The Web of Science Group, part of Clarivate Analytics, has released the 2019 update to its annual Journal Citation Reports (JCR). The 2019 release aggregates the meaningful connections of citations created by the research community through the delivery of a rich array of publisher-independent data, metrics and analysis of the world’s high-quality academic journals.
The JCR claims to be the only journal report of its kind which is both complete and editorially selective; it contains all the data required to understand the components that index the value and impact of each journal as it captures all citations to the journal - including non-article materials such as editorials and policy-relevant comment. It also allows the status of a publication in that journal to be better interpreted, as it captures and highlights the network of references that connect one journal with another while identifying the key stakeholders – at institutional and international level – who lead that journal’s community.
The structured data are curated by a global team of experts who continuously evaluate and select the collections of journals, books and conference proceedings covered in the Web of Science Core Collection to ensure accuracy in evaluating journal impact. These expert insights enable researchers, publishers, editors, librarians and funders to explore the key drivers of a journal’s value for diverse audiences, making better use of the wide body of data and metrics available in the JCR, including the Journal Impact Factor (JIF).
This year 283 journals have been added, 108 of which are fully open access. The JCR report reflects cover-to-cover indexing of 2.3 million articles, reviews and other source items. The 11,877 journals hail from 81 countries across five continents. The report covers 236 disciplines, including the introduction of three new ones: Quantum Science & Technology (SCIE), Development Studies (SSCI) and Regional & Urban Planning (SSCI).
Seventeen journals have been suppressed from the JCR this year to ensure the integrity of the reports, representing 0.14% of the journals listed. The JCR is the only citation index which monitors and excludes journals that demonstrate anomalous citation behavior including where there is evidence of excessive journal self-citation and citation stacking.
The 2019 update includes new benefits which build on the innovations from 2018, which delivered richer, more detailed information to enhance users’ understanding of journal performance. Added in this 2019 release are: an enhanced Article Match Retrieval link service so publishers can directly link to the Journal profile page and promote this link on their website(s); the ability to print/download the entire Journal profile page via the "Printable version" links; new graphs to show both the Journal’s percentile rank in a category by JCR year within the Journal Impact Factor Tile and key indicator metrics for a journal from within the Journal profile Page; and a view of the breakdown of the “Uncited items” per article and the ability to view the Cited and Citing Journal Data in new JCR profile page.
The citation data, impact and influence metrics, and indicators contained within the JCR, are a vital resource for the entire research community: publishers, librarians, funders, institutions and individual academics. Publishers use the JCR to understand how their journals are performing, and to benchmark them against others in their discipline. Librarians use it to understand which journals are the most important to their institutions and researchers’ success and work, and which journals to subscribe to. The JCR is used by researchers as a definitive list and guide to discover and select the most appropriate journals to read and in which to publish their research findings.
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