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Research Impact: Journal Metrics

Journal Metrics

Journal-level metrics quantify the place of a particular journal within its field. They are only useful for comparing across subject areas if you choose a normalized indicator. Different vendors offer different metrics to facilitate this comparison. These metrics are commonly used in the Health, Science and the Social Science fields, but are unlikely to be relevant for Arts and Humanities. For a detailed introduction to journal metrics, try the University of Alberta Library's Introduction to Research Impact tutorial.

Here are some of the most popular journal-level metrics:

Some Journal-Level Metrics

CiteScore is available in Scopus via the "Sources" search.

CiteScore is calculated based on the number of citations to documents (articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers) by a journal over four years, divided by the number of the same document types indexed in Scopus and published in those same four years.

For example, the 2023 CiteScore counts the citations received in 2020-2023 to articles, reviews, conference papers, book chapters, and data papers published in 2020-2023, and divides this by the number of these documents published in 2020-2023.

Unlike the Journal Impact Factor, CiteScore includes all document types (not just scholarly items). The four-year window is seen as a compromise between faster- and slower-moving fields. CiteScore should not be used for comparisons across different subject areas.

For a given year, the two-year journal impact factor (JIF) is the determined by dividing the number of citations received in that year for publications in that journal that were published in the two preceding years and the total number of articles published in that journal during the two preceding years.

The 5-year Impact Factor, available from 2007 onward, is the average number of times articles from the journal published in the past five years have been cited in the JCR year. It is best used to compare journals in a field with longer publication times.

While OSU does not subscribe to Clarivate's Web of Science or Journal Citation Reports, JIFs are often included on a journal's website (see Annual Reviews rankings page as an example).

JIF should not be used to compare journals in different subject areas.

Source Normalized Impact per Paper is available in Scopus via the "Sources" search.

Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP) measures actual citations received relative to citations expected for the serial’s subject field. The Source Normalized Impact per Paper attempts to correct for differences in citation patterns by weighting the impact of a single citation to reflect the likelihood of citation in that subject area. SNIP can be used for comparison across subject areas.

Scopus calculates SNIP automatically. Below is an example of how it works.

Calculating 2019 Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP)

                      200 (citations given in 2019 to papers from 2016-18) ÷

                       50 (number of papers published 2016-18)

                                   = 4 (citation count per paper)

ABC Journal =  ———————————————————

                                 3 (citation potential per field)*

SNIP = 1.33

 

*Calculated based on citations per paper in all journals categorized in the same Scopus defined field.

SCImago Journal Rank is available on the SCImago website and in Scopus via the "Sources" search.

The SCImago Journal Rank, or SJR, is a weighted ranking that assigns higher value to citations from highly-cited journals as well as journals more closely related in subject matter to the journal under consideration. It should be used for comparison within a subject area.

h5-index and h5-median are available via Google Scholar.

These metrics are similar to an individual author's h-index, but they are applied to a 5-year sample of the journal's articles. H is defined as the largest number N such that at least N articles in that publication were cited at least N times each.

The h5-median is the median number of citations received by the articles that have citation counts at or above the h-index. It helps illustrate the distribution of citations to articles from that journal.

Both these measures are used for comparisons within a subject area. They are more broadly available for arts, humanities, and social sciences than the previously described indicators, but they are not replicable, because Google offers no transparency about what is covered by this search. 

Journal Metrics Videos

Deciding Where to Publish

Where you publish will affect your research visibility (how much it is read, cited, etc.) Our Where Should I Publish My Research? guide will give you the knowledge to wisely choose where to publish your work.

  • Open Access Journals are important to consider when publishing because they are more accessible than journals requiring paid subscriptions.

Statement on Journal Rankings and Metrics

While journal impact metrics like CiteScore and Impact Factor can provide useful information, it's important to approach these rankings with caution.

These metrics have several limitations:

  • They don't necessarily reflect the quality of individual articles in the journal
  • They can be manipulated through various practices
  • They may disadvantage niche or emerging fields
  • They often favor established journals and can slow innovation
  • They may not accurately represent the impact of research in fields with different citation practices

Researchers should consider these metrics as just one factor among many when evaluating journals, alongside the journal's scope, peer review process, and alignment with their own research goals and values.

Attribution

Content in this guide is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License and is adapted from "Research Impact" by University of Alberta Library Research Impact Services which is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0