Personal Research Database

Title: Serials Review

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JCR Abbreviated Title:

ISSN: 0098-7913

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: Impact Factor

Anderson, P. (1997), ‘Gatekeepers’ and the quality of the journal literature: Findings from a survey of journal editors into the issue of alleged excessive publication in scholarly and scientific journals. Serials Review, 23 (2), 45-57.

Full Text: 1997\Ser Rev23, 45.pdf

Abstract: The findings discussed here are not an exhaustive rendition of all the factors—professional, academic and ethical—surrounding the issue of excessive publication. Instead, they outline a problem of current and growing concern within the professional serials librarian community and are intended to equip serials librarians to deal more effectively with the phenomenon.

The occasionally divergent characteristics of excessive publication in the sciences and the social sciences, although only briefly touched upon here, provide an initial indication of what serials librarians and subject specialists should look for in attempting to assess the quality of the journal literature in different disciplines.

It may be true that some journal editors regard serials librarians as superfluous to the ‘gatekeeper’ function—a point sadly confirmed by these findings. Such a situation indicates a clear need on the part of the serials librarian community to take a more proactive role in asserting their responsibilities in this area. Many serials librarians will complain that their libraries are a captive audience, that they have little scope to contribute to the debate on excessive publication, and even less to influence directly the quality control role of journal editors and publishers, that they are victims.

Chapman and Webster typify the views of many observers when they explicitly single out journal publishers as exploiters of academic libraries: ‘… it is libraries, pressed by their academic colleagues, which provide the bulk of the circulation for journals and assured profit for the publisher. They are charged exorbitant rates on the grounds that they are read by many people. But can we continue in this way? Are libraries’ stacks to bulge with unread journals?.

These are important questions which require longterm strategic consideration. What is clear is that the problem of excessive publication is one of many closely inter-linked issues which influence collection evaluation approaches. It is incumbent upon the academic and research library community to base collection management decisions on a thorough consideration of the qualitative aspects of collection development, through a more informed understanding of the issue of journal and article quality.

The findings reported here can best be utilized as only one part of an intelligent, planned collection management process. Recommendations from academic and research staff, evidence from user studies, bibliometric analyses, and subscription costs are all important factors in assessing the value of scholarly and scientific journals—but none should be regarded in isolation.

Edwards S. (1999), Citation analysis as a collection development tool: A bibliometric study of polymer science theses and dissertations. Serials Review, 25 (1), 11-20.

Full Text: 1999\Ser Rev25, 11.pdf

Testa, J. (2003), The Thomson ISI journal selection process. Serials Review, 29 (3), 210-212.

Full Text: 2003\Ser Rev25, 210.pdf

Abstract: For more than four decades, Thomson ISI (Institute for Scientific Information) has been committed to a fundamental mission: to provide essential products and services that enable access to and management of the highest quality, most relevant materials for all participants in the research process. In 1958, Dr. Eugene Garfield started ISI by borrowing five hundred dollars from Household Finance. Current Contents^® of Chemical, Phamaco-Medical & Life Sciences was the sole product, covering 286 journals. Today the Thomson ISI database covers more than 16,000 international journals, books, and proceedings in the sciences, social sciences, and arts and humanities. This article describes the processes and standards that result in ISI’s abstracting and indexing services. Serials Review 2003, 29:210–212.

? Park, T.K. (2008), Asian and pacific region authorship characteristics in leading library and information science journals. Serials Review, 34 (4), 243-251.

Full Text: 2008\Scr Mat34, 243.pdf

Abstract: Authorship characteristics from the Asian and Pacific region In the top twenty journals in library and information science are studied. Data was collected searching the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) Web of Science databases. Major findings of this study are: there are a total of 1,317 articles for the period 1.967 to 2005; the most productive countries are, in rank order, Australia, China, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore, Japan, New Zealand, Malaysia, Thailand and Philippines; and 77.6 percent of authors in the top twenty library and information science Journals contributed a single article. Among the library science journals about 50 percent were written by multiple authors, while 73.1 percent of articles in the information science journals were written collaboratively. The most productive individual authors in the region are reported. The strongest collaboration within the region took place between Australia and China; China and Singapore; Australia and New Zealand. Serials Review 2008; 34:243-251. (C) 2008 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Authors, Authorship, China, Collaboration, College, Databases, Information, Information Science, ISI, Japan, Journals, Library and Information Science, Library Science, Malaysia, New Zealand, Review, Scholarly Productivity, Science, Scientific Information, Serials, South Korea, US LIS Faculty, Web of Science

? Deng, P.S.H., Yang, G.K.L. and Lin, J.S.J. (2006), Note on correction factor for estimating the diameter of embedded cylindrical fibres from metallographic sections. Scripta Materialia, 55 (4), 419-420.

Full Text: 2006\Scr Mat55, 419.pdf

Abstract: This article recalculates the correction factor for estimating the diameter of aligned cylindrical fibres from random metallographic sections as put forward in the paper of Lewis and Withers [Acta Metall. Mater. 43 (1995) 3685]. Their assertion may contain typographic and arithmetic errors (leading to an error of a factor of 2). The diameter must be estimated from longitudinal metallographic sections where the fibre diameters are partially embedded and therefore cannot be measured directly. In view of the high level of citations of the original paper, it is important to address this problem accurately and completely to ensure the successful application of their suggested method by others. The purpose of this short note is to correct their results.

Keywords: Correction Factor, Cylinder Diameter

? Wang, M.Y., Zhou, Z.X., Fang, H.L. and Liu, X.L. (2011), The bibliometric characteristics of Chinese medical core journals. Serials Review, 37 (1), 9-13.

Full Text: 2011\Ser Rev37, 9.pdf

Abstract: To provide bibliometric evidence for Chinese medical journals to be considered for the evaluation system of core journals, the authors have undertaken a comparative study on bibliometric characteristics between Chinese core journals and common journals (journals not included in A Guide to the Core Journals of China). There are 203 Chinese medical core journals and 440 Chinese common journals. Impact factor, ratio of articles supported with funding sources (foundation), total yearly pages and average article length of core journals are significantly higher than those of common journals in China. Medical editors can take effective measures to improve academic levels and journal impact by considering factors from this study, such as having a proper and short publication cycle, increasing the impact factor, concentrating on articles with foundation support, publishing more high-impact papers, increasing substantive content and publishing more articles with abstracts. Serials Review 2011, 37:9-13. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Keywords: Authors, Bibliometric, Characteristics, China, Chinese, Comparative Study, Evaluation, Evidence, Funding, Impact, Impact Factor, Journal, Journal Impact, Journals, Length, Mar, Medical, Medical Journals, Papers, Publication, Publishing, Sources, Support