The authority of a scientific journal is not simply a matter of reputation – it rests on specific bibliometric indicators. Before submitting an article, it helps to understand what these indicators actually mean in the Scopus and Web of Science databases.
Why assess the authority of a scientific journal?
A journal's authority reflects the standard of its editorial policy and the quality of its peer review. This affects how visible an article becomes within the scientific community.
For those pursuing an academic degree in Armenia, this also has practical implications. The Supreme Certifying Committee of the Republic of Armenia (SCC) takes into account, when a dissertation is defended, articles published in journals indexed by Scopus and Web of Science.
Journal indicators in the Scopus database
Scopus uses several metrics that account for citation impact in different ways:
- SJR (SCImago Journal Rank) – an indicator that takes into account not only the number of citations, but also the prestige of the sources they come from
- CiteScore – an Elsevier metric that reflects the average number of citations to a journal's documents within one and the same four-year period
- SNIP (Source Normalised Impact per Paper) – an indicator normalised by subject field, which allows journals from different disciplines to be compared
Each of these metrics is recalculated every year. Considering them in isolation from one another is not entirely accurate, since each reflects a different aspect of the same journal.
What do a journal's quartile and percentile show?
The quartile (Q1-Q4) places journals in a given subject category into groups by citation level: Q1 covers journals with the highest indicators, Q4 those with the most modest ones. The percentile shows a journal's position in more detail, on a scale from 0 to 100.
It is worth noting that the quartile shown on the official Scopus website is based on the CiteScore percentile, whereas SCImago calculates its own quartile using the SJR indicator. Because the methodologies differ, the quartile assigned to the same journal on these two resources may not match.
Key journal indicators in Web of Science
Since 2023, the impact factor has been calculated not only for journals in SCIE and SSCI, but for all Web of Science Core Collection publications, including AHCI and ESCI. The JIF itself, however, remains an indicator that is not normalised across subject categories.
- Impact factor (Journal Impact Factor, JIF) – the average number of citations to a journal's articles over the two preceding years.
- Journal Citation Indicator (JCI) – an indicator normalised by subject field; its average value for any category is close to one, which allows journals from different disciplines to be compared directly.
- Journal quartile (Q1-Q4) – a category reflecting a journal's position among journals in its subject field; it is usually calculated using the JIF, though for certain indexes, such as AHCI, the JCI is used instead.
The JCI is particularly useful when comparing journals from different fields of research, since the JIF does not offer this property.
How to choose a journal using Scopus and Web of Science indicators?
When assessing a journal's authority, it helps to rely on several indicators at once rather than the quartile alone. A journal's official profile on the Scopus website or in the Journal Citation Reports contains up-to-date data, whereas third-party resources may display outdated figures.
Scientists from Armenia should also check in advance whether their chosen journal appears on the list recognised by the Supreme Certifying Committee of the Republic of Armenia (SCC) – this is especially important when preparing publications for a dissertation defence.
Scopus and Web of Science indicators give a scientist an objective basis for assessing a journal's authority before submitting an article. Using several metrics together, rather than relying on just one, provides a more accurate picture of a journal's reputation and reduces the risk of choosing the wrong one.
Need help with publishing a scientific article? The specialists at Scientific Publications can check a journal's indicators and reputation in Scopus and Web of Science, and help you choose a publication that matches your research profile. To receive a free consultation, fill in the form below, and our manager will get in touch with you shortly. Onwards to new scientific achievements!
