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Specific Considerations for the Social Sciences

•Overall citation rates in the social sciences are generally lower than those in the natural sciences.

•Regional Studies are often the subject of scholarly social science research

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Specific Considerations for the Arts & Humanities

•Citation patterns in A&H do not necessarily follow the same predictable pattern as citations to social sciences and natural sciences articles.

•A&H journal articles frequently reference nonjournal sources such as book, musical compositions, works of art and literature.

•English language full text is not always required.

•Novel, well-focused content is of primary importance in the arts & humanities journal literature.

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Thomson Reuters Journal Selection Process

for Web of Science: ESCI

•No Journal Impact Factor for ESCI journals.

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…more on Emerging Sources Citation Index

•What is the role of ESCI in Web of Science Core Collection?

•Core Collection remains selective.

•Expand citation universe beyond high impact journals in SCIE, SSCI

•Reflect growing body of global scholarship

•Complements highly selective flagship indexes, SCIE, SSCI, AHCI

•Early visibility for some journals under evaluated for SCIE, SSCI and AHCI

•ESCI coverage provides greater opportunity for discovery

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How to apply for evaluation for coverage in ESCI

All journals seeking coverage in ESCI must submit recently published content to Publisher Relations.

Consult the Journal Selection Process essay at:

http://wokinfo.com/publisher_relations/journals/

…and go to the section at the end

HOW TO SUBMIT A JOURNAL FOR EVALUATION.

ESCI coverage now: ~3,000 journals

ESCI total coverage goal end of 2016:

~5,000 journals

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Why is Journal Impact Factor not part of ESCI?

•JIF associated with journals accepted after rigorous evaluation process for SCIE and SSCI which requires observation of measurable Citation Impact.

•ESCI journals do not necessarily have clearly measurable Citation Impact. They are not generally highly cited. JIF would have little meaning for ESCI journals.

•If an ESCI journal develops measurable Citation Impact then it will be evaluated for one of the Flagship Citation Indexes, typically SCIE or SSCI.

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Brief Review of Citations and Journal Impact Factor

in the Journal Selection Process.

•Citations indicate a journal’s involvement in the literature

•We seek journals that are active participants in scholarly discourse as evidenced by citation exchange.

•Impact Factor measures recent citation activity in a journal and has particular relevance in Biomedical Science journals.

•5-year Impact Factor is useful in slower moving areas like Social Sciences.

•Arts & Humanities journal articles cite non-journal items and not necessarily other journal articles. They often cite books, works of art, literature or musical compositions.

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Thank you!

•Work to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of your scholarly communication in journals.

•Web of Science Core Collection contains the greatest journals of our time. Let them guide you in building your journal.

•Find your way into Web of Science through use and the study of journals covered in it.

•Thomson Reuters Editorial Development and Publisher Relations can help at every step.

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