The thirteen most cited journals in economics

A citation matrix for the thirteen most cited journals in economics is constructed from data in theSocial Sciences Citation Index. ^tm The components of the eigenvector associated with the largest possible eigenvalue (the Frobenius root) of this matrix defines “impact values” by which these journals may be ranked.     

Measuring the similarity between the reference and citation distributions of journals

The “Jaccardized Czekanowski index”, JCz, an indicator measuring the similarity between the cited and citing journal list of a given journal is proposed in the paper. It is shown that the indicator characterizes the network properties of individual journals and, in aggregated form, also that of subject categories or countries. For subject categories, JCz appears to be related to the multidisciplinarity of the category. For countries, the multinational or local character of the publishers seems to have determining role.     

The citation impact of social sciences and humanities upon patentable technology

This paper examines the citation impact of papers published in scientific-scholarly journals upon patentable technology, as reflected in examiner- or inventor-given references in granted patents. It analyses data created by SCImago Research Group, linking PATSTAT’s scientific non-patent references (SNPRs) to source documents indexed in Scopus. The frequency of patent citations to journal papers is calculated per discipline, year, institutional sector, journal subject category, and for “top” journals. PATSTAT/Scopus-based statistics are compared to those derived from Web of Science/USPTO linkage. A detailed assessment is presented of the technological impact of research publications in social sciences and humanities (SSH). Several subject fields perform well in terms of the number of citations from patents, especially Library and Information Science, Language and Linguistics, Education, and Law, but many of the most cited journals find themselves in the interface between SSH and biomedical or natural sciences. Analyses of the titles of citing patents and cited papers are presented that shed light upon the cognitive content of patent citations. It is proposed to develop more advanced indicators of citation impact of papers upon patents, and ways to combine citation counts with citation content and context analysis.

     

Evaluation of accounting journals by coverage of accounting topics in 2018–2019

The purpose of this article is to evaluate the coverage of accounting topics in 2018 and 2019 by the high-ranked and cited journals of popular international publishers. To achieve this, the study provides (1) research on the proportion of accounting journals in the international publishers; (2) identification of the largest publishers by the number of accounting journals; (3) a check of the high-ranked and cited accounting journals according to the journals’ websites, the SCImago database, and Web of Science database; (4) investigation of the trend in the number of accounting publications in 2018–2019 compared with 2016–2017 by SSRN, IDEAS/RePEc, and DOAJ; (5) a detailed overview of 1749 accounting publications for 2018 and 2019 using the reference databases of such international publishers as Blackwell, Elsevier, American Accounting Association, Kluwer Academic Publishers, Oxford University Press, Cambridge University Press, and Springer; (6) a self-developed classification of the accounting topics into 14 main directions; and (7) an assessment of the extent of coverage of accounting topics by each journal. The research methods are based on a cross-sectional survey between the website of each publisher and the SCImago database, and on a bibliometric analysis of the metrics and citation impact, the number and proportion of articles in the “major” journals in accounting, and the major bibliometrics databases. SCImago, as the main bibliometrics database, was used for the first time to identify the top-ranked and cited journals. This study highlights the importance of accounting in international publications in the high-ranked and cited journals, emphasizing the actual publications obtained in 2018–2019. The results indicate that a high quartile or high international citation level does not determine the full coverage of accounting topics in a journal. It was found that assets, control, management accounting, and financial reporting were the most frequently published topics in 2018 and 2019. The blockchain technology and IFRS research in accounting were published within 2018–2019 in only 125 articles (7.14%) by 26 accounting journals among the high-ranked and cited journals with an obtained high coverage of accounting topics. This study may help scientists to select a journal for publishing or researching an appropriate accounting topic. Moreover, to increase the coverage extent of accounting topics, the analysis and classification of publication topics conducted in this work are also recommended to editorial boards of accounting journals as information regarding the least disclosed accounting topics over the last 2 years.

     

Introducing the Current Contribution Index for characterizing the recent,relevant impact of journals

The Garfield (Impact) Factor characterizes the measure of the up to date specific contribution of scientific journals to the total impact of the journals in a special field. A new indicator (Current Contribution Index, CCI) was introduced in order to characterize the relative contribution of journals to recent, relevant knowledge of a corresponding field. The CC Index relates the number of citations received by a journal in a given year to the total number of citations obtained by all journals of the corresponding field in that year. Mean Garfield Factors and mean Current Contribution Indexes were calculated for some fields and several journals. No significant correlation was found between the Garfield Factor (GF) and Current Contribution Index (CCI) of journals. The ratios of the GF to CCI referring to the corresponding top 10, 20 or 50 per cent of the journals ranked by decreasing GF and CCI, strongly differ by field.     

The “space of physics journals”: topological structure and the Journal Impact Factor

An empirical distribution function of citations to journal articles (EDF for short) can become fundamental tool for analyzing the scientific journals. Endeavors at making bibliometric analysis independent of the intuition conveyed by average citation levels have led us to the study of qualitative properties of physics journals in the functional space of EDFs. We show that the structure of this space establishes the connections and relationships that determine the essential features of physics journals. The research provides an analysis of 240 physics journals indexed in Journal Citation Reports 2015. The relevance of EDFs clustering is discussed. Our findings reveal four-cluster space of physics journals. The space brings to light the essential distinctions between physics journals and shows different level of influence of scientific publishers belonging to different types (professional physics societies, transnational and local publishers). The study of EDFs grouped by publishers reveals two binary oppositions that structure relations between them: “global–local” publishers and “high cited–low cited” publishers.     

Network closure, brokerage, and structural influence of journals: a longitudinal study of journal citation network in Internet research (2000–2010)

The study aims to assess journals’ structural influence in Internet research and uncover the impacts of network structures on journals’ structural influence drawing on theories of network closure and structural holes. The data of the study are the citation exchanges among 1,210 journals in Communication and other seven social scientific fields (i.e., Business, Economics/Finance, Education, Information Science, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology) in Internet research. The top two most influential journals in Internet research are American Economic Review and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Journals in “Communication” field emerge to be an important source of influence in Internet research, whose mean structural influence ranks third among the eight fields, below “Business” and “Economics/Finance”, but above other five fields. Journals’ structural influences are found to grow over time and the growth rates vary across journals. Network brokerage is found to exert a significant impact on journals’ structural influence, while the impact of network closure on journals’ structural influences is not significant. The impact of network brokerage on journals’ structural influence will increase over time.     

Tracing the origin of a scientific legend by reference publication year spectroscopy (RPYS): the legend of the Darwin finches

In a previews paper we introduced the quantitative method named reference publication year spectroscopy (RPYS). With this method one can determine the historical roots of research fields and quantify their impact on current research. RPYS is based on the analysis of the frequency with which references are cited in the publications of a specific research field in terms of the publication years of these cited references. In this study, we illustrate that RPYS can also be used to reveal the origin of scientific legends. We selected “Darwin finches” as an example for illustration. Charles Darwin, the originator of evolutionary theory, was given credit for finches he did not see and for observations and insights about the finches he never made. We have shown that a book published in 1947 is the most-highly cited early reference cited within the relevant literature. This book had already been revealed as the origin of the term “Darwin finches” by Sulloway through careful historical analysis.     

What makes a great journal great in the sciences? Which came first,the chicken or the egg?

The paper is concerned with analysing what makes a great journal great in the sciences, based on quantifiable Research Assessment Measures (RAM). Alternative RAM are discussed, with an emphasis on the Thomson Reuters ISI Web of Science database (hereafter ISI). Various ISI RAM that are calculated annually or updated daily are defined and analysed, including the classic 2-year impact factor (2YIF), 5-year impact factor (5YIF), Immediacy (or 0-year impact factor (0YIF)), Eigenfactor, Article Influence, C3PO (Citation Performance Per Paper Online), h-index, Zinfluence, PI-BETA (Papers Ignored—By Even The Authors), Impact Factor Inflation (IFI), and three new RAM, namely Historical Self-citation Threshold Approval Rating (H-STAR), 2 Year Self-citation Threshold Approval Rating (2Y-STAR), and Cited Article Influence (CAI). The RAM data are analysed for the 6 most highly cited journals in 20 highly-varied and well-known ISI categories in the sciences, where the journals are chosen on the basis of 2YIF. The application to these 20 ISI categories could be used as a template for other ISI categories in the sciences and social sciences, and as a benchmark for newer journals in a range of ISI disciplines. In addition to evaluating the 6 most highly cited journals in each of 20 ISI categories, the paper also highlights the similarities and differences in alternative RAM, finds that several RAM capture similar performance characteristics for the most highly cited scientific journals, determines that PI-BETA is not highly correlated with the other RAM, and hence conveys additional information regarding research performance. In order to provide a meta analysis summary of the RAM, which are predominantly ratios, harmonic mean rankings are presented of the 13 RAM for the 6 most highly cited journals in each of the 20 ISI categories. It is shown that emphasizing THE impact factor, specifically the 2-year impact factor, of a journal to the exclusion of other informative RAM can lead to a distorted evaluation of journal performance and influence on different disciplines, especially in view of inflated journal self citations.     

Comparison of number of citations to full original articles versus brief reports

Most biomedical journals accept original research articles in the form of “brief reports”. We compared the citations to full papers versus brief reports in a sample of journals on Infectious Diseases, Clinical Microbiology, and Antimicrobial Agents. Brief reports were cited less often than full-size articles [regression coefficient: 10.94 (95 % CI: 5.19, 16.69)] even after adjustment for the journal’s impact factor. Our findings may influence decisions of editors and authors regarding brief reports.     

15 Years of Small: Research Trends in Nanosafety

In the field of nano‐ and microscale science and technology, Small has become one of the worldwide leading journals since its initiation 15 years ago. Among all the topics covered in Small, “nanosafety” has received growing interest over the years, which accounts for a large proportion of the total publications of Small. Herein, inspired by its coming Special Issue “Rethinking Nanosafety,” a general bibliometric overview of the nanosafety studies that have been published in Small is presented. Using the data derived from the Web of Science Core Collection, the annual publication growth, most influential countries/institutions as well as the visualized collaborations between different countries and institutions based on CiteSpace software are presented. A special emphasis on the impact of the previous Special Issue from Small that is related to nanosafety research is given and the research trend from the most highly cited papers during last 15 years is analyzed. Lastly, future research directions are also proposed.     

Characteristics of papers published in journals: an analysis of open access journals,country of publication,and languages used

This study explores how the citation of open access (OA) journal articles occurs by analyzing the impact of certain journal characteristics, namely, whether the journal is OA and whether its country of publication is the same as the affiliation of a paper’s author. As the language of a paper is an important factor contributing to paper citations, this study uses papers in English. This analysis included publications from 77 countries from 2010 to 2012. This analysis included 19,530 journals and 3,215,742 papers without duplication. The results showed that papers published in OA and international journals were cited in more countries than non-OA and domestic journals, and a higher percentage of these were being cited by foreign countries. From these findings, it was determined that the more widely accessible OA journals were effectively being accessed by researchers from multiple countries. However, of the top 10% most cited papers in international journals, a higher percentage of these came from non-OA compared to OA journals. Among domestic journals, no such difference was found. Papers published in non-OA international journals were most cited in foreign countries with a large number of published papers. Hence, the effect of OA’s expanded accessibility, while having an apparent effect on heightening the interest of foreign readership, has a limited impact in terms of increasing citations.     

Exploring the bibliometric and semantic nature of negative results

Negative results are not popular to disseminate. However, their publication would help to save resources and foster scientific communication. This study analysed the bibliometric and semantic nature of negative results publications. The Journal of Negative Results in Biomedicine (JNRBM) was used as a role model. Its complete articles from 2002–2009 were extracted from SCOPUS and supplemented by related records. Complementary negative results records were retrieved from Web of Science in “Biochemistry” and “Telecommunications”. Applied bibliometrics comprised of co-author and co-affiliation analysis and a citation impact profile. Bibliometrics showed that authorship is widely spread. A specific community for the publication of negative results in devoted literature is non-existent. Neither co-author nor co-affiliation analysis indicated strong interconnectivities. JNRBM articles are cited by a broad spectrum of journals rather than by specific titles. Devoted negative results journals like JNRBM have a rather low impact measured by the number of received citations. On the other hand, only one-third of the publications remain uncited, corroborating their importance for the scientific community. The semantic analysis relies on negative expressions manually identified in JNRBM article titles and abstracts and extracted to syntactic patterns. By using a Natural Language Processing tool these patterns are then employed to detect their occurrences in the multidisciplinary bibliographical database PASCAL. The translation of manually identified negation patterns to syntactic patterns and their application to multidisciplinary bibliographic databases (PASCAL, Web of Science) proved to be a successful method to retrieve even hidden negative results. There is proof that negative results are not only restricted to the biomedical domain. Interestingly a high percentage of the so far identified negative results papers were funded and therefore needed to be published. Thus policies that explicitly encourage or even mandate the publication of negative results could probably bring about a shift in the current scientific communication behaviour.     

Possible causes of differences in information impact of journals from different subfields

Differences in size, mean number of references per paper in journals, ageing of information and disciplinarity of some subfields in chemistry were studied in order to explain different average impact factors for journals. A new indicator —Standard Journal Impact — is suggested, which may be used as a standardized (i.e. comparable) impact indicator for journals in different subfields. The main reason for the lower impact factor for journals of the macromolecular chemistry subfield may be the lower extent of the application of their results by other subfields.Dedicated to the memory of Michael J. Moravcsik     

仿竹结构单丝玻璃纤维增强多孔聚醚砜基复合材料

竹子是一种以竹纤维为增强体、多孔木质素为基体而组成的天然复合材料。本文借鉴竹子的结构特征,采用高性能热塑性聚合物浸没沉淀相转化法在玻璃纤维(GF)表面沉积梯度孔径分布的多孔聚醚砜(PES)基体,制备仿竹结构单丝玻璃纤维增强多孔聚醚砜基复合材料(GF/PES),并对其微观形貌、拉伸力学性能和“温度-模量”智能响应性进行了研究。结果表明,基于梯度多孔PES基体良好的吸能作用及其对玻璃纤维表面微小缺陷的修复作用,GF/PES的拉伸强度和断裂伸长率最高可分别比GF提高39.11%和58.1%。此外,多孔聚合物基体还可作为各类功能材料的载体,例如在其多孔结构中填充水,当水随着温度变化发生相变时,可赋予GF/PES显著的模量变化,从而制备出“温度-模量”智能响应复合材料。      

An evaluation of impacts in “Nanoscience & nanotechnology”: steps towards standards for citation analysis

One is inclined to conceptualize impact in terms of citations per publication, and thus as an average. However, citation distributions are skewed, and the average has the disadvantage that the number of publications is used in the denominator. Using hundred percentiles, one can integrate the normalized citation curve and develop an indicator that can be compared across document sets because percentile ranks are defined at the article level. I apply this indicator to the set of 58 journals in the WoS Subject Category of “Nanoscience & nanotechnology,” and rank journals, countries, cities, and institutes using non-parametric statistics. The significance levels of results can thus be indicated. The results are first compared with the ISI-impact factors, but this Integrated Impact Indicator (I3) can be used with any set downloaded from the (Social) Science Citation Index. The software is made publicly available at the Internet. Visualization techniques are also specified for evaluation by positioning institutes on Google Map overlays.     

Are you in top 1% (1‰)?

A new simple bibliometric indicator is based on the number of highly cited papers (as defined by WoS^®). It can be used to assess individuals, journals and universities. Unlike most other citation-based-indicators it equalizes the chances of young scientists (vs. their more experienced colleagues) and of scientists working in less-popular disciplines. The ranking of scientists based on the new indicator is not correlated with the rankings based upon the number of citations or on the Hirsch-index.     

Identification of information sources and citation patterns in the field of reciprocating internal combustion engines

Processes and technology of reciprocating internal combustion engines (ICE) constitute a research field whose characteristics regarding information production and diffusion are determined by multidisciplinarity, the existence of pseudo-technical literature and the influence of confidentiality on the presentation of research outputs. The objective of this study is to provide a quantitative and objective basis for the evaluation of research in this field. This has been accomplished by identifying the most productive journals and the most cited sources, using the SCI and citation analysis. From this analysis, core journals have been identified, showing that their importance in this research area does not correlate with their impact factor. Moreover, conference proceedings (particularly those published by the Society of Automotive Engineers) are shown to be the most important information source in this field. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Understanding the impact change of a highly cited article: a content-based citation analysis

Researchers tend to cite highly cited articles, but how these highly cited articles influence the citing articles has been underexplored. This paper investigates how one highly cited essay, Hirsch’s “h-index” article (H-article) published in 2005, has been cited by other articles. Content-based citation analysis is applied to trace the dynamics of the article’s impact changes from 2006 to 2014. The findings confirm that citation context captures the changing impact of the H-article over time in several ways. In the first two years, average citation mention of H-article increased, yet continued to decline with fluctuation until 2014. In contrast with citation mention, average citation count stayed the same. The distribution of citation location over time also indicates three phases of the H-article “Discussion,” “Reputation,” and “Adoption” we propose in this study. Based on their locations in the citing articles and their roles in different periods, topics of citation context shifted gradually when an increasing number of other articles were co-mentioned with the H-article in the same sentences. These outcomes show that the impact of the H-article manifests in various ways within the content of these citing articles that continued to shift in nine years, data that is not captured by traditional means of citation analysis that do not weigh citation impacts over time.