Tools for Helping Determine Where to Publish: Journal Metrics

"Altmetrics is the study and use of non-traditional scholarly impact measures that are based on activity in web-based environments. As scholarship increasingly moves online, these metrics track associated interactions and activity to generate fine-grained data, allowing researchers and policy makers to create a higher resolution picture of the reach and impact of academic research" PLOS, n.d., para. 1).

"Calculating CiteScore is simple and is based on the average citations received per document. CiteScore is the number of citations received by a journal in one year to documents published in the three previous years, divided by the number of documents indexed in Scopus published in those same three years" (Scopus, 29/04/2020, para. 3).

"Google Scholar Metrics provide an easy way for authors to quickly gauge the visibility and influence of recent articles in scholarly publications. Scholar Metrics summarize recent citations to many publications, to help authors as they consider where to publish their new research" (Google Scholar, n.d., para. 1)

"... it is a measure of the frequency with which the “average article” in a journal has been cited in a particular year or period. The annual JCR impact factor is a ratio between citations and recent citable items published. Thus, the impact factor of a journal is calculated by dividing the number of current year citations to the source items published in that journal during the previous two years" (Clarivate Web of Science, 20 June 1994, para. 3).

"We developed the Metrics Toolkit to help scholars and evaluators understand and use citations, web metrics, and altmetrics responsibly in the evaluation of research.
The Metrics Toolkit provides evidence-based information about research metrics across disciplines, including how each metric is calculated, where you can find it, and how each should (and should not) be applied. You’ll also find examples of how to use metrics in grant applications, CVs, and promotion dossiers" (Metrics Toolkit, n.d., para. 1)

Provides information about the RG Score, Research Interest Score and h-index

"This site aims to provide a forum for debating responsible uses of metrics in higher education & research." (Responsible Metrics, n.d., para. 1).

"SJR is weighted by the prestige of a journal. Subject field, quality, and reputation of the journal have a direct effect on the value of a citation.
SJR assigns relative scores to all of the sources in a citation network. Its methodology is inspired by the Google PageRank algorithm, in that not all citations are equal. A source transfers its own 'prestige', or status, to another source through the act of citing it. A citation from a source with a relatively high SJR is worth more than a citation from a source with a lower SJR" (Scopus, 21/10/2019, paras. 1-2).

"The universities aim to agree on methodologies that are robustly and clearly defined, so that the metrics they describe enable the confident comparison of apples with apples. These metrics are data source- and system-agnostic, meaning that they are not tied to any particular provider of data or tools. The resulting benchmarks between research-intensive universities provide reliable information to help understand research strengths, and thus to establish and monitor institutional strategies. The aspiration is for these metrics to become global standards that enable institutional benchmarking, and to cover the entire spectrum of research activities" (Snowball Metrics, n.d., paras. 2-3).

SNIP measures a source’s contextual citation impact by weighting citations based on the total number of citations in a subject field. It helps you make a direct comparison of sources in different subject fields". (Scopus, 27/02/2020, para. 1).