• About JCR
• Caveat
• Access JCR
• High impact journals
• Hottest journals
• Print, Save, Exit

How to Search JCR

Journal Citation Reports (JCR), produced by the Institute of Scientific Information (ISI). It is a unique resource for journal evaluation, using citation data drawn from over 8,400 scholarly and technical journals worldwide. Journals in the areas of science, technology, and social sciences are covered in JCR, and it incorporates journals from over 3,000 publishers in 60 nations. This makes JCR both multi-disciplinary and international.

JCR can help you to:

• Identify which journals to send your articles for publication.
• Identify journals relevant to your research.
• Check the standing of a journal in which you have published.

The NUS Libraries' subscription to JCR started from 1994. The latest three years are available on the Web and earlier years are available from the Central Library Information Desk.

Caveat

It is important to recognise that the quantitative citation data that JCR has are intended to complement, not replace, traditional qualitative and subjective inputs, such as peer surveys and specialist opinions.

ISI does not recommend that JCR users depend solely on citation data in their journal evaluations. Citation data are not meant to replace informed peer review. In addition, careful attention should be paid to the many conditions that can influence citation rates, such as language, journal history and format, publication schedule, and subject specialty. The number of articles given for journals listed in the JCR include only original research and review articles. Editorials, letters, news items, and meeting abstracts are not included in article counts because they are not generally cited.

Users should also be aware of general citation patterns when interpreting impact factors and other JCR data. Citation frequency may vary widely for different research specialties. In some fields, five-year impact factors may be more appropriate than the two-year impact data presented in the JCR. Review articles (and review journals) tend to be cited more frequently than other types of research communications. Also, journals publishing in non-English languages or using non-Roman alphabets may be less accessible to researchers worldwide, which would influence their citation counts.

Above information extracted from the online help in JCR.

Bear in mind too that the journals ranked in JCR only include those covered by ISI Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index. It would not be possible to obtain ranking figures for a journal that is not covered by ISI.

To access JCR

1. From the NUS Libraries homepage, click on Web of Science under Major Databases or Search your favourite database.
2. Enter your NUSNET userid and password when prompted.
3. Click on ISI Journal Citation Report.
4. Select a JCR edition and year: e.g. JCR Science Edition and 2002.
5. Select an option:
   • View a group of journals by Subject Category or Publisher or Country
   • Search for a specific journal
   • View all journals

Which are the high impact journals?

If you need to know how often a journal is cited, JCR calculates a journal's impact factor. The impact factor is a measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a particular year. The impact factor helps you evaluate a journal's relative importance, especially when comparing it to others in the same field.

The impact factor is calculated by dividing the number of current citations to articles published in the two previous years by the total number of articles published in the two previous years. For example:

American Political Science Review
Impact Factor: 2.116
Cites in 2002 to articles published in 2001 = 123
Cites in 2001 to articles published in 2000 = 152
Number of articles published in 2001 = 50
Number of articles published in 2000 = 46

Cites to recent articles / Number of recent articles =
(123 + 152)/(50 + 46) = 235/96 = 2.448

1. Select the subject area required, e.g. Political science and view the list sorted by journal title. Select more than one subject area by using CTRL and click on another subject area.



2. Click on the down arrow next to Sorted by and choose the factor required, e.g. Impact factor.
3. Click on Sort again to view the list of journals sorted by the factor selected.



4. To view the calculations for each journal, click on the journal name and scroll through the information in provided in the bottom frame.

Which are the "hottest" journals?

If you want to find out which journal’s articles are cited quickly by others, JCR calculates the journal immediacy index. The immediacy index will tell you how often articles published in a journal are cited within the same year.

The immediacy index is calculated by dividing the number of current citations to articles published in the same year by the number of articles published in the current year. For example:

Current Opinion in Genetics and Development
Immediacy Index: 3.065
Cites in 2002 to articles published in 2002 = 282
Number of articles published in 2002 = 92
Cites to current articles/Number of current articles = 282/92 = 3.065

The immediacy index is useful in comparing how quickly journals are cited. Because it is a per-article average, the immediacy index tends to discount the advantage of large journals over small ones. However, frequently issued journals may have an advantage here, because an article published early in the year has a better chance of being cited than one published later in the year. For comparing journals specializing in cutting-edge research, the immediacy index can provide a useful perspective.

Print, Save, Help and Exit

To print or save, select the titles you want by clicking in the box next to the title.

After selecting all the required titles, click on Marked List at the top.

Click on SAVE TO FILE to get the list converted to an ASCII, comma-delimited format.

Click on FORMAT FOR PRINT to get a new page ready for printing.

Online help is available when you click on HELP on the top of the screen.

To exit JCR, click on LOG OUT at the top right-hand corner of the screen.