Lisa Griffin, PhD |
Nov.
21, 2024
In honor of Publication Integrity Week, and with so many scientific journals to choose from, it is important to discuss how to determine journal quality. There are several indexes that provide journal rankings using a variety of algorithms. One of the most well-known is the impact factor (IF) which is calculated by Clarivate Analytics for journals indexed in the Web of Science. IF calculations are part of Clarivate’s Journal Citation Reports, which also provide a number of other journal quality metrics. A journal’s IF is the ratio of the number of citations in a given year to the number of articles published in the previous two years. Essentially, the IF is the average number of times that articles published in a journal in the last two years have been cited.
The h-index was originally developed to indicate the impact and productivity of individual authors. Now the h-index is also used as a quality marker for journals. The h-index can be generated by data from a number of sources, such as the Web of Science and Google Scholar, and is the highest number of articles a journal has published that have been cited at least that many times. Google Scholar also generates an h5-index which only includes articles published in the most recent five years, and so is a better indicator of a journal’s current influence.
The SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) uses data from journals indexed in Scopus and is based on not only how many citations a journal receives, but also where they come from. The SJR is calculated as the average number of citations (weighted based on citing journal prestige and closeness) to articles published in a journal in the previous three years.
Just being indexed in one of the databases such as the Web of Science and Scopus, or MEDLINE (the primary part of PubMed) and the Directory of Open Access Journals, are marks of journal quality because there are a set of minimum criteria (e.g., article quality and consistency, ethical standards, and journal acceptance rates) that journals must meet to be included. Note that, while Google Scholar includes journal data, it is not considered a journal index due to the lack of quality criteria for inclusion.
Finally, journals from reputable organizations, such as ACSM, are held to standards and have oversight by the parent organization/college. For example, the ACSM Publications Committee members and Editorial Services Office staff ensure that ACSM journals are held to the highest quality standards. Another benefit of publishing in one of the ACSM journals is that it ensures a large readership distribution.