities are supportive of these high-quality research and then to phenomena while also providing useful measure, evaluate and refine that which feedback to stakeholders on the nature, merits and likely impacts of research activity was done. a balanced scientific ecosystem 1 provides both components of the equation under review.” in order to achieve the highest-quality, most impactful results.

1 http://www.sciencecouncil.ie/media/icsti020827_measuring_evaluating_research., page 7 quality rigorous meaningful, research evaluation impactful results in the internet age where anyone can it is with this backdrop that thomson publish anything and where reuters has made it its mission to give is becoming increasingly popular, it is the scientific research community the more important than ever to have curated, foundational platforms for success: Web quality information that cuts through the of science and next-generation inCites. noise. the volume of information available moving seamlessly from research to is daunting, and becoming ever more so. evaluation, iterating for peak performance, the world of Big data is getting bigger and refining and evolving based on and more complex. similarly, pressures for feedback are fundamental to success, improved performance, effectiveness and whether at the individual, institutional or recognition have increased. Competition governmental level. these platforms form can be fierce and the goal is to be the best. the foundation for breakthrough science. it really does matter where you start. it aLL starts With the Content statements like “garbage in; garbage out” equivalents of cited and citing references, and “you are what you eat” underscore the offering instant gratification in discovering significance of not only where one starts, and finding research papers highly related but also of what is ingested or used. they to someone’s research interest,” said apply equally to the world of scientific Peter Jasco, professor at the Library and research as to , information science (Lis) Program of the and elsewhere. department of information and Computer thomson reuters, under the direction at the University of hawaii. “I of dr. eugene garfield at the institute am happy to see that almost all of the for scientific research (isi), created the producers of the largest University Ranking world’s first and most influential scholarly services rely on data retrieved from Web of literature science index more than Science for determining the productivity half a century ago. the company remains and impact (citedness) of faculty members, committed to continuing this legacy which in turn is used around the world today, and long into the future. for the of research activity of faculty members in making promotion, the collective wisdom of the scientific tenure and grant decisions. This is clearly community and thousands of years of a sign of the success of the idea conceived scientific knowledge culminate in the and implemented by Garfield in his Web of science. the web of citation ‘garage,’ then implemented at the Institute connections forms the unifying fabric for Scientific Information 10 years later.” of this data collection. it harnesses the power of the scientific community. dr. the original science (sCi), garfield created the science Citation index formally launched in 1964, marks its 50th to codify, catalog and capture excellence anniversary in 2014. today, its expanded in research. thomson reuters continues descendant, thomson reuters Web of this legacy today. science Core Collection, covers more than 12,000 international journals representing “What Eugene Garfield [published] 60 years the main fields of science, social sciences, ago in Science magazine about citation- and arts and , with additional based searching was the key building block coverage of scholarly and in developing the Internet built on the conference proceedings. link-ins and link-outs, which are the digital an eXaCting ProCess identifying this elite population of meet the challenge, leveraging and journals, and constantly monitoring and deepening expertise that now extends upgrading the quality of the collection, back decades. is a painstaking and exacting process. the exacting attention and expertise the challenge is heightened in this time that go into journal selection are of rapid change, not only in the nature of applied toward a single, direct result: academic , but in the constant optimizing the results from using the evolution and expansion of scholarly Web of science and other thomson research itself. nevertheless, thomson reuters data solutions. reuters professionals in journal selection instead of facing an unfiltered, unruly, and indiscriminate torrent of research that might take hours to sift through and evaluate, the Web of science provides research content from which the clutter and noise of insignificant results have been eliminated. an environment reflecting only high-quality, peer-reviewed research. and an environment in which research can be evaluated based on the standards of the scientific community. if a researcher or scientist cites 45 the standards of quality maintained in sources, it is because there are only 45 the process of journal selection resound that matter to his/her work. at thomson through every customer interaction reuters, using this example, the 45 with thomson reuters data. From the identified as the ones that matter are the results of a simple keyword search to a ones that are collected and curated. it is detailed report based on customized data not a game of numbers where quantity to sophisticated metrics for assessing trumps quality. to the contrary, the Web of performance, the foundation is the science eliminates the superfluous based meticulous identification of the most on what the scientific community says is pertinent, high-quality content. superfluous and zeros in on that which is “We have been looking for an easy solution most relevant. to enable our faculty to identify local and “Science Citation Index/Web of Science has global research collaborators and for our been invaluable in solving problems with administrators to honor faculty professional incorrect references, quickly providing the activities and accomplishments as part of latest articles on a wide variety of subjects, Drexel University’s commitment to fostering and for identifying key articles through the scholarship and creative work,” said drexel ability to sort retrieval by 'Times Cited',” said University Provost mark greenberg. “The dana roth, science reference librarian, tools Thomson Reuters developed are faculty liaison and subject bibliographer, critical to our strategy for evidence-based specializing in chemistry, from Caltech assessment and tracking our impact in University. “Citation indexing and analysis solving important social problems through is critically important for relating seemingly practical research. We are excited to disparate research studies, and introducing have Thomson Reuters as a partner and a completely new approach to information are working with experts in information retrieval for scientific research and technologies and services from across the discovery. I was especially impressed with campus to implement this new service.” the ability to ‘View Related Records' and quickly . . . determine h-index values.” deLiVering the “200 artiCLes” one might get the idea that, in order 70 percent of the papers indexed in the to reflect the world’s key scientific and database in 1969. more recently, a 2008 scholarly literature, the curator of an analysis of the 7,621 journals then covered index should attempt coverage of every in the Journal Citation reports showed that journal—or, at least, as many as possible. 50 percent of the citations generated by the study of patterns and characteristics that journal collection derived from only in the scientific literature itself, however, about 300 journals, and that those 300 demonstrates otherwise. it is well known journals accounted for 30 percent of all the that a relatively small number of journals articles published by the total collection. publish the majority of significant this point is corroborated by a leading scholarly results—the classic example of bibliometrician from the University of the 80/20 rule, although the percentages amsterdam, Loet Leydesdorff, who may be slightly nuanced. recently did an analysis of “Aggregated in the mid-1930s, while studying the journal-journal citation relations in literature of electrical engineering, the and Web of Science matched and english mathematician and librarian compared in terms of networks, maps, samuel C. Bradford noted that the key and interactive overlays.” along with the literature for a given specialty tends work of two of his colleagues, Felix de to form itself into a discrete core of moya-anegon and Wouter de nooy, they journals. he also noted that expanding a concluded that, “the journals unique search beyond this core leads to rapidly to Scopus are relatively unimportant for diminishing returns in terms of pertinent the structure of the network and that the data for the subject at hand. the principle [Thomson Reuters] JCR includes the most he ultimately formulated, now known as important journals from the larger set of Bradford’s , holds that in any given journals covered by Scopus.” field, relatively few journals account for a the key for the most effective coverage, substantial majority of important findings then, is not necessarily a sprawling and advancements. assemblage of journals, but rather a in addition to being extended and applied collection that is carefully selected, in many fields, Bradford’s Law has been assiduously curated, and constantly repeatedly verified in thet homson reuters evaluated for improvement, reflecting database. a study of the sCi more than the knowledge of the collective academic four decades ago, for example, revealed community. Far from being fixed or static, that only 500 journals accounted for the thomson reuters journal collection undergoes continuous updating in order they are, the richer the end results. to keep pace with the ever-changing, information cluttered with irrelevant international landscape of science and data or inaccuracies will lead to further scholarship, as new subject areas emerge irrelevance and mis-information if while older ones contract or transform. processed through the evaluation engine. this process—the addition of proven new thomson reuters adheres to the motto: titles, and the deletion of those whose “quality in, quality out.” relevance and utility have been displaced “The Web of Science will allow us to be —constitutes the central activity “the even more effective stewards of of the thomson reuters our donors’ funds, by giving specialists involved in average scientist us more specific and journal selection. reads 200 articles in the objective metrics “What we really course of a year,” Burghardt to measure the want is not impact of our to have went on. “our goal is to give that research everything, scientist, via the Web of science and dollars,” said but to incites, the 200 articles that he or she stephanie represent must read, and the tools and metrics Birkey everything. reffey, We cover all to place that work in context in terms of managing the research influence in its respective field as well as director of that matters in the continuum of scholarly research as evaluation and we cite all and the research a whole. the key is to identify the most outcomes that matters, important, the most valuable, and for susan g. even outside of the most critical information, Komen. “As our curated journal and use that as the input for one of the largest collection,” said organizations funding Christopher Burghardt, analysis work.” breast research vice president of Product globally, it is critical to have and marketing strategy at thomson a comprehensive view of the impact reuters. of the research we support. The Web of By starting with the highest quality, Science will help us identify the researchers curated information, one significantly and papers that have the most traction, improves the quality of analysis and ensuring our funds are spent where they will benchmarking possible. Like ingredients make the most impact toward finding the used in baking a cake, the finer cures for breast cancer.” in With the neW in the ongoing process of selecting characteristics and dynamics in terms of journals for coverage, the thomson publication and citation practices, and reuters editorial staff reviews 2,000 to therefore demand somewhat different 3,000 journal titles per year for inclusion standards of evaluation, thomson in the Web of science. at present, reuters editors apply the same rigor and approximately 10 to 20 percent of them thoroughness to all, based on a firm set of are accepted for coverage. criteria, which include: the thomson reuters editors who • timeliness evaluate journals possess advanced • Compliance with international editorial degrees relevant to the subject areas conventions under their supervision, and their constant monitoring of virtually all new journal • : Bibliographic information, at a titles affords them expertise in the minimum, must be published in english evolving literature of their fields. • and editorial board “The editors of our scholarly literature team international diversity truly love the information they manage,” • editorial content said Burghardt. “They understand where and how a given journal fits because they • have a deep understanding of the subject similarly, technologists and product area and of what matters to the scientific managers overseeing the community. The Web of Science represents of next generation inCites are equally in a scholarly network of information, and our tune with industry needs. they work closely editors have a network view of the material.” with the Web of science product team and in evaluating journals, thomson reuters clients to ensure the platform meets user editors take many factors into account, requirements. they are actively involved both quantitative and qualitative. no one in industry initiatives and collaborate with factor is considered in isolation. rather, community members through a strategic by weighing an interrelated array of data advisory board to use this data to create and characteristics, the editors are able leading-edge benchmarking and evaluation to determine the overall strengths and metrics. no other industry provider has such weaknesses of a given journal. synchronized data and analytics. the journal-selection process described “We considered many information here is applied to all journals in the Web databases in our search for an authority on of science, whether covered in science the emerging markets, and unanimously Citation index expanded, social sciences chose Thomson Reuters Web of Science Citation index, or arts & humanities for our portal.” richard J. Coyle, executive Citation index. although these main director for the emerging markets institute groupings each involve their own of Cornell University. BasiC PUBLishing standards timeLiness in instances where a journal electronically the basic criterion in the evaluation publishes articles one at a time instead process is seemingly simple but actually of collecting articles for release as an of primary and fundamental importance: “issue,” the editor looks for a steady flow timeliness of publication. to be considered of articles over a period of up to a year. for coverage in the Web of science, a “If a journal isn’t publishing on time,” said journal must be published according Burghardt, “it simply isn’t meeting the to its stated frequency. the ability to needs of its audience.” publish on time implies a healthy backlog once timeliness has been established, of manuscripts, essential for ongoing thomson reuters editors can proceed viability. the chronically late appearance with other aspects of the evaluation of a journal is not acceptable. process. the entire process, however, is to gauge the timeliness of a journal, deliberate and takes time. evaluations the selection process requires that the vary in length but can last a year or more, publication produce a minimum of three depending on the subject needs of the consecutive, current issues in accordance Web of science. editors are thorough in with its specified schedule, as soon as it is the tasks at hand, ensuring each journal published. this establishes that the current receives the same level of attention and content flow of the journal is robust. proper vetting.

mariana BoLetta the effort, she adds, is abundantly worthwhile. “In our Senior Editor, experience, a researcher needs reliable, accurate, and precise Scientific & Scholarly Research information fast. Among the many thousands of journals thomson reuters already published, and those that pop up electronically every day, it is essential that Thomson Reuters selects the most a senior editor with nearly 15 important and valuable resources so that the customer can years in her current position, trust his or her search.” mariana Boletta is part of a Boletta notes that the most significant trend in recent years, team of editorial specialists with as might be expected, is the acceleration in the availability and background and experience in variety of electronic content. “This transition is keeping pace subject fields that include the with the expansion of global information,” she says. “But, it has sciences, social sciences, environmental sciences, , dangerous pitfalls that we’ve been noticing more and more: false and arts & humanities. journal sites, pirated sites, , and the like. We believe that, “Our editors have substantial experience in their fields,” said in such an environment, our role will grow. There is a stringent Boletta. “It takes many years to get to know the given area and our need for a reliable, trustworthy information provider —that is what collection, and to create a stable while also adapting to new Thomson Reuters is and what we provide.” in the industry.” after evaluating thousands of journals over the years, does she Boletta and her colleagues evaluate hundreds of titles happen to have a favorite? “My preferred journal,” Boletta notes, annually—for new coverage, as well as for expanded coverage in “is one that is well-produced, publishes on time, has a diverse and different thomson reuters products and subject categories, all competent editorial board, and attracts valuable contributors. in the interest of creating a stable and rich scholarly-literature Publishers and editors often ask for guidance on strategies collection. as she puts it, “Our work never ends. Titles are to improve their journals. Thomson Reuters has built lasting evaluated on a continuous basis.” partnerships with the global scholarly publishing community. The journal selection team collaborates closely with publishers and editors and can offer advice on how to improve the quality of scholarly .” editoriaL ConVentions desirable, especially if the journal intends along with ascertaining timeliness, to serve an international community of journal-selection editors determine if a researchers. journal follows international editorial in a similar vein, thomson reuters editors conventions. these include: an informative look for international diversity among the title for the journal; fully descriptive journal’s contributing , editors, titles and author abstracts; complete and editorial advisory board members. bibliographic information for all cited this is particularly important in journals references; and full address information targeting an international audience. for every author. these conventions are today’s scientific research takes place in intended to optimize retrievability of the a global context, and an internationally journal’s source articles. diverse journal is more likely to have Language is another consideration. importance in this context. additionally, english is currently the global language of regional journals, which a local science. For this reason, thomson reuters rather than an international audience, focuses on journals that publish full text in are also considered. thomson reuters english, or, at the very least, bibliographic selects a relatively small proportion of information—such as titles, abstracts, such journals for inclusion, provided that and cited references—in english, in order they meet the editorial criteria and that to allow thorough cross-searching by their content will strengthen coverage of a Web of science users worldwide . Cited given subject. references must also be listed in the “Say, for example, that we select an roman alphabet. although many journals Indonesian ecology journal for coverage,” covered in the Web of science publish said Burghardt. “Such a journal is going to articles with bibliographic information in be unique. Once we absorb it into the Web english and full text in another language, of Science, it opens up our view because the evident trend is that the journals most it represents Indonesian ecologists. By important to the international research selecting the journal, we’ve learned what community will publish full text in english. they’ve learned, and we’re making that this is particularly true in the natural knowledge available to the world.” sciences. there are exceptions to this rule “Supported by the São Paulo Research in the arts & humanities and in social Foundation (FAPESP) since its inception in sciences. For example, english-language 1998, SciELO is one of the earliest initiatives text is not a requirement in areas of arts & to provide to scientific humanities scholarship in which a work’s literature. The agreement with Thomson national focus takes precedence—in Reuters opens new horizons in SciELO’s studies of regional or national literature. mission to enhance the visibility of science nonetheless, full-text english is highly in Latin America, Spain, Portugal and thomson reuters editors determine if South ,” said Carlos henrique de the content of a journal under evaluation Brito Cruz, scientific director of FaPesP. will enrich the database, or if the topic is along with editorial conventions, another already adequately addressed as part of key criterion in journal evaluation, as existing journal coverage. might be expected, involves editorial said Burghardt, “Perhaps we’ll be content itself. as Bradford and others confronted with five candidate journals noted several decades ago, an essential in biochemistry, but we already cover a core of scientific literature forms the basis hundred in that field. The question in for all scholarly disciplines. however, evaluating each of the five is, does this in any given field, this core is not static; journal reveal or promise something new? scientific research continues to give rise We want the journals that have, or are to specialized fields of study, and new likely to have, a disproportionate influence journals emerge as published research among scientists.” on new topics achieves critical mass. one invaluable resource for journal-selection specialists, not only for assessing the emergence of new subject fields but for general evaluation, is the vast store of thomson reuters citation data. this unique repository, embodied in the Web of science, represents millions of individual judgments from scientists themselves regarding the research they view as most significant and useful. these citation data, which are proprietary “The partnership with Thomson Reuters to thomson reuters and part of the will enable our researchers to access the company’s unique differentiators, make most influential scholarly content in order the Web of science even more valuable. to advance their work, which will be very the combined criterion on which the Web beneficial to our decision-makers in charge of science is founded is the of why of national policy research,” said Professor the metrics in inCites are so valuable. the mohamed haouari, principal advisor to thorough, stringent standards applied to the tunisian minister of higher education the selection of content directly influence and scientific research. “Thanks to several the accuracy and insight of the evaluation relevant indicators, InCites allows for a and benchmarking from inCites. detailed study of our national scientific production by discipline and helps us follow its evolution over time.” researCh anaLytiCs the process of journal selection at as many articles and citations as do larger thomson reuters is unique in that fields like Biotechnology or genetics. in specialty editors have a wealth of citation some areas, particularly in the arts & data available to them. Because the Web humanities, it may take a relatively long of science is a true citation index, all cited time for an article to attract a meaningful references from every item in every journal number of citations. But in other areas, covered in the Web of science are indexed, such as those within the , it is whether or not the work being cited is also not unusual for citations to accrue rapidly covered as a source publication. (that and peak after two or three years. these is, although the cited item might have factors must be taken into account if appeared in a journal or other source not citation data are to be used correctly. indexed by thomson reuters, the citation thomson reuters editors look for citations in will still be registered in the Web of Web of science to a candidate journal as part science.) through the use of these data, it of the evaluation process. For new journals is possible to measure the that do not yet have a citation history, editors of journals under evaluation. examine the citation records of the journal’s Citation data, however, must be contributing authors and editorial board interpreted and understood correctly—a members, ascertaining whether the journal point that cannot be emphasized enough. is able to attract contributions from scholars Citation practices and patterns differ whose prior work has been useful to the sharply between disciplines. Using research community. quantitative citation data to measure in many instances, established journals impact is meaningful only in the context that may be initially turned down for of journals in the same general discipline. coverage are re-evaluated. subsequent to For example, smaller fields, such as an earlier evaluation, these journals might agricultural engineering, do not generate have experienced new growth in citation impact resulting from such changes as these journals, self-citation threatens to translation into english, a shift in editorial distort the true role of the journal within focus, a change in publisher, a switch to a the literature of its given field. new medium of delivery, etc. hence, many among all the journals listed in a recent such journals eventually find their way to annual edition of the Journal Citation regular coverage. reports science edition, 85 percent one citation-related factor that is demonstrated journal self-citation rates of constantly monitored, both in evaluating less than 15 percent. this shows that, as journals for coverage and in assessing noted above, self-citation is quite normal existing coverage, is the rate of journal for most journals. significant deviation self-citation. this measure relates a from this normal rate, however, prompts journal’s self-citations to the number of an examination by thomson reuters times it is cited by all journals, including editors to determine if excessive self- itself. For example, Journal X was cited citations have inflated the Journal impact 15,000 times over a given time period by Factor. (a publication’s Journal impact all journals, including the 2,000 times it Factor is defined as citations in year cited itself. its self-cited rate is therefore three to Journal X, divided by the number 2/15, or 13 percent. of citable items [articles and reviews] For authors, a certain rate of self-citation published by that journal in the previous is considered normative, given that it is two years.) if careful analysis determines routine and expected for researchers and that self-citation has significantly scholars to reference instances of their own distorted the Journal and prior work that are most relevant to their its rank in category, remedial steps might current results, regardless of the source include suppression of the publication’s journal in which the work was published. Journal impact Factor from that Journal there are, however, journals in which the Citations reports edition, and the journal observed rate of self-citation is a dominant may be considered for de-selection from influence in the total level of citation. For the Web of science. myriad metriCs

the Journal Citation reports are just for the largest research assessment one of several metrics within the next has ever undertaken,” said Professor sergio generation inCites. thomson reuters Benedetto, coordinator of the Valutazione brought all of its research analytic della Qualità della ricerca (VQr), a solutions together in inCites to provide national exercise to evaluate the quality customers with a complete, integrated of italy’s research efforts. “The bibliometric search-discover-evaluate-and-benchmark data from Thomson Reuters were crucial to experience. Journal Citation reports, compute the two indicators used in the VQR containing the Journal impact Factor, bibliometric evaluation, as were the custom are best used for evaluating journals, but reports from InCites in a global comparison there are also metrics within inCites for of Italy’s research strength as compared to evaluating, benchmarking and analyzing other industrial countries.” people, articles, institutions, regions, “Objective and qualitative assessment of subjects, and more. Russian scientists and research groups is Citation data is used to evaluate people very important, as Ural Federal University through inCites Profiles (previously referred seeks to quantify the scientific activities to as research Performance Profiles). of its employees and to determine the articles, institutions and regions are relevance of those activities to the world benchmarked using inCites Benchmarking of science,” said Vladimir Kruzhaev, & analytics (previously known as global vice reactor on research, Ural Federal Comparisons). all areas can be analyzed University. “After assessing our intellectual using essential science indicators. these property and our role in the world of science are just some of the metrics in inCites that using Thomson Reuters InCites, as well as are used to process the search results from our efficiency in different fields of science, the Web of science and turn them into we will be able to effectively allocate actionable . resources and improve the competitiveness “Choosing Thomson Reuters as one of our of UrFU among the world's leading partners was essential to assess the impact research and education centers.” of indexed journal articles within the VQR JoUrnaL imPaCt FaCtor: Uses and misUses

the subject of Journal impact Factor has thomson reuters. the company instead given rise to discussion and debate since recommends the use of other citation- the statistic was first made available in based metrics in inCites specifically 1975. throughout the years, thomson designed to assess the output and impact reuters has maintained a consistent of people, papers or programs. stance, emphasizing that Journal impact there are many authors who make Factor is a specific metric for gauging a legitimate use of Journal impact Factor journal’s recent citation influence within in targeting their manuscripts at high- its particular field. it is not intended to impact journals in their specialty areas. serve in isolation as a definitive or ultimate Publication in such journals, however, and measurement; the Journal impact Factor the Journal impact Factor of the journals is but one data point, which must be themselves, should not be hastily treated as considered in context and in combination some kind of surrogate to replace detailed, with other , such as the overall informed assessments of individual authors citation patterns in the field in which the and their published research. thomson journal is categorized. reuters has consistently sought to promote in recent years, some observers in understanding of the Journal impact Factor, academia and publishing have criticized its limitations, and its proper application. instances in which Journal impact Factor (see m. mcVeigh, Jama, 302[10: 1107- figures, subsequent to their publication 9, 2009; and s. hubbard, m. mcVeigh, by thomson reuters, have been misused. Learned Publishing, 24[2]: 133-7, 2011.]) there have been instances where the “There are so many different ways to Journal impact Factor was improperly analyze citations – do co-citation analysis, extended to the evaluation of individual develop clusters, develop mapping. It’s now authors. the faulty inference is that if an a worldwide topic. I think the emphasis, as author publishes a paper in a journal with a Web of Science expands, will be on the use comparatively high Journal impact Factor, and modification of citation analysis for this is somehow an automatic reflection evaluating individuals, their impact, group of the quality of the author’s work— impact, and universities’ impact,” said dr. and even, by extension, of the author’s eugene garfield, father of the science institution. this is a misuse of the Journal Citation index at thomson reuters. impact Factor that is not condoned by start With the Best, end With sUCCess

“There’s been massive change regarding Users are spared the time-consuming task what constitutes a publication, or what of attempting to evaluate search results constitutes a journal,” said Burghardt. on their own. instead, results have already “It’s now easier than ever to launch a been subjected to expert evaluation, and ‘journal,’ although the ‘journal’ might already reflect the highest standards of actually be little more than an attractive the research community. website. The ability of Thomson Reuters Journal selection, in sum, is not an to identify, select, and maintain a high- end in itself but rather a starting point quality journal collection is more critical that informs every subsequent aspect than ever. The Web of Science, with its of scholarly work across the research selection of prominent journals, can be and evaluation continuum. it impacts likened to a mountaintop, affording an the filtered, precise results of a Web elevated, extended view of the scientific and of science search. it impacts the array scholarly landscape.” of metrics used in the citation-based the detailed and meticulous process of assessment of individuals, institutions, journal selection has a single objective: nations and regions. and it impacts making the Web of science and other the customized extraction of data or thomson reuters data solutions the the generation of special reports based most efficient and productive vehicles for on specific needs and developed in acquiring essential, relevant information. partnership with thomson reuters. thomson reuters has always endeavored even while the shape of science and to be as informative and transparent the forms of scientific communication as possible about its journal-selection undergo continuous change, the process. this openness has engendered commitment of thomson reuters to trust on the part of long-time users of its capture and present the world’s most scholarly research and analysis solutions. significant scientific and scholarly as michael Peper, a science librarian at literature remains constant. as does its duke University, said: “An open selection commitment to provide the most powerful process is valuable because we all know and robust metrics to put research in its what material is covered, and we know proper context. Breakthrough science that it has been reviewed by a long- doesn’t just happen. it is the result of hard standing resource that we have trusted work, patience, perseverance and the use over time... our researchers value Web of of the right resources. the Web of science Science as a place to search for articles and inCites are just those resources that on a topic across many disciplines and to enable breakthroughs by connecting dots find relevant, high-quality content. It’s across the scholarly ecosystem. good because it’s comprehensive without being overwhelming.”

KathLeen miChaeL as michael notes, the exacting criteria mean that approximately Editor, 80 to 90 percent of journals submitted for evaluation will not Scientific & Scholarly Research be accepted. “Journals get rejected for a variety of reasons,” says thomson reuters michael, “and there’s never just one reason for the rejection. Journals can be rejected for a combination of timeliness, format, For 13 years, Kathleen michael and content, for example. We do require the receipt of a minimum has been a thomson reuters of three on-time issues before we proceed with an evaluation. editor in the area of Life Therefore, a journal that is running late according to its stated sciences, covering andrology, publication schedule will face rejection.” , Pharmacology, michael also acknowledges that the rapid changes sweeping research & experimental through the publishing industry make the future difficult to medicine, and more. With a master of science degree in predict. “Because there’s so much going on, it’s hard to foresee Biochemistry, a concentration in neuroscience, and several years what’s going to happen. We’re heading in the direction of more as a researcher prior to joining thomson reuters, she brings electronic journals, where many journals have an online presence, particular expertise to her work. and she is clear about the value offering types of you can’t get in a print journal, such of the exhaustive journal-selection process. as videos and extremely large data sets. There have also been a “In this world of information overload, it’s easy to get lost in large number of new journals being produced, as it’s now easier the sea of data,” says Michael. “Thomson Reuters provides a and cheaper to start an electronic journal. There is also a lot of filter, a means of identifying what’s important, what’s timely, movement surrounding the process of . No one can and what’s most related. How many times have we all done predict where all of this is going, but I believe that Thomson a Google search and, even knowing that Google doesn’t rank Reuters plays an important role—even more so now—which is to things the way we might, we never get beyond the first page of make the world’s best research more accessible to the community.” results? Most search engines provide you with data. They don’t provide you with a judgment of whether or not that data is valid. Thomson Reuters does that for you.” WHO WE ARE

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