Measuring journal quality
Research output is primarily communicated to peers and the community at large through journal articles, books and conference papers. This page will answer the following questions:
- Is the journal in which I am publishing a quality journal?
- How do I find out if the journal has an impact factor?
- How do I find out the relative ranking of the journal within a particular field?
Quality journals
All peer reviewed or refereed journals are quality journals. The terms peer reviewed and refereed are often used interchangeably.
A peer reviewed journal is defined as a scholarly or research publication in which the articles submitted for publication are evaluated by individuals who are expert in the subject area (Concise dictionary of library and information science, 2002)
Two common ways to identify whether a journal is peer reviewed are:
- searching Ulrich's international periodicals directory - (Search hint)
- looking at the editorial policy of the journal, for example: Higher Education: the international journal of higher education and educational planning (opens in new window)
Impact Factors
An impact factor is a way of measuring the relative ranking of a journal within a particular field:
Journal impact factor is the average number of times that articles published in a specific journal in the two previous years (e.g. 1998-99) were cited in a particular year (i.e. 2000) (Tree, v.14, no.10 Oct. 1999, p, 382)
For example, to find a 2006 impact factor for a journal, the calculation is determined as follows
The example above uses a two year impact factor, however, some disciplines may work on a five year impact factor.
As with all statistical types of analysis, journal impact factor rankings need to be evaluated, not just taken as fact. For example, review journals often have very high impact factors because review articles are generally cited more frequently than research articles. Of course, a review journal may not be the ideal journal in which to publish your work.
How do I find out if the journal has an impact factor?
Using Journal Citation Reports (JCR)
To access JCR
- from the Library homepage > databases > J > Journal Citation Reports > Log in
- choose the Select a database tab
- select Journal Citation Reports (JCR) from the Web of Knowledge page
- select a JCR edition and year. For example: JCR Social Sciences Edition and 2006
Note: You cannot search both editions at the same time. The default is Science Edition and the current year.
Searching for a known journal title
- select Search for a specific journal and select submit
- type in Journal name and select search
- note the information about this journal title:
- the impact factor, total no of cites in 2006 and the no of articles in 2006
- select the Journal title link
- journals may be assigned more than one subject category. Use the Scope note to check what is included in a particular subject category
- select Impact Factor Trend. View the impact factor graph for the last 5 years – check the impact factor pattern for this journal title. This is a comparison of each year for the journal title but not a comparison of this title with others in the field
- select View Journal Summary List to see how your journal is ranked against other journals in the same subject category
How do I find out the relative ranking of my journal within a particular field?
Searching within a subject category
- select View a group of journals by and then select Subject Category
- select submit
- scroll down the list of categories to find and select the category you are interested in, e.g.: "Education & Educational Research"
- submit your request
- change Sorted by option to sort by impact factor then select Sort again. This will produce a list of titles beginning with the title with the highest impact factor for that category.
What if my journal does not have an impact factor?
Some disciplines do not have impact factors for many of their journals. Some factors to consider when assessing the quality of a journal include:- ensuring that the journal is peer reviewed and identify the process undertaken to review it (double blind peer reviewed; panel reviewed etc)
- determining who is on the Editorial Committee or Board and what position they hold as a scholar in your research community
- identifying the rejection rates of articles in your journals
- this information is usually available on either the website of the journal or the inside cover
- determining where the journal is abstracted and/or indexed and identify
whether citation information is included on the database
- this information is most easily acquired by conducting a journal title search on Ulrich's International Periodical Directory
- lobbying the journal publishers to have their journals included on Thomson Corporation's Journal Citation Reports database so that they are given impact factors
- requesting that the publishers include citation information for their journals
Further information
- Publishing research (webpage)
- Measuring Quality: journals and publications (online workshop)
- Where do I publish (online workshop)
- Where do I publish (on campus training - check the calendar for the next workshop)