URSP: Student Publishing Guide

Journal citation metrics help you identify the highly cited journals in your field. They can be sourced from journal ranking tools and publisher websites.

• All citation metrics have strengths and limitations - use a range of indicators
• Journal ranking tools use different metrics and cover different journals
• Citation rates vary widely in disciplines - only compare journal metrics within a discipline or sub-discipline
• Some discipline areas are under-represented in mainstream metrics and have separate ranking lists
• High citation rates are not necessarily measures of quality

Journal-level citation metrics indicate the citation impact of a journal title. This section outlines several key metrics. Consult our downloadable guide for further information and access details.

Journal impact factor (JIF)

• Represents the average citations a document in a journal receives for items published in the previous two years.
• Shows how highly cited the average document in a journal is relative to others in its discipline.

CiteScore 

• Represents the average number of citations received in a year to documents published in the previous three years.
• Shows how highly cited the average article in a journal is relative to others in its discipline.

SCImago journal rank (SJR)

• A ratio of the average number of weighted citations received in a year over the number of documents published in the journal in the previous three years.
• Accounts for the number of citations received by a journal and the importance or prestige of the journal where the citations come from.

h-index (Hirsch index) 

• A journal's h-index is the number of articles in a journal [h] that have received at least [h] citations over a citation period.
• Accounts for quantity (number of articles) and quality (defined as number of citations).

LibGuide Courtesy of LaTrobe University Library