Journal Rankings Research Articles

The price of quality: Scholarly publishing business is the primary predictor of citation-based indicators of journal performance in ecology and evolutionary biology

Abstract Citation-based indicators of journals’ performance are often assumed to offer an objective, albeit indirect, way of measuring research quality. However, recent concerns about their applicability for research evaluation suggested these indicators could depend on historical and socioeconomic factors associated with scholarly publishing tradition and business, respectively. The present study addressed this issue quantitatively, using data on h-index and Scimago Journal Rank (SJR) for 566 journals within the fields of ecology and evolutionary biology, and applying Partial Least Squared Structural Equation Modelling. The Tradition Model accounted for <50% of the variation in h-index and SJR, showing that journals’ performance increased with an increase in articles’ international collaboration, and decreased for journals published by non-profit organizations. The Business Model accounted for >60% of the variation in h-index and SJR, showing that journals’ performance increased in association with the global50 ranking of publishers and high article processing charges. Countries recognized as world science centres, the use of English, the journal’s, and publisher’s year of origin, and the increase in science investment and scientific production promoted by the richest economies worldwide had no impact on journal performance. Results suggest that the h-index for journals and the SJR reflect multi-dimensional aspects of scholarly publishing, potentially affected by marketing strategies boosted by the biggest commercial publishers. Given the limitations of poor scientific communities in terms of publication costs, uncritical application of these indexes for research evaluation worldwide may reinforce the idea that high quality research is produced only by rich scientific societies.

Government Internal Control Systems in Indonesia: A Bibliographic Study

This study aims to map and explain the development of research related to the Government Internal Control System (SPIP) in Indonesia for a decade and provide an overview of the future research agenda for the Government Internal Control System (SPIP) in Indonesia. The academic literature used is in the form of published articles in Sinta accredited national journals from 2011 to 2022. Mapping based on journal accreditation rank, year of article publication, research method, theory used, research object, distribution of research objects in Indonesia, research variabels, research results and future research agenda. This research uses a qualitative descriptive method with a bibliographic study approach. The data obtained were 51 articles from 37 accredited journals from Sinta 2 to Sinta 4. The results showed that the most articles were published in 2018, namely 10 articles. The majority of articles were published in the Sinta 4 rank as many as 24 articles. The most frequently used theory is agency theory. The most frequently used research method is the quantitative method of multiple regression analysis. The most frequently researched research object is in Central Java province. Based on the research results, most of the SPIP has a positive effect on the variabel quality of local government financial reports.

The importance of ABS 2 journals in finance scholarship: Evidence from a bibliometric case study

Recently among finance academic journals, it has become no longer the case that the highest externally rated journals are necessarily the most cited. Through the lens of a bibliometric case study, we highlight the integral contribution of ABS 2 articles to bibliometric-based conclusions. We demonstrate that selecting ABS2+ versus ABS3+ significantly changes results. Conceptually, we argue that as bibliometric analysis is citation based, a priori cutoffs for article inclusion should also be journal citation based, rather than external journal rankings based. Now that several ABS 2 journals are among the highest cited journals in finance, reconsiderations are needed.

Referencing behaviours across disciplines: publication types and common metadata for defining bibliographic references

In this work, we investigate existing citation practices by analysing a huge set of articles published in journals to measure which metadata are used across the various scholarly disciplines, independently from the particular citation style adopted, for defining bibliographic reference. We selected the most cited journals in each of the 27 subject areas listed in the SCImago Journal Rank in the 2015–2017 triennium according to the SCImago total cites ranking. Each journal in the sample was represented by five articles (in PDF format) published in the most recent issue published in October 2019, for a total of 729 articles. We extracted all 34,140 bibliographic references in the bibliographic references lists of these articles. Finally, we detected the types of cited works in each discipline and the structure of bibliographic references and in-text reference pointers for each type of cited work. By analysing the data gathered, we observed that the bibliographic references in our sample referenced 36 different types of cited works. Such a considerable variety of publications revealed the existence of particular citing behaviours in scientific articles that varied from subject area to subject area.

Corporate Social Responsibility in Family Firms: Status and Future Directions of a Research Field

This systematic literature review contributes to the increasing interest regarding corporate social responsibility (CSR) in family firms—a research field that has developed considerably in the last few years. It now provides the opportunity to take a holistic view on the relationship dynamics—i.e., drivers, activities, outcomes, and contextual influences—of family firms with CSR, thus enabling a more coherent organization of current research and a sounder understanding of the phenomenon. To conceptualize the research field, we analyzed 122 peer-reviewed articles published in highly ranked journals identifying the main issues examined. The results clearly show a lack of research regarding CSR outcomes in family firms. Although considered increasingly crucial in family firm research, a study investigating family outcomes (e.g., family community status, family emotional well-being), as opposed to firm outcomes, is missing. This literature review outlines the current state of research and contributes to the actual debate on CSR in family firms by discussing how family firms can use CSR activities as strategic management tools. Moreover, our analysis shows a black box indicating how CSR links different antecedents and outcomes. The black box is significant since firms generally need to know where to allocate their scarce resources to generate the best outcomes. We identify nine research questions based on these findings, which we hope will inspire future research.

Classification and citation analysis of the 100 top-cited articles on nurse resilience using chord diagrams: A bibliometric analysis.

Studies of most-cited articles have been frequently conducted on various topics and in various medical fields. To date, no study has examined the characteristics of articles associated with theme classifications and research achievements of article entities related to nursing resilience. This study aims to graphically depict the characteristics of the 100 top-cited articles addressing nurse resilience (T100NurseR), diagram the relationship between articles and author collaborations according to themes extracted from article keywords, and examine whether article keywords are correlated with article citations. T100NurseR publications were retrieved from the Web of Science (WoS) core collection on October 13, 2022. Themes associated with articles were explored using coword analysis in WoS keywords plus. The document category, journal ranking based on impact factor, authorship, and L-index and Y-index were used to analyze the dominant entities. To report the themes of T100NurseR and their research achievements in comparison to article entities and verify the hypothesis that keyword mean citation can be used to predict article citations, 5 visualizations were applied, including network diagrams, chord diagrams, dot plots, Kano diagrams, and radar plots. Citations per article averaged 61.96 (range, 25-514). There were 5 themes identified in T100NurseR, including Parses theory, nurse resilience, conflict management, nursing identity, and emotional intelligence. For countries, institutes, departments, and authors in comparison of category, journal impact factor, authorship, and L-index scores, Australia (129.80), the University of Western Sydney (23.12), Nursing (87.17), and Kim Foster (23.76) are the dominant entities. The weighted number of citations according to Keywords Plus in WoS is significantly correlated with article citations (Pearson R = 0.94; P = .001). We present diagrams to guide evidence-based clinical decision-making in nurse resilience based on the characteristics of the T100NurseR articles. Article citations can be predicted using weighted keywords. Future bibliographical studies may apply the 5 visualizations to relevant studies, not being solely restricted to T100NurseR.

Factors Associated With Open Access Publishing Costs in Oncology Journals: Cross-sectional Observational Study.

Open access (OA) publishing represents an exciting opportunity to facilitate the dissemination of scientific information to global audiences. However, OA publishing is often associated with significant article processing charges (APCs) for authors, which may thus serve as a barrier to publication. In this observational cohort study, we aimed to characterize the landscape of OA publishing in oncology and, further, identify characteristics of oncology journals that are predictive of APCs. We identified oncology journals using the SCImago Journal & Country Rank database. All journals with an OA publication option and APC data openly available were included. We searched journal websites and tabulated journal characteristics, including APC amount (in US dollars), OA model (hybrid vs full), 2-year impact factor (IF), H-index, number of citable documents, modality/treatment specific (if applicable), and continent of origin. All APCs were converted to US-dollar equivalents for final analyses. Selecting variables with significant associations in the univariable analysis, we generated a multiple regression model to identify journal characteristics independently associated with OA APC amount. An audit of a random 10% sample of the data was independently performed by 2 authors to ensure data accuracy, precision, and reproducibility. Of 367 oncology journals screened, 251 met the final inclusion criteria. The median APC was US $2957 (IQR 1958-3450). The majority of journals (n=156, 62%) adopted the hybrid OA publication model and were based in Europe (n=119, 47%) or North America (n=87, 35%). The median (IQR) APC for all journals was US $2957 (1958-3540). Twenty-five (10%) journals had APCs greater than US $4000. There were 10 (4%) journals that offered OA publication with no publication charge. Univariable testing showed that journals with a greater number of citable documents (P<.001), higher 2-year IF (P<.001), higher H-index (P<.001), and those using the hybrid OA model (P<.001), or originating in Europe or North America (P<.001) tended to have higher APCs. In our multivariable model, the number of citable documents (β=US $367, SD US $133; P=.006), 2-year IF (US $1144, SD US $177; P<.001), hybrid OA publishing model (US $991, SD US $189; P<.001), and North American origin (US $838, SD US $186; P<.001) persisted as significant predictors of processing charges. OA publication costs are greater in oncology journals that publish more citable articles, use the hybrid OA model, have a higher IF, and are based in North America or Europe. These findings may inform targeted action to help the oncology community fully appreciate the benefits of open science.

The Role of International Research Collaboration and Faculty Related Factors in Publication Citations: Evidence from Lebanon

The importance of international collaboration in the research field is well-documented, but its impact on the number of citations received by research publications is not fully understood. This paper aims to fill this gap by examining the relationship between international collaboration and other factors and the number of citations for research publications. Using data from the Lebanese American University, the authors employ ordinary least squares estimation to analyze the impact of international collaboration on the number of citations while controlling for various publications, authorship, university, and socioeconomic factors. The results show that international collaboration has a statistically significant positive effect on the number of citations. Based on these findings, we recommend that institutions and researchers seeking to increase the number of citations for their publications should focus on building and maintaining strong international collaborations and publishing in high-quality journals. This paper provides evidence of the importance of international collaboration for researchers seeking to increase the reach and impact of their publications. It also provides insights into the relevance of other factors, such as the number of publications, age, and journal rank.

“Breaking news” from the Journal of Management Control: changes of editors, editorial board members, journal rankings and Best Reviewer Awards 2022

“Breaking news” from the Journal of Management Control: changes of editors, editorial board members, journal rankings and Best Reviewer Awards 2022

Trends in authorship characteristics and collaboration in pharmacy practice publications: 2011-2020.

Research and scholarly publications are core expectations in academia that often require collaboration. While the number of authors per document (NAPD) has increased in every discipline, co-authorship culture and collaboration patterns vary among disciplines and countries. To determine the trends in the patterns and characteristics of authorship and collaborations in United States' pharmacy practice faculty publications from 2011 to 2020. Seven pharmacy practice journals were selected based on previous studies and data from Scimago Journal and Country Rank. Articles and reviews (document types) published during the decade were obtained from the Scopus database. Data cleaning and analysis were done using Microsoft Excel, R programming language packages, and VOSviewer. The Mann-Kendall trend test was used to determine the presence of (positive/negative) monotonic trends. Eight thousand and fifty-nine documents published in the selected journals (82.7% articles; 17.3% reviews) by 18,575 unique authors during the decade were analyzed. In most documents (69.3-78.7%), senior/corresponding authors were first authors. There were statistically significant upward trends in the mean NAPD (3.8±2.2 to 4.7±2.4), median NAPD, and related bibliometric indices (degree of collaboration, collaborative index, and collaborative coefficient). Conversely, productivity (document per unique author) significantly trended downward and had a strong, negative correlation with mean NAPD. The proportion of one-author publications also trended downward (12.2%-3.6%). Evidence also supports a downward trend in institutional collaboration and an upward trend in international collaboration. The assumption that last authors are senior authors does not hold in pharmacy practice publications. The increase in NAPD is not considered as authorship inflation, but rather an authorship "upcreep" that is driven by a survival strategy to publish together, predominantly within institutions rather than across institutions or countries. Therefore, faculty publication benchmarks should be crafted to mitigate the inverse relationship between collaboration and productivity, without discouraging collaboration.

Publication and scientific visibility in communication. The Latin America case

Scientific production on communication issues in the world is increasing and can be evidenced in the visibility records of authors and studies in journals of high scientific impact. However, in regions such as Latin America, this production is not as desired, and continues to suffer from satisfactory indicators of visibility of the efforts of institutions and researchers. This is revealed by the exploratory research and technological surveillance and strategic intelligence carried out from the Scopus database, in observance of the Scimago Journal and Country Rank (SJR) classification in the period 2018-2022, and in comparison with the scientific production of the periods 2014-2019 and from 2000 to 2022. The visibility of scientific production in high-impact journals (quartiles: 1, 2, 3 and 4) reveals that Latin America increased not only research, but also scientific production in communication during the period 2018-2022. An unfinished formation and conformation of the field of communication deserves to listen to the heartbeat of all regions of the world (Torrico, 2011) and provoke reflection on the constitutive history of the field of knowledge, as well as communication research (Vidales, 2015), at times in which science has and can access greater possibilities for its strengthening.

How Reliable Are Impact Factors for Ranking Water Resources Journals? An Analysis of the 70,878 Citation Records of the 2002 and 2021 Top 10 Journals for the Last Two Decades

AbstractDespite regularly being criticized, the Impact Factor (IF) remains a widely used journal analysis metric. In the Water Resources category of the Web of Science, a thorough investigation of the reliability of this metric is lacking. This study analyzed the citation records of the top 10 journals from 2002 through 2021 for the last two decades. Important to note, there are inconsistencies in the Web of Science database. Contradictory to many fields, few papers are uncited. However, the Simpson paradox applies. More specifically, on the one hand, the correlation between citations to papers 7 years post publication and 1 or 2 years post publication (which determine the IF) has increased, which supports this metric. On the other hand, many of the most highly cited papers at the time of the IF calculation are lowly cited 5 years afterward. Additionally, most currently very highly cited papers were relatively uncited when they were used in the IF calculation. This raises doubt about the usefulness of this metric. For a limited number of journals, papers from individual nations strongly influence the IF. Also, for a few journals, the IFs are strongly influenced by review papers, but leaving these out of the IF does change the top 3 and 10 of the rankings. The general conclusion is that IFs do contain some valuable information about the journals' citation impact, but that using them to rank journals is questionable practice.

Perspectives on socio-ecological studies in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres

Socio-ecology studies the relationships between human activities and natural systems and their importance in management and public policy. Our objective was to analyse how published papers in countries with a high Human Development Index (HDI) perform socio-ecological studies and compare them between the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. To do this, we used the Scopus platform as a source for searching and obtaining scientific papers about socio-ecological studies conducted in countries from the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. We calculated the number (n) of papers published per year and classified them using the main subject areas of the SCImago Journal & Country Rank database. Then, we analysed whether papers included specific recommendations for natural system management, nature conservation, policies or governance structures, or science in general. Besides, we studied whether the papers addressed socio-ecological studies related to flora and fauna and from what specific group of organisms or systems. Data were compared using the chi-square (χ2) test (Pearson p < 0.005). A total of 467 papers were analysed, where 34% were from the Southern Hemisphere (mainly Argentina, Australia, Chile, and South Africa) and 66% from the Northern Hemisphere (mainly the USA, Canada, and Spain). The Northern Hemisphere (mainly North America and Europe) played a major role in the socio-ecological knowledge exchange than the Southern Hemisphere (South America and Africa). The results showed socio-ecological studies focused mainly on generating management recommendations in social and environmental science fields. The number of studies coming from the Northern Hemisphere was significantly higher than those from the Southern Hemisphere. Most of them were conducted at a local level (e.g., watersheds or human settlements) in three different systems (i) terrestrial (e.g., forests or grasslands), (ii) freshwater (e.g., rivers or streams) and (iii) marine (e.g., coastlines or seas). Most of the studies (70%) were conducted in production systems, where the majority included livestock (mainly bovine) and aquatic fisheries (e.g., salmon, artisanal coastal fishing, or trout). Most vegetation papers (65%) were on native forests. Papers on wildlife made up 30% of all animal-related studies, with mammals, birds, and marine invertebrates (such as collars) being the most extensively researched species. This work highlighted the socio-ecological approach that was used in the analysed countries with greater HDI to develop management options for natural systems.

Gender Composition in Occupational Therapy Journals’ Editorial Boards

This paper analyses the Editorial Board (EB) distribution of Occupational Therapy journals from a gender perspective. The "Occupational Therapy" field in the Scimago Journal and Country Rank (SJR) and the "Occupational Therapy" term in the title search of the Journal Citation Report (JCR) were used to find the Occupational Therapy-specific journals. The following indicators were calculated: Editorial Board Member (EBM) gender distribution by journal, publisher, subject speciality, country, and journal quartile. Thirty-seven journals were located, including 667 individuals, 206 males (31%) and 461 females (69%). Referring to the EB positions, most members (557) were EB members, 70 were listed as Associate Editors, and 20 as Editorial Leaders. The results show that the proportion of women in the EB's of Occupational Therapy journals represents a majority. Regarding the distribution by gender of the EBMs, six journals had a female proportion below the cut-off point revealed in this study (69%). Four did not reach parity, with female representation below 50%. Additionally, the balance among the EBMs is significantly underrepresented compared to the percentage of female Occupational Therapy practitioners.

Comparison of the open access status and metrics of Scopus journals published in East Asian countries: a descriptive study

Purpose: The objective of this study was to compare Scopus journals published in East Asian countries—China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan—in terms of their open access status and metrics and to explore the implications of those findings for South Korea.Methods: To conduct this study, we selected four East Asian countries: China, Japan, South Korea, and Taiwan. We used journal information provided by SCImago Journal Rank (SJR) and Scopus. The following parameters were analyzed for journals published in East Asian countries: open access status, subject categories, quartiles, number of published documents, h-index, publishers, and citation rate.Results: In all East Asian countries, numerous commercial publishers publish journals. One exception is Science Press, a Chinese government-sponsored publisher, which published the largest number of journals in the East Asian region. Japan had the highest median number of years covered by SJR. However, the proportion of Q1 journals in Japan was the lowest of the East Asian countries. South Korea had the highest proportion of Q1 journals in the country’s total journal production. Publishers in South Korea published more open access journals than any other East Asian country. Despite publishing a high proportion of prestigious journals, South Korea lagged behind China and Japan in the number of Scopus-indexed journals.Conclusion: The findings indicate that South Korea has made significant progress in locally producing influential journals over the years. However, more efforts to publish international journals are required for South Korea to increase the number of Scopus journals.

Promotion and caution in research article abstracts: The use of positive, negative and hedge words across disciplines and rankings

AbstractAbstract as a promotional genre has been an increasing interest in recent years, leading to an intriguing debate on the objectivity of scientific writing. The present study investigated the promotion and caution in research article abstracts through the use of positive, negative and hedge words across disciplines and rankings based on a large and principled dataset (more than 12.6 million words). The corpus was designed and built with full consideration of representativeness, structure, balance, and size in terms of discipline and ranking. The results showed that positive words were more frequently used than negative words in terms of both discipline and ranking, positive and negative words were more frequently used in hard sciences than those in soft sciences and high ranking journals than those in low ranking journals, and hedge words were more frequently used in high ranking journals and soft sciences. Further investigation also found a complexity of frequency patterns when two disciplines were broken down into specific categories. The more frequent use of positive words in abstracts to promote scientific research was discussed from the perspective of disciplinary knowledge construction in addition to the publication bias, the outcome reporting bias, and universal linguistic positivity bias.

Digital Archiving Policies of Central European Journals Registered in the Directory of Open Access Journals

Abstract This paper examines digital archiving policies of open access (OA) electronic scholarly journals in Central Europe. The research sample consists of 1589 journals from nine Central European countries registered in the Directory of Open Access Journals (DOAJ). Results show that of the 1589 journals, 69% of them have an archiving policy. In terms of the number of indexed journals, Poland ranks first with 592 journals. Switzerland is at the forefront of digital archiving with 89% of archived journals. It was also found that Portico and national libraries are the most widely used archives, and that 19% of the preserved journals are archived in more than one archive. A preliminary analysis was also conducted to investigate the possible existence of a relationship between journal rank and digital archiving. The results show a higher number of JCR indexed titles, as well as a higher ranking, among archived journals. The paper also compares the status of archiving policies among Asian and Central European countries. The results reveal that archived journals are significantly more represented in Central European countries.

How Do Editorial Board Members Contribute to Journal Ranking in Library and Information Science?

The paper aims to detect publication contributions of editorial board members (EBMs) to academic journal ranking as exemplified by Russian LIS serials divided into three groups according to their authority. To reveal the EBMs’ contribution in each group, papers by EBMs in their parent journals as well as other sources were studied with comparative analyses of EBMs’ papers in parent journals and papers by other authors in the same journals. The Russian Science Citation Index (RSCI) was used for collecting indicators that reflect journal ranks and scholarly output of EBMs. We found no relationship between journal ranking and a share of EBMs’ papers in a parent journal. Citation analyses of EBMs’ papers as well as citations of parent journals made by EBMs from other sources reveals a significant effect of EBMs on the rank of top-tiered and low-tiered journals pointing at active participation of EBMs in the development of parent journals. Zero or even negative impact of EBMs’ papers on the journal rank is registered in the middle-tiered group implying formalistic engagement of researchers to join the editorial boards, lack of interest in the journal work, or possible violation of the publication ethics by publishing poorly cited or uncited papers in parent journals due to less strict peer-review processes. The paper adds to a better understanding of the nature of journal ranking, particularly, impact factors, as well as performance of EBMs in the field of LIS publications. The ethics and possible conflict of interests related to publishing in parent journals are discussed. The results of the study can be useful for revising journal policy or editorial board composition.

Determinants of impact factor and Eigenfactor score in otolaryngology journals.

This study aims to identify determinants of high impact, measured by Impact Factor (IF) and Eigenfactor score, among otolaryngology journals. Bibliometric data of "otorhinolaryngology" journals were collected from the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) database. For the years 2009-2020, we collected normalized Eigenfactor score, 5-year IF, immediacy index, fraction of IF from journal-self citation, proportion and magnitude of published citable articles, and total citation counts. High-IF and -Eigenfactor journals were considered those within the top-quartile of that metric each respective year. High-IF and -Eigenfactor otolaryngology journals displayed higher 5-year IFs, immediacy indexes, and IF without self-citation (p < .05 for all years) including total citations counts and citable articles when ranked by Eigenfactor (p < .05 for all years). Otolaryngology IF correlated with 5-year IF and immediacy index within the same year (p < .05 for all years) and from previous years (p < .05 for all years; p < .05 for2017-2018; p > .05 for2009-2016). Eigenfactor correlated with 5-year IF, total citation counts, and citable articles within the same year (p < .05 for all years) and previous years (p < .05 for2013-2018). Multilinear regression revealed that 5-year IF (p < .05 for2009-2018) and immediacy index from the prior 2 years (p < .05 for2017-2018; p > .05 for2009-2016) predicted 2019 IF. Similarly, 5-year IF, total citation counts, and citable articles (p < .05 for 2013-2018) predicted 2019 Eigenfactor score. Sustained publication of impactful articles is the dominant driver of high IF and Eigenfactor score. Eigenfactor score reflects a unique evaluation of otolaryngology journals; ranking otolaryngology journals by their Eigenfactor scores significantly alters journal ranking compared to ranking by IF. NA.

A Bibliometric and Visual Analysis of the Most Cited Articles on Disc Arthroplasty.

Bibliometric literature review. Total disc arthroplasty (TDA) is an evolving technique used by surgeons to preserve neural elements and range of motion in patients with degenerative disc disease, spondylosis and more. In comparison to discectomy, disc arthroplasty has been shown to decrease morbidity, reduce adjacent-level disease, and preserve pre-operative range of motion. The objective of this manuscript is to provide a bibliometric analysis of the use of disc arthroplasty in scientific literature and highlight the main contributing authors and their publication characteristics. The Scopus database was used to perform a title-specific, keyword-based search for all publications until June 2022. The keyword "total disc arthroplasty" was used. The most-cited 100 articles were selected for analysis. Parameters included the following: title, citation count, citations per year, authors, specialty first author, institution, country of origin, publishing journal, Source Normalized, Impact Per Paper (SNIP), and Hirsch index. Our search on disc arthroplasty yielded 580 articles that were published, with the first publication on the topic found in 1966. The most cited 100 articles received a total of 8694 citations, with an average of 86.94 citations per article. After assessing countries with the greatest contributions, United States, China, and Germany were top 3 with 54, 14, and 7 articles, respectively. The bibliometric analysis provides an overview of how medical research is analyzed in academic medicine. In the present study, we evaluated the global trends in disc arthroplasty for the treatment of degenerative disc disease.