Quality is in the eye of the beholder? An evaluation of impact factors and perception of journal prestige in the UK

Jonathan Catling; Victoria Mason; Dominic Upton

doi:10.1007/s11192-009-2124-1

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Scientometrics

Volume/Issue:: Volume 81: Issue 2

Quality is in the eye of the beholder? An evaluation of impact factors and perception of journal prestige in the UK

Authors:

Jonathan Catling

Jonathan Catling University of Worcester Psychological Sciences Worcester WR2 6AJ UK

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Victoria Mason

Victoria Mason University of Worcester Psychological Sciences Worcester WR2 6AJ UK

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Dominic Upton

Dominic Upton University of Worcester Psychological Sciences Worcester WR2 6AJ UK

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Pages:: 333–345

Online Publication Date:: 20 Mar 2009

Publication Date:: 01 Nov 2009

Article Category:: Research Article

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-009-2124-1

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Abstract

A number of proxy measures have been used as indicators of journal quality. The most recent and commonly employed are journal impact factors. These measures are somewhat controversial, although they are frequently referred to in establishing the impact of published journal articles. Within psychology, little is known about the relationship between the ‘objective’ impact factors of journals and the ‘subjective’ ratings of prestige and perceived publishing difficulty amongst academics. In order to address this, a cross-sectional web-based survey was conducted in the UK to investigate research activity and academics’ views of journals within three fields of psychology; cognitive, health and social. Impact factors for each journal were correlated with individual academic’s perceptions of prestige and publishing difficulty for each journal. A number of variables pertaining to the individual academic and their place of work were assessed as predictors of these correlation values, including age, gender, institution type, and a measure of departmental research activity. The implications of these findings are discussed in relation to perceptions of journal prestige and publishing difficulty, higher education in general and the assessment of research activity within academic institutions.

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Scientometrics

Print ISSN:: 0138-9130

Online ISSN:: 1588-2861

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Scientometrics
Language	English
Size	B5
Year of Foundation	1978
Volumes per Year	1
Issues per Year	12
Founder	Akadémiai Kiadó
Founder's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245.
Publisher	Akadémiai Kiadó Springer Nature Switzerland AG
Publisher's Address	H-1117 Budapest, Hungary 1516 Budapest, PO Box 245. CH-6330 Cham, Switzerland Gewerbestrasse 11.
Responsible Publisher	Chief Executive Officer, Akadémiai Kiadó
ISSN	0138-9130 (Print)
ISSN	1588-2861 (Online)