Journal metrics are used to identify key journals in a research field. This can be most useful to authors who are considering which journals to submit manuscripts to for future publication.
The Impact Factor may be the most familiar metric in academics. Eugene Garfield of Thomson Scientific first introduced this idea in the 1950s. Impact Factor calculations are now available through Thomson’s Journal Citation Reports (JCR) and the Elsevier product, Scopus.
Despite their merits, journal metrics can be misused for evaluating individual authors. Altmetrics is an alternative for measuring scholarly impact. Altmetrics measures the use of social media tools such as bookmarks, links, blog postings, and tweets to gauge the importance of scholarly output by authors. Using altmetrics as a measure of scholarly impact is controversial as social media tweets and mentions can be gamed by authors.
Journal Citation Reports
JCR is a database for journal evaluation, using citation data drawn from over 8,400 scholarly and technical journals worldwide in the sciences and social sciences. Coverage is both multidisciplinary and international, and incorporates journals from over 3,000 publishers in 60 nations.
Google Scholar Metrics
Defaults to top 100 publications in English, ordered by their five-year h-index and h-median metrics. Use the search box to search for individual journal titles. Compare the publications that are of interest to you. Explore publications by subject area by going to the left column, selecting your language, and picking a general search category. You can refine your results further by clicking on the subcategory link under each general subject category.
SPI-Hub
The Center for Knowledge Management at VUMC has developed a decision support journal identification and evaluation tool to help authors find potential journals for submission. The online tool is called SPI-Hub, the Scholarly Publishing Information Hub. Vanderbilt University and Vanderbilt University Medical Center users can search for journals by topic, author, or journal title. Additional information and resources are also available to assist authors. The tool is currently in beta stage. Please submit feedback by completing the brief survey on the SPI-Hub Contact Us page.
SJR (Scimago Journal & Country Rank)
A free ranking tool for journals. Data from Elsevier product, Scopus. You can limit results by country and geographic region.
SciRev
Provides information on journal response times and review duration based on feedback from individuals. Heavy focus on science journals but includes some social science and business/economics journals.
