An Alternative Size-Independent Journal Performance Indicator for Science on the Periphery

Abstract

The use of conventional journal impact factors (JIFs) for isolated journal ecosystems which belong to what is called science on the periphery has limitations. We propose the power : weakness ratio as an alternative size-independent recursive metric for journal evaluation for such ecosystems. It is based on the idea of recursive citation weighting using graph theoretic tools from social network analysis. The two highly localized ecosystems (i.e. subgraphs isolated from the global graph) chosen are the chemistry journals from India and those from China which are found in the JCR. When the local ecosystems are isolated from the larger global scientific network, the cross-citation behaviour within the local ecosystem reveals different features. This indicator is a more meaningful measure of the standing of each journal in the cross-citation activity within the ecosystem than the well-known JIF which is a global measure