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Research Skills for Architecture, Design & Planning

Journal impact factors and citation rankings

Journal article citation indexes are useful research tools for two reasons:

• They link research and commentary on a given topic. For a comprehensive literature review, look for
        publications that cite, or refer to, other works on the same topic
  or
        works that are cited by other authors.



• Citation indexes are indicators of levels of interest, importance, originality or controversy in a given area of research at certain points in time.
  Articles that generate discussion and commentary in the academic literature, and which lead to further research in that discipline, are said to have a higher impact than those which are not subsequently cited by others.
  Original research with a high impact factor tends to be more highly valued by the academic community.

1. Has a publication been cited, and if so, how many times, by whom?

A number of bibliographic databases now include this information, including:

• Web of Knowledge [ISI]
  Search for information on your topic
  Look for
• ISI HighlyCited.com - for information about the citation indexes produced by Thomson ISI see:
  • What are Citations
  • About ISI HighlyCited.com
  • ISI Highlycited.com: How do we identify Highly Cited Researchers?
• Cited Reference Searching: An Introduction - A Tutorial Using Web of Science

2. How can I track when my published research is cited by others?

• Web of Science - Citation databases (via ISI Web of Knowledge)
• Google scholar
• Business Source Premier
• Science Direct (see Abstract or Summary Plus, Actions: Cited by) - provides citation alerts to your email (see Search Tips)

3a. What is the impact factor of a particular journal?
3b. What is the ranking of that journal in a specific discipline

• Journal Citation Reports (via ISI Web of Knowledge)

4. Which journals are peer reviewed or refereed?

Some databases provide functions to search for, or to identify, refereed publications.
Examples include:

• Ulrich's International Periodicals Directory (Online)
• ProQuest 5000
• Expanded Academic Index
• Business Source Premier
• Design and Applied Arts Index

5. Is this research of current interest in the community, or under topical debate in the public media?

• Factiva (international, including Australian media and newspapers)
• APAIS: Australian Public Affairs Information Service (including APA-FT: Australian Public Affairs Full Text) ¨C part of the Informit group of databases
• Expanded Academic Index
• Infoquick (articles about Australia and Australians, published in the Sydney Morning Herald and associated publications)
• Google Scholar
• World News Connection

Go deeper

• Citation Searching University of Sydney Library guide
• ISI Web of Knoweldge databases - Information for New Users - Use link at top right of each database search screen
• Thomson Scientific : Free Resources : Essays - information about citations and criteria for their selection for this database written by Thomson Scientific [ISI] staff members

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