Several journal metrics exist. The most widely used at OSU is the impact factor. Others include SJR, SNIP, CiteScore, and Eigenfactor.
- Metrics are based primarily on citations to articles as calculated by specific databases.
- Metrics vary between databases due to the indexing coverage of the database.
- Journal metrics were never meant as to be used as a proxy for researcher quality.
- Metrics vary across disciplines due to differences in publication and citation patterns in disciplines and should not be used to compare disciplines.
- The citation analysis tools built within Web of Science and Scopus can also be used to help find appropriate journal titles for publishing on specific topics.
Three databases are currently most important for tracking citations and thus, calculating journal metrics:
The HSL has created a quick tutorial that will walk you through the process of finding journal impact factors and rankings.