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Research Metrics and Impact: Journal Metrics

This guide provides resources on bibliometrics, altmetrics and research impact; it covers author, journal, and article-level metrics to help you measure and enhance your scholarly influence.

What are Journal Metrics?

Journal metrics assess the impact, quality, and influence of academic journals, they can be used to guide decisions on where to publish or what to read. Common metrics include Impact Factor, CiteScore, Eigenfactor Score, and SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), each giving different insights into citation patterns, journal prestige, and research performance. Metrics like article downloads and views are also considered.

Note: While widely used in science, medicine, technology, business, and social sciences, these metrics may not be as relevant for arts and humanities journals. Journal impact metrics are inherently controversial and not available for all journals. They should be used in context and not in isolation.

Find Metrics on Journal Websites

You can find Journal Metrics on most Journal websites, often under the About section. Not all journals will display metrics, and they will vary as to which metrics they do display. Most journals will provide journal usage statistics, like the number of downloads or page views.

Scopus Based Journal Metrics (e.g. CiteScore and SJR)

Metric Description

Use
CiteScore Calculated by dividing the number of citations a journal receives in a given year by the number of documents published over the previous 4 years. Provides a broader view of a journal’s impact over a longer timeframe (four years rather than the 2 of JIF) and includes all document types (articles, reviews, editorials, etc.). It is helpful when assessing overall journal performance over time.
CiteScore Rank Ranks journals within their respective subject categories based on their CiteScore. It compares a journal’s CiteScore to other journals in the same discipline and assigns a rank (e.g., top 10%, top 25%). Helps identify the relative standing of a journal within its subject area. It is useful for determining journals that are highly regarded within their specific field.
SNIP (Source Normalised Impact per Paper) Measures a journal’s contextual citation impact by accounting for differences in citation practices between fields. It normalises citations based on the potential for citation in different fields. Allows for fairer comparisons of journals from different disciplines, making it especially useful in interdisciplinary research where citation patterns can vary widely.
SJR (Scimago Journal Rank) Reflects both the number of citations a journal receives and the importance or influence of the citing journals. Citations from highly ranked journals carry more weight. Evaluates not just citation quantity but the quality and influence of citations. Good for comparing journals within a specific discipline where the prestige of citations is important.
SJR Quartile Divides journals into four quartiles (Q1, Q2, Q3, Q4) based on their SJR ranking within their subject category, with Q1 being the highest-performing journals. Helps to quickly identify top-tier journals in a field, commonly used by researchers aiming to publish in high-impact, prestigious journals.

Find Scopus Based Metrics

SCOPUS based metrics can be found via the SCOPUS (University login required) database (via the Sources tab) as well as via CWTS Journal Indicators and Scimago (SJR only) websites.

Clarivate Based Journal Metrics (e.g. JIF, Eigenfactor)

 

Metric Description Use
Journal Impact Factor (JIF) A measure of the average number of citations received per article published in a journal over a 2-year period. Helps assess the short-term citation impact and influence of a journal in its field.
5-year Impact Factor Similar to the JIF but calculated over a 5-year period, providing a longer-term view of a journal’s citation impact. Useful for evaluating the sustained influence of journals over an extended timeframe.
Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) Normalises the number of citations a journal receives, adjusting for subject category, publication year, and document type. Offers a field-normalised metric for cross-disciplinary comparisons of journal influence.
Journal Ranking A ranking system based on a variety of metrics (including IF) to rank journals within their subject categories. Helps in determining a journal's standing and relevance in its academic discipline.
Eigenfactor A measure of a journal's total importance to the scientific community, based on the number of incoming citations, excluding self-citations. Provides a measure of a journal’s prestige and influence in terms of citation impact.
Immediacy Index Measures how often articles in a journal are cited within the same year they are published. Useful for assessing how quickly a journal’s content is recognised and cited in the research community.

Find Clarivate Based Metrics

Clarivate metrics based on Web of Science-indexed journals can be access via Journal Citation Reports. (University login required) . In addition, Eigenfactor scores can be accessed via the journal search on the Eigenfactor.org website. 

Learn More:

Google Scholar Journal Metrics (e.g. H5-Index)

Metric Description Use
h-Index (Hirsch Index)

Combines both productivity and impact by considering the number of articles (h) a journal has published and how many times they’ve been cited (h citations).

Provides a broad view of a journal’s overall influence, balancing the quantity of articles with the quality. Can be less effective in disciplines with lower citation rates.
h5-Index Only includes articles published in the last five years. This gives a recent snapshot of a journal’s performance. Good for identifying journals with recent and ongoing influence. Particularly useful for fast-evolving fields.
h5-Median The h5-median calculates the median number of citations for the articles that make up the h5-index. Gives an understanding of the typical citation performance of a journal’s top articles. It is useful when evaluating the strength of citation impact.
Top 100 Publications List

A ranking of the top 100 academic publications across various disciplines based on their h5-index.

 A fast way to see influential publications in various fields.

Find Google Scholar Metrics

Go to Google Scholar Metrics. To get started, you can browse the top 100 publications in several languages, ordered by their five-year h-index and h-median metrics. To see which articles in a publication were cited the most and who cited them, click on its h-index number to view the articles as well as the citations underlying the metrics.

Learn More: Introduction to Google Scholar Journal Metrics (from University of Michigan Library) 

Journal Ranking Lists

Use discipline specific lists to find journal rankings and metrics to: 

  • find where you might submit your work for publication
  • find which journals to read and keep alerts for
  • help researchers decide which articles to include in PBRF

Additional Resources

Some of the major academic publishers produce good guides to Journal Metrics that their journals use.