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A New Approach to the SCI Journal Citation Reports, a System for Evaluating Scientific Journals

Author

Listed:
  • Aline Solari

    (Centre de Recherches de Jouy-en-Josas)

  • Marie-Helene Magri

    (Centre de Recherches de Jouy-en-Josas)

Abstract

The Science Citation Index, Journal Citation Reports (JCR), published by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) and designed to rank, evaluate, categorize and compare journals, is used in a wide scientific context as a tool for evaluating researchers and research work, through the use of just one of its indicators, the impact factor. With the aim of obtaining an overall and synthetic perspective of impact factor values, we studied the frequency distributions of this indicator using the box-plot method. Using this method we divided the journals listed in the JCR into five groups (low, lower central, upper central, high and extreme). These groups position the journal in relation to its competitors. Thus, the group designated as extreme contains the journals with high impact factors which are deemed to be prestigious by the scientific community. We used the JCR data from 1996 to determine these groups, firstly for all subject categories combined (all 4779 journals) and then for each of the 183 ISI subject categories. We then substituted the indicator value for each journal by the name of the group in which it was classified. The journal group may differ from one subject category to another. In this article, we present a guide for evaluating journals constructed as described above. It provides a comprehensive and synthetic view of two of the most used sections of the JCR. It makes it possible to make more accurate and complete judgements on and through the journals, and avoids an oversimplified view of the complex reality of the world of journals. It immediately reveals the scientific subject category where the journal is best positioned. Also, whereas it used to be difficult to make intra- and interdisciplinary comparisons, this is now possible without having to consult the different sections of the JCR. We construct this guide each year using indicators published in the JCR by the ISI.

Suggested Citation

  • Aline Solari & Marie-Helene Magri, 2000. "A New Approach to the SCI Journal Citation Reports, a System for Evaluating Scientific Journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 47(3), pages 605-625, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:47:y:2000:i:3:d:10.1023_a:1005680202961
    DOI: 10.1023/A:1005680202961
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. W. Glänzel & A. Schubert & H. -J. Czerwon, 1999. "An item-by-item subject classification of papers published in multidisciplinary and general journals using reference analysis," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 44(3), pages 427-439, March.
    2. R. Rousseau, 1999. "Temporal differences in self-citation rates of scientific journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 44(3), pages 521-531, March.
    3. Aparna Basu, 1999. "Science publication indicators for India: Questions of interpretation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 44(3), pages 347-360, March.
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    4. Maria Bordons & M. T. Fernández & Isabel Gómez, 2002. "Advantages and limitations in the use of impact factor measures for the assessment of research performance," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 53(2), pages 195-206, February.
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    8. Rodrigo Costas & Thed N. Leeuwen & María Bordons, 2012. "Referencing patterns of individual researchers: Do top scientists rely on more extensive information sources?," Journal of the Association for Information Science & Technology, Association for Information Science & Technology, vol. 63(12), pages 2433-2450, December.

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