Journals that Rise from the Fourth Quartile to the First Quartile in Six Years or Less: Mechanisms of Change and the Role of Journal Self-Citations

Abstract

Journal self-citations may be increased artificially to inflate a journal’s scientometric indicators. The aim of this study was to identify possible mechanisms of change in a cohort of journals that rose from the fourth (Q4) to the first quartile (Q1) over six years or less in Journal Citation Reports (JCR), and the role of journal self-citations in these changes. A total of 51 different journals sampled from all JCR Science Citation Index (SCI) subject categories improved their rank position from Q4 in 2009 to Q1 in any year from 2010 to 2015. I identified changes in the numerator or denominator of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) that were involved in each year-to-year transition. The main mechanism of change was the increase in the number of citations used to compute the JIF. The effect of journal self-citations in the increase of the JIF was studied. The main conclusion is that there was no evidence of widespread JIF manipulation through the overuse of journal self-citations.

Journal self-citation on the h5-index of Ibero-American journals

“…There is no unanimity regarding excluding self-citations in impact indicators (Campanario, 2018;Huang;Cathy Lin, 2012). There is a consensus that at the micro (author, journal) and meso (institution) levels, the influence of self-citation on the impact analysis is significant (Yu;Yu;Wang, 2014), and exclusion may be necessary.…”

“…Journal self-citation has received significant attention recently (Chorus;Waltman, 2016;Gazni;Didegah, 2021;Heneberg, 2016;Taşkin et al, 2021;Wilhite;Fong, 2012). This interest may have originated from the perception that self-citations, and not the growth of impact, may be the main reason for the increase in indicators of some journals (Campanario, 2018;Heneberg, 2016). This alerted the need to identify self-citation patterns in databases and analyze journals with excessive self-citation rates (Gazni;Didegah, 2021;Taşkin et al, 2021;Yu;Yu;Wang, 2014).…”

Ubicación de revistas científicas en cuartiles según SJR

“…asegurar una ubicación real. Así mismo, Campanario (2018) al estudiar las razones por las cuales algunas revistas han logrado mejorar su posición en los cuartiles en un lapso corto de tiempo (6 años) concluye que se debe principalmente a que solo se toma en cuenta el Factor de Impacto, el cual logran aumentar disminuyendo el número de documentos publicados, lo que hace que aunque bajen las citas, el indicador se mantiene o aumenta, una estrategia que pareciera encaminada a que las revistas publiquen menos artículos pero de mayor calidad, sin embargo no está del todo comprobado. Por su parte, Asan y Aslan (2020) consideran que, aunque la ubicación de las revistas científicas en cuartiles proporciona información valiosa en términos de citación y clasificación en sus categorías científicas, a los efectos de los nombramientos de personal académico puede ser malinterpretado, por lo que su uso debe hacerse con la cautela debida.…”

Bilimsel Dergilerin Q Değerleri: Anlamı, Önemi ve Kullanımı

“…Campanario indicated the way self-citations of 51 selected journals from the JCR-SCI field affect the journal's impact factor and Q scores [11]. Tayyab and Boyce reported that the impact factor scores of 39 journals selected from different scientific disciplines in the Q1 category ranged from 0.611-1.979 (below 2), whereas the journals in the biochemistry-molecular biology category were at least 4.405 and above [12].…”