Library Guides: Impact Measures (Journals and Authors) & Where to Publish: Research Impact

Journal Rankings

There are different metrics that can be used to rank journals. One widely used is the Impact Factor that measures the frequency with which the average article in a journal has been cited in a particular year.

For most metrics, an individual measure doesn't mean much, but can be used in comparison.

Journal Citation Reports This link opens in a new window
Shows many journal metrics, including impact factor for leading journals.

Help with Journal Citation Reports (Clarivate)
Links to recorded tutorials and quick fact card (several languages).

Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
Search with the Publication Name, determine your date range, and then from the results screen click on the "Create Citation Report" link.

SCImago Journal & Country Rank
Journals in arts, humanities, sciences, and social sciences. A free source that includes journal indicators developed from the information contained in the Scopus database. It does not include journal impact factors but does have a number of other indicators. Journals may be ranked by major subject areas, more specific subject categories, SJR, h-index, etc.
Google Scholar Metrics
To explore specific research areas, select one of the broad areas, click on the "Subcategories" link and then select one of the options.

Where to Publish, beyond rankings
Want to expand your list of possibilities? Ulrich's is a great place to look or there may be directories for journals in specific fields.

UlrichsWeb: Global Serials Directory This link opens in a new window
Doesn't have rankings, but will link to JCR. Can find out if a journal is peer reviewed and if it is indexed.
Use Advanced Search > Subject (Exact) to search by discipline/sub-discipline.
If reviewed in "Magazines for Libraries" you can read the description.

Jot Journal Targeter
Explore journals matched to your manuscript's title, abstract, and references. Use the visualization tools to compare fit and impact of journals.
Journal Authors, Journal Finder - tool from Elsevier
Click on the 'Start matching' button to find a suitable (Elsevier) journal based on the abstract of your article.
Search Article Databases
Where are others publishing articles similar to yours? Search the library article databases or Google Scholar to discover journals.

Alternative Metrics

Altmetric.com Tools for Researchers
Includes a free browser plug-in to see data for any publication with a DOI.
Scholarometer
A browser extension that provides a smart interface for Google Scholar to facilitate citation analysis and help evaluate the impact of an author's publications.
iCite [National Institutes of Health, Office of Portfolio Analysis]
A tool to access the Relative Citation Ratio for papers associated with a portfolio. Users upload the PubMed IDs of articles of interest

Determining Times Cited
Find out who has cited a known author or work (article, book, conference proceeding, patent, etc).

Google Scholar This link opens in a new window
Search for the item (article, patent, document, etc) then click on the "Cited by" link. If you connect from the library's database listing for Google Scholar it also shows cited numbers from Web of Science.
Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
Do a Cited Reference search. You can do one for multiple publications by an author or for a single work.
**Looking for citations in journal articles to a patent? Enter the patent number in the Cited Work field. If you do not know the patent number, try entering the name of the first listed inventor or patent assignee in the Cited Author field.
**You can also create an account and receive alerts whenever any of your publications within Web of Science are cited.

European Patent Office - Find Patents Citing Patents
Begin by finding the record for your patent. You can then follow the link to "View list of citing documents."

H Index for an Author
The h-index is an index that attempts to measure both productivity and impact. The index is based on a set of most cited papers (from an author or it can be calculated for a journal) and the number of citations that those publications have received in other people's publications.

Web of Science Core Collection This link opens in a new window
> Enter the name of the author in the top search box (e.g. Smith JT). Select Author from the drop-down menu on the right.
> To ensure accuracy for popular names, make use of the "Address" or "Organization Enhanced" field.
>Click on Search
>Click on Citation Report on the right hand corner of the results page, the H-index is on the right of the screen