Researching Journals: An Introduction
Refereed or Not?
A refereed journal is one that participates in blind, peer-review process to determine the accuracy of information and appropriateness of research methodology of articles accepted for publication.
One way to find determine if a journal is refereed is to check Ulrich's Periodicals Directory. When you search for a journal title or a topic, the database provides a list of possible matches, like this.
Notice that the search results table includes a column with an icon for a black and white referee's jersey. Items that are refereed show that icon.
Where is a Journal Indexed?
Check the "Top Journals in ..." links on the sidebar. For each topic, we've provided the top ten journals in that field and the databases we subscribe to that index them best.
OR
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory also provides information on where a journal is indexed.
In Ulrich's, find the journal you're interested in and scroll down the page. Click on the drop-down section for Abstracting & Indexing.
Be aware that Ulrich's may list indexing services that we don't subscribe to.
How to Determine the Top Journals in a Field
Check the "Top Journals in ..." links on the sidebar. For each topic, we've provided the top ten journals in that field and the databases we subscribe to that index them best.
OR
Use Journal Citation Reports to determine the ranking of journals.
Search for your topic area. Choose the closest Category. OR Browse the Categories list linked at the top of the page and then choose from the list of categories.
The default order is by the most recent Journal Impact Factor (JIF). If the JIF is not available, you can order journals by Journal Citation Index (JCI) ranking.
- Journal Impact Factor (JIF)
- A functional approximation of the mean citation rate per citable item. A Journal Impact Factor of 1.0 means that, on average, the articles published one or two years ago have been cited one time.
- Journal Citation Index (JCI) ranking
- Based on citations from all documents in the three previous years to articles published in the previous three years. The JCI is normalized for document type, publication year, and category. The average JCI for any category is 1. A JCI of 2 indicates that a journal is receiving twice the expected number of citations for the average journal in the category.
In general, science-related journals are more likely to include a JIF; while arts-related journals tend to have a JCI ranking.