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The penalty of containing more non-English articles

Author

Listed:
  • Fang Liu

    (Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics)

  • Guangyuan Hu

    (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics)

  • Li Tang

    (Fudan University)

  • Weishu Liu

    (Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics)

Abstract

Non-English journals still play important role in scholarly communication especially in social sciences, arts and humanities disciplines. Based on data from Web of Science and 2016 edition of Journal Citation Reports, we find that non-English publishing languages influence the journal impact factor (JIF) significantly. Journals with a high proportion of non-English publications suffer from low impact factor in both science and social sciences domains. The influence of non-English publications on JIF is weak for journals with a small proportion of non-English publications. We argue that it is not suitable to compare the JIFs of a non-English journal with an English journal which are calculated by using citation data from an international database such as Web of Science.

Suggested Citation

  • Fang Liu & Guangyuan Hu & Li Tang & Weishu Liu, 2018. "The penalty of containing more non-English articles," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 114(1), pages 359-366, January.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:114:y:2018:i:1:d:10.1007_s11192-017-2577-6
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-017-2577-6
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Gregorio González-Alcaide & Juan Carlos Valderrama-Zurián & Rafael Aleixandre-Benavent, 2012. "The Impact Factor in non-English-speaking countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(2), pages 297-311, August.
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    6. Keshra Sangwal, 2013. "Some citation-related characteristics of scientific journals published in individual countries," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 97(3), pages 719-741, December.
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    8. Iman Tahamtan & Askar Safipour Afshar & Khadijeh Ahamdzadeh, 2016. "Factors affecting number of citations: a comprehensive review of the literature," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 107(3), pages 1195-1225, June.
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