Ranking of journals in library and information science: A comparison of perceptual and citation-based measures

Abstract

A citation analysis of core library and information science journals was conducted to identify factors associated with subjective rankings of a journal's value in promotion and tenure decisions. Prestige rankings from a 1982 survey of ARL directors and library school deans were correlated with nine citation measures: Total citation count, impact factor, immediacy index, references per paper, Price's Index, self-citation rate, popularity factor, citation factor, and consumption factor, with and without controlling for journal orientation, age, circulation, and index coverage. Results indicate that deans and directors may differ in their weighting of scholarliness and timeliness when rating journal value, especially when the practitioner-research orientation of the journal is considered.