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Research Metrics Toolkit

Journal ranking lists

What

  • Journal ranking lists seek to rank selections of journals, often within discipline categories. The rank is usually determined by the journal impact indicator metrics, such as the JIF or SJR. The placement of a journal within a list is often used for evaluative purposes - eg. selecting to publish in a journal that appears in the first quartile of a list (Q1). Journal ranking lists can also be developed by a discipline community or representatives.

Why

  • To demonstrate the impact, rank, or prestige of a journal in the context of other journals in the same field

Applications

  • Academic promotions, grant applications, CV, when developing a publishing plan (researchers)

  • When evaluating a purchase or subscription (libraries)

Considerations

  • Ranking lists produced by publishers tend to only include journals that are indexed by their database

Common tools

  • Scimago Journal and Country Rank

  • Journal Citation Reports (SSCI and SCIE)

  • ABDC Journal Ranking List (Business Disciplines)

  • ERA 2015 (submitted journals list)


 

How to: Find journal rankings

Scimago Journal & Country Rank

  1. Access Scimago Journal & Country Rank from http://www.scimagojr.com/

  2. To find a journal's quartile ranking within a category, search for the journal by title or ISSN

  3. Click on the journal title in the results list

  4. View the quartile in the Quartile box:

    • 1st quartile: Green

    • 2nd quartile: Yellow

    • 3rd quartile: Orange

    • 4th quartile: Red

  5. To find a journal's specific rank within a category, click on the Journal Rankings heading

  6. Choose the subject area (broader) and/or category (narrower) from the drop down boxes

  7. Scroll through the list to find the journal's rank. If the list is very long, it can be faster to search the journal's title to ascertain it's quartile first, then jump to that quartile to find the journal

  8. To download a ranking list for use in Excel, click the Download Data button in the top right hand corner.

Journal Citation Reports - SCIE & SSCI (also known as ARWU list)

  1. Access Journal Citation Reports through the Deakin Library

  2. From the left hand panel of limits, choose Select Categories

  3. Tick the box next to the category or categories you wish to view

  4. Close the category selection pop up, scroll to the bottom of the limits panel and click Submit

  5. The journal list for your chosen category will display in the main window where you can click their titles for further information, or select journals to compare. You may also apply further limits from the left hand panel

  6. To download the category list for use in Excel, select all journals and click the downward facing arrow icon near the top right hand corner of the screen

  7. Alternatively, you can search for a journal using the Master Search box in the top left hand corner, and access its ranking information from the Rank section of the journal information page (bottom left menu).

ABDC Journal Quality List - Business and related disciplines

 

  1. Access the most recent version of the Australian Business Deans Council Journal Quality List from the ABDC website
  2. Search for journals online, including by Field of Research and by Journal Rating

 

ERA journal list