Can Scopus Deliver A Better Journal Impact Metric?
While offering real improvements over Thomson Reuters, Scopus may be suffering from serious data integrity issues and communication problems with its third-party publishers.
Citable Items: The Contested Impact Factor Denominator
Thomson Reuters’ approach of indexing by journal section and revising by demand leads to great inconsistencies across journals and inflates the Impact Factors of elite journals. The solution: remove the human element.
As PLOS ONE Shrinks, 2015 Impact Factor Expected to Rise
How a shrinking journals receives an artificial boost to its leading citation indicator.
PLOS ONE Shrinks by 11 Percent
Can PLOS exist without a mega-journal?
Revisiting: Splitting the Difference — Does an Editorial Mutiny at a Journal Do Much Long-term Damage?
The recent editorial board defection from an Elsevier journal brings up issues raised in Todd Carpenter’s 2013 post on editorial boycotts and declarations of independence. They generate a lot of heat, but what do the data say about the actual success of the new journals compared to the journals that were overthrown.
Seeing the Forest (Plot) for the Trees
Clean, data rich, and intuitive, forest plots can be used to visualize publication metrics.
If We don’t Know What Citations Mean, What Does it Mean when We Count Them?
There is no shortage of critique of citation metrics and other efforts to quantify the “impact” of scholarship. Will a report calling for “responsible metrics” help researchers, administrators and funders finally wean themselves?
Network-based Citation Metrics: Eigenfactor vs. SJR
Can network-based metrics allow us to separate true scientific influence from mere popularity?
When Do Citations Reflect "Impact?"
Citation practices vary between and within STM and HSS; they also vary by discipline and within disciplines. Though citation metrics presume evidence of “impact,” in fact a citation may represent a range of intentions. Given the emphasis on citation indices, isn’t it important to query what scholars are actually doing when they cite another scholar’s work?
Knockoffs Erode Trust in Metrics Market
If the Internet created a burgeoning market of cheap academic journal knockoffs, should we be surprised to witness new knockoff ratings companies?
Production Plummets at PLOS–But For a Good Reason
Is there (ever) a good time to overhaul a publishers’ production system? If you care about your journals’ Impact Factor, the answer is “yes.”
When a Journal Sinks, Should the Editors Go Down with the Ship?
This year, Thomson Reuters suspended six business journals for engaging in a citation cartel. Should the authors be held responsible for the malfeasance of their editors? We propose a new solution to punishing the community for the poor decisions of the few.
Exhibition Prohibition — Why Shouldn’t Publishers Celebrate an Improved Impact Factor?
A trend toward shaming journals that promote their impact factors needs to be rolled back. Impact factors are journal metrics. It’s the other uses that need to be curtailed.
The Mystery of a “Partial” Impact Factor
The lack of an Impact Factor is one reason that new journals have difficulty attracting submissions. Some journals, such as eLife and Cell Reports, qualify for an Impact Factor based on partial data. This post explores how that happens.
A Day at the Beach — How the Messiness and Unpredictability of Journals Thwart Granularity
Attempts to use new measurements to more finely predict or represent journal quality are bound to falter because of some qualities inherent to journals themselves.