Journal metrics come handy when researchers are tasked with the daunting job of narrowing down options and selecting the perfect journal to submit their work to. As of mid-2018, there were about 33,100 active scholarly peer-reviewed English-language journals, and this number continues to rise, at over 5% in recent years (STM 2018 report). With the number of journal options increasing rapidly, authors need to consider journal metrics and other factors, and also weigh which factors are truly meaningful in the journal selection process. Typically, authors begin by listing potential options starting with journals they use for their research, journals they review for, and journals associated with their professional organizations. These parameters help kick-start journal selection. What journal metrics and tools can refine this search and aid in effective journal selection?
You need to understand journal metrics meanings and roles to simplify your research journey. Science journal metrics measure certain parameters on the basis of impact and reach and can be used to compare scholarly publications. These journal metrics can help authors choose an appropriate journal for submission, guide journal editors in assessing their journal’s performance, and assist librarians in selecting journals for their institution.
Now, let’s take a look at these journal metrics.
1. Some basic journal metrics
Extent of journal reach: Information about article views and downloads gives an initial idea of a journal’s reach. Where contributors to the journal are located across the world is also an indicator of the extent of reach. Some of the journal metrics provided by certain journals and publishers are as follows:
- Number of times articles are viewed or downloaded
- Number of views and/or downloads at the country level
- Number of corresponding authors at the country level over the last couple of years
Turnaround: A chief factor governing journal selection is turnaround time. If one’s research is in a particularly fast-moving field, authors will look for this journal metric and prioritize journals with a rapid turnaround time. These “speed” metrics might be listed by some journals (in days or weeks), as follows:
- Average time for an article to be reviewed
- Average time from submission to first post-review decision
- Average time from acceptance to first online appearance/publication.
Other specifics: Miscellaneous journal metrics that help an author in identifying a target journal are as follows:
- Acceptance rate
- Review rate
- Number of journal issues per year
- Number of papers published per year
- Provision of online submission
- Facility to track the manuscript status.
2. Citation-based journal metrics and ranking
Impact, largely determined by citation, is an important measure of a journal’s value and prestige. Impact can be gauged by different quantitative metrics, the oldest and most well-known impact metric being journal impact factor (IF). Of late, a variety of other journal metrics have come about, each using its own formula and academic bibliographic databases (e.g., Web of Science, Scopus). Publishers put up various journal metrics on their journal profiles for authors to view. The Science family of journals display the following metrics:
- 2-year IF
- 5-year IF
- Immediacy index
- Eigenfactor® score
- Article Influence Score
- h-index
In addition to 2- and 5-year IF and CiteScore, Taylor and Francis journals put up the following journal metrics:
- Source Normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP)
- Scimago Journal Rank (SJR).
Some journal metrics might overlap slightly, while some might be based on different formulae and databases. It is important to not focus on just one metric but use several journal metrics together for a more realistic picture of journal impact.
3. Altmetrics
Citation and publication trends vary across disciplines, and journal coverage of citation databases varies, leading to biases in citation metrics. Further, review articles tend to be cited more often, and the practice of self-citing can inflate certain impact metrics. Considering the limitations of traditional journal metrics, alternative metrics have been proposed. Altmetrics or alternative web-based metrics measure how many times a research output has been shared, mentioned, or downloaded by social media sites, blogs, and reference managers. Alternative metrics complement traditional impact indices and are a good alternative for disciplines where traditional journal metrics are not as meaningful for measuring impact. PlumX and Altmetric.com are two popular alternative metrics platforms. These metrics provide important impressions on the popularity of articles and research impact on social media.
How Researcher.Life can help you
Do you feel overwhelmed by the sheer number of journals in your field? Do you find the constellation of research metrics and especially journal metrics’ meanings confusing? As part of Researcher.Life ecosystem, which encompasses tools for skill building, article discovery, manuscript preparation and improvement, and fostering connections and communications with researchers globally, we have launched a solution for journal information to inform researchers on journal selection.
Global Journal Database is one place where you will be able to find all relevant information around a journal, which will help you choose if it is the right one for your work. If you are looking for holistic journal information, you can find details related to everything that a certain journal has published to date. The page then offers next steps, depending on selection or rejection of the journal in question. These steps will guide you toward other solutions from Researcher.Life related to manuscript improvement and various author needs.
Researchers are eager to have their work reach the right audience rapidly, which benefits not only their own career progression but also the advancement of research overall. A clear understanding of science journal metrics can help match a manuscript with the target journal and ultimately the audience that stands to benefit from it. Promising new solutions to assist authors at the journal selection step can cut down the time and effort needed for this and help them publish effectively.
