Effectiveness of Journal Ranking Schemes
Author Information
Author(s): Michael J. Stringer, Marta Sales-Pardo, Luís A. Nunes Amaral
Primary Institution: Northwestern University
Hypothesis
How effective are journal ranking schemes in evaluating unpublished research?
Conclusion
The study proposes a journal-ranking scheme that maximizes the efficiency of locating high impact research.
Supporting Evidence
- The study analyzed citation data from over 22 million papers.
- It found that the distribution of citations converges to a steady state after a journal-specific transient time.
- The proposed ranking scheme is based on the typical impact of papers published in a journal.
Takeaway
This study looks at how well journal rankings can help find important research papers, and suggests a better way to rank journals.
Methodology
The study systematically evaluates the effectiveness of journals at evaluating unpublished research through citation analysis.
Potential Biases
The study acknowledges that citation behavior varies by field, which can introduce bias in rankings.
Limitations
The study is limited to journals that publish at least 50 articles per year for at least 15 years.
Participant Demographics
The analysis includes data from 2,267 journals across various fields.
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)
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