IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/spr/scient/v128y2023i2d10.1007_s11192-022-04594-1.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

A modification of citation-based journal indexes

Author

Listed:
  • Hui Fang

    (Nanjing University)

Abstract

The journal indexes currently used to rank journals adopt a short citation window, which has long been criticized. In particular, journals with a prolonged impact are underestimated by this method. By combining the features of synchronic and diachronic journal impact factors, Fang (Scientometrics 125:2265–2282, 2020) proposed the integral synchronic journal impact factor (IIF). The citation window of the IIF can be enlarged without reducing the index value. Therefore, the IIF can effectively and fairly reflect the impact of journals with different citation patterns on the scientific community. To overcome the defect that the IIF might be unstable if a journal publishes few papers in individual years, this work modifies the IIF by borrowing the idea of the new CiteScore: using the citation counts of the adjacent previous years to assist in evaluating the impact level of the journal in the focal year. The modified index can be regarded as a combination of the JIFs and CiteScore. The experimental results show that the modified journal index is more stable over time than the IIF while retaining the associated advantages.

Suggested Citation

  • Hui Fang, 2023. "A modification of citation-based journal indexes," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 128(2), pages 1119-1132, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:128:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-022-04594-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-022-04594-1
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s11192-022-04594-1
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1007/s11192-022-04594-1?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Liu, Xuan Zhen & Fang, Hui, 2020. "A comparison among citation-based journal indicators and their relative changes with time," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    2. A. Ferrer-Sapena & E. A. Sánchez-Pérez & L. M. González & F. Peset & R. Aleixandre-Benavent, 2015. "Mathematical properties of weighted impact factors based on measures of prestige of the citing journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 105(3), pages 2089-2108, December.
    3. Pablo D. Batista & Mônica G. Campiteli & Osame Kinouchi, 2006. "Is it possible to compare researchers with different scientific interests?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 68(1), pages 179-189, July.
    4. Per O. Seglen, 1994. "Causal relationship between article citedness and journal impact," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 45(1), pages 1-11, January.
    5. Thed N. Van Leeuwen & Martijn S. Visser & Henk F. Moed & Ton J. Nederhof & Anthony F. J. Van Raan, 2003. "The Holy Grail of science policy: Exploring and combining bibliometric tools in search of scientific excellence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 57(2), pages 257-280, June.
    6. Robert J. W. Tijssen & Martijn S. Visser & Thed N. van Leeuwen, 2002. "Benchmarking international scientific excellence: Are highly cited research papers an appropriate frame of reference?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 54(3), pages 381-397, July.
    7. Per O. Seglen, 1992. "The skewness of science," Journal of the American Society for Information Science, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 43(9), pages 628-638, October.
    8. Hui Fang, 2021. "Analysis of the new scopus CiteScore," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(6), pages 5321-5331, June.
    9. Bornmann, Lutz & Marx, Werner, 2015. "Methods for the generation of normalized citation impact scores in bibliometrics: Which method best reflects the judgements of experts?," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 408-418.
    10. Hui Fang, 2020. "Investigating the journal impact along the columns and rows of the publication-citation matrix," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2265-2282, December.
    11. Peter Ingwersen, 2012. "The pragmatics of a diachronic journal impact factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(2), pages 319-324, August.
    12. Tove Faber Frandsen & Ronald Rousseau, 2005. "Article impact calculated over arbitrary periods," Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 56(1), pages 58-62, January.
    13. Wolfgang Glänzel & Balázs Schlemmer & Bart Thijs, 2003. "Better late than never? On the chance to become highly cited only beyond the standard bibliometric time horizon," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 58(3), pages 571-586, November.
    14. Jerome K. Vanclay, 2009. "Bias in the journal impact factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 78(1), pages 3-12, January.
    15. Thelwall, Mike & Fairclough, Ruth, 2015. "Geometric journal impact factors correcting for individual highly cited articles," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 263-272.
    16. Liwei Cai & Jiahao Tian & Jiaying Liu & Xiaomei Bai & Ivan Lee & Xiangjie Kong & Feng Xia, 2019. "Scholarly impact assessment: a survey of citation weighting solutions," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 118(2), pages 453-478, February.
    17. Jerome K. Vanclay, 2012. "Impact factor: outdated artefact or stepping-stone to journal certification?," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(2), pages 211-238, August.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Lang Jia & Wenjuan Wang & Francis Zvomuya & Hailong He, 2024. "Trends in Soil Science over the Past Three Decades (1992–2022) Based on the Scientometric Analysis of 39 Soil Science Journals," Agriculture, MDPI, vol. 14(3), pages 1-32, March.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Waltman, Ludo, 2016. "A review of the literature on citation impact indicators," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 10(2), pages 365-391.
    2. Hui Fang, 2020. "Investigating the journal impact along the columns and rows of the publication-citation matrix," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 125(3), pages 2265-2282, December.
    3. Liu, Xuan Zhen & Fang, Hui, 2020. "A comparison among citation-based journal indicators and their relative changes with time," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(1).
    4. Bar-Ilan, Judit, 2008. "Informetrics at the beginning of the 21st century—A review," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 1-52.
    5. Lando, Tommaso & Bertoli-Barsotti, Lucio, 2017. "Measuring the citation impact of journals with generalized Lorenz curves," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 689-703.
    6. Hui Fang, 2021. "Analysis of the new scopus CiteScore," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(6), pages 5321-5331, June.
    7. Vanclay, Jerome K., 2013. "Factors affecting citation rates in environmental science," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 265-271.
    8. Péter Vinkler, 2009. "Introducing the Current Contribution Index for characterizing the recent, relevant impact of journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 79(2), pages 409-420, May.
    9. Loet Leydesdorff & Lutz Bornmann & Jonathan Adams, 2019. "The integrated impact indicator revisited (I3*): a non-parametric alternative to the journal impact factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 119(3), pages 1669-1694, June.
    10. Mingers, John & Leydesdorff, Loet, 2015. "A review of theory and practice in scientometrics," European Journal of Operational Research, Elsevier, vol. 246(1), pages 1-19.
    11. Andrea Bonaccorsi & Tindaro Cicero & Peter Haddawy & Saeed-UL Hassan, 2017. "Explaining the transatlantic gap in research excellence," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 110(1), pages 217-241, January.
    12. Thelwall, Mike & Fairclough, Ruth, 2015. "Geometric journal impact factors correcting for individual highly cited articles," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 9(2), pages 263-272.
    13. Albarrán, Pedro & Ortuño, Ignacio & Ruiz-Castillo, Javier, 2011. "The measurement of low- and high-impact in citation distributions: Technical results," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 5(1), pages 48-63.
    14. Dag W. Aksnes & Gunnar Sivertsen, 2004. "The effect of highly cited papers on national citation indicators," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 59(2), pages 213-224, February.
    15. Péter Vinkler, 2012. "The Garfield impact factor, one of the fundamental indicators in scientometrics," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 92(2), pages 471-483, August.
    16. Zeki Simsek & Ciaran Heavey & Justin J. P. Jansen, 2013. "Journal Impact as a Diffusion Process: A Conceptualization and the Case of the Journal of Management Studies," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 50(8), pages 1374-1407, December.
    17. Finardi, Ugo, 2014. "On the time evolution of received citations, in different scientific fields: An empirical study," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 8(1), pages 13-24.
    18. Finardi, Ugo, 2013. "Correlation between Journal Impact Factor and Citation Performance: An experimental study," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 7(2), pages 357-370.
    19. Kong, Ling & Wang, Dongbo, 2020. "Comparison of citations and attention of cover and non-cover papers," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 14(4).
    20. Rodríguez-Navarro, Alonso & Brito, Ricardo, 2018. "Technological research in the EU is less efficient than the world average. EU research policy risks Europeans’ future," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 718-731.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:128:y:2023:i:2:d:10.1007_s11192-022-04594-1. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.springer.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.