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The probability of publishing in first-quartile journals

Author

Listed:
  • Weishu Liu

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

  • Guangyuan Hu

    (Shanghai University of Finance and Economics)

  • Mengdi Gu

    (Shanghai Jiao Tong University)

Abstract

As an alternative metric of journal impact factor (JIF), journal impact factor quartile is increasingly adopted to compare the research impact of journals within and across different domains. We adopt both optimistic and pessimistic approaches to illustrate the JIF distributions of journals listed in the 2015 Journal Citation Reports. We find that at least one-third of Web of Science publications are actually published in the first quartile (high impact factor journals). In comparison, at most 16.5 % of publications are published in the fourth quartile (low impact factor journals). We argue that Bornmann and Marx’s (Scientometrics 98(1):487–509, 2014) claim that “One can expect that 25 % of a researcher’s publications have been published in the first quartile” is not precise.

Suggested Citation

  • Weishu Liu & Guangyuan Hu & Mengdi Gu, 2016. "The probability of publishing in first-quartile journals," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 106(3), pages 1273-1276, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:spr:scient:v:106:y:2016:i:3:d:10.1007_s11192-015-1821-1
    DOI: 10.1007/s11192-015-1821-1
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    7. Walsh, John P. & Lee, You-Na & Tang, Li, 2019. "Pathogenic organization in science: Division of labor and retractions," Research Policy, Elsevier, vol. 48(2), pages 444-461.
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    11. Zsolt Kohus & Márton Demeter & László Kun & Eszter Lukács & Katalin Czakó & Gyula Péter Szigeti, 2022. "A Study of the Relation between Byline Positions of Affiliated/Non-Affiliated Authors and the Scientific Impact of European Universities in Times Higher Education World University Rankings," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(20), pages 1-14, October.
    12. Bornmann, Lutz & Williams, Richard, 2017. "Can the journal impact factor be used as a criterion for the selection of junior researchers? A large-scale empirical study based on ResearcherID data," Journal of Informetrics, Elsevier, vol. 11(3), pages 788-799.
    13. Shannon Mason & Lenandlar Singh, 2022. "When a journal is both at the ‘top’ and the ‘bottom’: the illogicality of conflating citation-based metrics with quality," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 127(6), pages 3683-3694, June.
    14. Lei Lei & Yunmei Sun, 2020. "Should highly cited items be excluded in impact factor calculation? The effect of review articles on journal impact factor," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 122(3), pages 1697-1706, March.
    15. Gabriel-Alexandru Vȋiu & Mihai Păunescu, 2021. "The lack of meaningful boundary differences between journal impact factor quartiles undermines their independent use in research evaluation," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 126(2), pages 1495-1525, February.
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    17. Ruben Miranda & Esther Garcia-Carpintero, 2019. "Comparison of the share of documents and citations from different quartile journals in 25 research areas," Scientometrics, Springer;Akadémiai Kiadó, vol. 121(1), pages 479-501, October.

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