ART: Solari, A new approach to the SCI Journal Citation Reports, a system for evaluating scientific journals

[Gretchen Whitney]

This paper was called to the attention of the SIG-Metrics List earlier.
The authors have now provided the full article electronically. The paper
is in .PDF format and is included as an "attachment".  The reader for such
materials can be downloaded from
http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep2.html.  Please let me know
privately (gwhitney at utk.edu) if you cannot use this delivery mechanism and
we will explore other options.  --gw
---------------------------------------------------------------

E-mail: magri at jouy.inra.fr

TITLE   :  A new approach to the SCI Journal Citation Reports, a system
for evaluating scientific journals
AUTHOR:  Solari A, Magri MH
JOURNAL: SCIENTOMETRICS,  47: (3) 605-625 MAR-APR 2000

Document type: Article    Language: English    Cited References: 16
Times Cited: 0

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.

KeyWords Plus:
IMPACT FACTORS

Addresses:
Magri MH, INRA, Ctr Rech Jouy En Josas, Unite Cent Documentat, Stn
Physiol Anim, Equipe Stat, F-78352 Jouy En
Josas, France.
INRA, Ctr Rech Jouy En Josas, Unite Cent Documentat, Stn Physiol Anim,
Equipe Stat, F-78352 Jouy En Josas,
France.
INRA, Ctr Rech Jouy En Josas, Unite Cent Documentat, Unite Cent Document,
F-78352 Jouy En Josas, France.

Publisher:
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBL, DORDRECHT

IDS Number:
304YG

ISSN: 0138-9130

-------------------------------------
(c) ISI, Reprinted with permission
Please visit their website at www.isinet.com



-------------- next part --------------
This paper was called to the attention of the SIG-Metrics List earlier. The
authors have now provided the full article electronically.
The paper is attached in pdf format.


 <<solari.pdf>> .
E-mail: magri at jouy.inra.fr

TITLE   :  A new approach to the SCI Journal Citation Reports, a system for
evaluating scientific journals
AUTHOR:  Solari A, Magri MH
JOURNAL: SCIENTOMETRICS,  47: (3) 605-625 MAR-APR 2000

Document type: Article    Language: English    Cited References: 16    Times
Cited: 0

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.

KeyWords Plus:
IMPACT FACTORS

Addresses:
Magri MH, INRA, Ctr Rech Jouy En Josas, Unite Cent Documentat, Stn Physiol
Anim, Equipe Stat, F-78352 Jouy En
Josas, France.
INRA, Ctr Rech Jouy En Josas, Unite Cent Documentat, Stn Physiol Anim,
Equipe Stat, F-78352 Jouy En Josas,
France.
INRA, Ctr Rech Jouy En Josas, Unite Cent Documentat, Unite Cent Document,
F-78352 Jouy En Josas, France.

Publisher:
KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBL, DORDRECHT

IDS Number:
304YG

ISSN:
        0138-9130

-------------------------------------------------------------
Eugene Garfield, Ph.D.
Chairman Emeritus, ISI, 3501 Market Street, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Publisher, THE SCIENTIST, 3600 Market St,
Philadelphia, PA 19104 (www.the-scientist.com)
Tel: 215-243-2205 // Fax: 215-387-1266
email:  garfield at codex.cis.upenn.edu
The Scientist: http://www.the-scientist.com
Home Page: http://garfield.library.upenn.edu



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