Quality of Academic Journalsin Full Text Databases
and Discovery Services
Paul Donovan
Senior Vice President EBSCO Publishing
Among Peers
First Seminar
to publish and browse scientific information nets
Centro Cultural Universitario Tlatelolco
September 25, 2012
Dilemma & Solution
• Although not perfect, there are many optionsfor measuring the quality of journals
‒ This includes one well-established andwell-respected tool (Web of Science)
• Dilemma – Full-text Databases have no such tools
• Solution – Use the journal quality measurement tools to compare the active full text in each database or package to measure value
Journals:
• Eigenfactor (University of Washington, using JCR data)
• Individually published ranking studies for journals
in various disciplines (Faculty)
• PageRank (Google)
• SCImago Journal Rank (based on Scopus data)
• Web of Science / ISI / JCR / Impact Factor (Thomson Reuters)
• Licensed or subject specific databases
Full-Text Databases:
• None
Major Quality Measurement Tools
How are the Journal tools used with databases?
• Used to identify titles to be indexed in our databases
• Used to identify journals to be targeted for full text licensing
• Used to measure the value and usefulness of our databases vs. competing
databases in the market
EigenfactorExample…
Embargoed
Full Text
Eigenfactor.org Business Journals Ranking (Most Current Ranking as of 25 July 2012)
Rank Journal Name
Academy of Management Journal1
Rank Journal Name
Academy of Management Review2
Strategic Management Journal3
Journal of Marketing Research (JMR)4
Journal of Marketing5
Business
Source Complete
Full Text Coverage
Active Full Text,
NO Embargo
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ABI/INFORM
Complete
Full Text Coverage
No Ongoing
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No Ongoing
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No Ongoing
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Business Insights:
Essentials
Full Text Coverage
No Ongoing
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2012 Top Five
Academic Business Journals
Eigenfactor.org Business Journals Ranking (Most Current Ranking as of 8 March 2011)
Rank Journal Name
Academy of Management Review1
Rank Journal Name
Academy of Management Journal2
Administrative Science Quarterly3
MIS Quarterly4
Journal of Marketing5
Business
Source Complete
Full Text Coverage
Active Full Text,
NO Embargo
Active Full Text,
NO Embargo
Active Full Text,
NO Embargo
Active Full Text,
NO Embargo
Active Full Text,
NO Embargo
ABI/INFORM
Complete
Full Text Coverage
No Ongoing
Full Text
No Ongoing
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No Ongoing
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No Ongoing
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No Ongoing
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Business Insights:
Essentials
Full Text Coverage
No Ongoing
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No Ongoing
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No Ongoing
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No Ongoing
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No Ongoing
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2011 Top Five
Academic Business Journals
Individually PublishedJournal Ranking Studies
(Faculty)
Management Journals Ranked
Study by Coe & Weinstock from Academy of Management Journal
Marketing Journals Ranked
Study by Gordon and Heischmidt from Journal of Marketing Education
Administrative Science Quarterly1
Rank Journal Name
Academy of Management Journal2
Harvard Business Review3
Management Science4
Operations Research5
Academy of Management Review6
Industrial & Labor Relations Review7
California Management Review8
Journal of Marketing1
Rank Journal Name
Journal of Marketing Research (JMR)2
EBSCO
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EBSCO
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Gale
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Gale
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ProQuest
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Data (for both of the above) from September 12, 2012
MIS Journals Ranked
Mylonopoulos & Theoharakis: http://www.bus.ucf.edu/csaunders/newjournal.htm
POM Journals Ranked
Ranking from Barman et al (Relevance): http://www.bus.ucf.edu/csaunders/newjournal.htm
MIS Quarterly1
Rank Journal Name
Communications of the ACM2
Information Systems Research3
Journal of Management Information Systems4
Journal of Operations Management1
Rank Journal Name
International Journal of Production Research2
EBSCO
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EBSCO
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Gale
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Gale
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ProQuest
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ProQuest
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Data (for both of the above) from September 12, 2012
Accounting Journals Ranked
Hasselback et al, appeared in Accounting Forum, Volume 26, Issue 1, Pg 45
Finance Journals Ranked
Study by Mabry & Sharplin, “Conclusions, a Final Ranking of Finance Journals”, The Journal of Financial Research
Journal of Accounting Research1
Rank Journal Name
Accounting Review2
Journal of Accounting & Economics3
Accounting, Organizations & Society4
Contemporary Accounting Research4
Journal of Accounting, Auditing & Finance4
Journal of Finance1
Rank Journal Name
Journal of Financial Economics2
Journal of Financial & Quantitative Analysis3
Journal of Money, Credit & Banking4
EBSCO
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EBSCO
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Gale
NO Full Text
Halted Full Text
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Gale
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ProQuest
NO Full Text
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ProQuest
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Halted Full Text
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Data (for both of the above) from September 12, 2012
Soon To Be Halted
Full Text
Web of Science Analysis…
ALL 88 ProQuest products combinedActive Full-Text Journals Indexed inWeb of Science that are NOT availableas Active Full Text in ASC, BSC &Subject-Specific Full-Text Databases
904
Shared Active Full-Text JournalsIndexed in Web of Science 1,346
ASC, BSC & Subject-Specific Full-Text DatabasesActive Full-Text Journals Indexed inWeb of Science that are NOT availableas Active Full Text in ANY ProQuest Product
3,256
Uniqueness of Quality Journals Compared
Compared on September 12, 2012
ALL 82 Gale products combinedActive Full-Text Journals Indexed inWeb of Science and NOT in DOAJ that are NOT available as Active Full Text in ASC, BSC& Subject-Specific Full-Text Databases
167
Shared Active Full-Text JournalsIndexed in Web of Science and NOT in DOAJ 465
ASC, BSC & Subject-Specific Full-Text DatabasesActive Full-Text Journals Indexed inWeb of Science and NOT in DOAJ that are NOT available as Active Full Text in ANY Gale Product
3,525
Uniqueness of Quality Journals Compared
Compared on September 12, 2012
• How often journals are cited is based partly on how often they are used and seen
• Inclusion in databases increases visibility, usage and circulation outside the traditional subscription base
• EBSCOhost databases include close to 40% of all the journals indexed in the Indice de Revistas Mexicanas de Investigación Científica y Tecnológica
EBSCOhost Databases: Contributing to increase exposure of Mexican Journals
Measuring the Value of
Open Access Content in Databases
• EBSCO indexes more open access journals than all other organizations combined:
‒ TOTAL open access journals indexed by EBSCO = 4,919
‒ TOTAL open access journals indexed by EBSCO
and listed in DOAJ = 3,671
• How do we determine what journals to target?
o What subject areas?
o Peer reviewed?
o Who is on the board?
Citation Information in Full Text Products
• Business Source= 1,414
• Academic Search = 1,447
• Historical Abstracts=700
• Education Research Complete=1,190
• Humanities International Complete= 780
• Political Science Complete=424
• Communication & Mass Media Complete= 381
• Over 50 databases with searchable references
• Web Of Science available for mutual customers with EBSCO Discovery Service
Dilemma
• Academic community is constantly working to define academic content
• Subject specific databases work to highlight the most relevant content in a
subject area
• Yet, there is a movement to provide a Google-like experience in academic
research with a Discovery Service
• The challenge lays in providing a Discovery service while also maintaining the
ability to deliver relevant academic content
Discovery ServicesWhat is the goal?
To have a single common user interface for all content,
while returning relevant high quality results
Most Discovery Services rarely include subject indexes
YES NO
•ABSEES
•Academic Search
Elite / Premier / Complete
•AgeLine
•AGRICOLA
•Alternative Press Index
•Alternative Press Index Archive
•America: History & Life / Full Text
•Applied Science & Technology Abstracts / Full Text
•Applied Science & Technology
Index Retrospective
•Art & Architecture Index / Complete
•Art Abstracts / Full Text
•Art Index Retrospective
•ATLA Religion Database
•Avery Index to Architectural Periodicals
•Bibliography of Native North Americans
•Biological & Agricultural Index Plus
•Biological Abstracts
•Biological Abstracts Archive
•Business Periodicals Index / Full Text
•Business Periodicals Index Retrospective
•Business Source
Elite / Premier / Complete
•CAB Abstracts
•CAB Archive
•Catholic Periodical &
Literature Index Online
•Chemical Abstracts
•Child Development & Adolescent Studies
•CINAHL
•Communication &
Mass Media Index / Complete
•Communication Abstracts
•Computers & Applied Sciences
Index / Complete
•Criminal Justice Abstracts
•Dentistry & Oral Sciences Source
•EconLit
•Education Abstracts / Full Text
•Education Index Retrospective
•Education Research Index / Complete
•Ei Compendex
•EMBASE
•Environment Index / Complete
•Essay & General Literature Index
•Family & Society Studies Worldwide
•Family Studies Abstracts
•Film & Television Literature
Index / Full Text
•FRANCIS
•FSTA: Food Science &
Technology Abstracts
•Gender Studies Database
•General Science Abstracts / Full Text
Discovery services will rarely be able to search the
subject headings of the top non-government subject indexes
•ERIC
•MEDLINE
•MLA International Bibliography
Discovery Services:What is the risk?
Exposing users/researchers to a large quantity of results
from
poor quality, non academic sources
EBSCO Discovery Service
Platform blending allows to integrate subject indexing to the
discovery experience
How Does Platform Blending Work?
Conclusions
• No tools exist for measuring the value of full text databases
• EBSCO uses the tools available for measuring the quality of journals to build
and compare it’s databases to others in the market
• The large subscription base of full text databases and discovery services helps
journals increase visibility and usage
• Some discovery services do not have the functionality or meta data to
highlight academic content
Thank You!
Paul Donovan
Senior Vice President EBSCO Publishing