A methodological issue concerning the use of Social Sciences Citation Index Journal Citation Reports impact factor data for journal ranking |
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| Institution: | 1. Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra e Geoambientali, Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro, Via E. Orabona, 4, 70125 Bari, Italy;2. ISMAR-CNR, Bologna, Via Gobetti 101, 40129 Bologna, Italy;3. Stazione Zoologica Anton Dohrn, Villa Comunale, 80121 Napoli, Italy;4. Biology Department, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, 266 Woods Hole Road, Woods Hole, MA 02543, USA;5. Institut Royal des Sciences Naturelles de Belgique, 29, Rue Vautier, 1000 Brussels, Belgium |
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| Abstract: | Following a brief introduction of citation-based journal rankings as potential serials management tools, the most frequently used citation measure—impact factor—is explained. This paper then demonstrates a methodological bias inherent in averaging Social Sciences Citation Index Journal Citation Reports (SSCI JCR) impact factor data from two or more consecutive years. A possible method for correcting the bias, termed adjusted impact factor, is proposed. For illustration, a set of political science journals is ranked according to three different methods (crude averaging, weighted averaging, and adjusted impact factor) for combining SSCI JCR impact factor data from successive years. Although the correlations among the three methods are quite high, one can observe noteworthy differences in the rankings that could impact on collection development decisions. |
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