The need for end-user customization of the journal-sets of the subject categories in the Scimago Journal Ranking Database for more appropriate league lists. A case study for the library & information science field

Abstract

The open access SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) service -built from data in the subscription-based Elsevier ´s Scopus database- offers bibliographic information and bibliometric indicators for nearly 20,000 journals and other serial publications for 1996-2011. Journals are assigned to 300+ pre-defined subject categories and 26 broad subject areas to produce league lists. The set of 134 journals assigned to the Library and Information Sciences (LIS) subject category and a sample set of 50 other LIS journals, scattered across several other categories, were analyzed in the latest edition (SJR - 2011). Recommendations are made on how SJR could be enhanced by its developers to include simple customization options in the interface to facilitate a more efficient look-up and more valid comparison of the standing of journals and other serials and to reflect the prevailing preferences at the institutions where the rank positions in journal league lists are used to inform career advancement and funding decisions. It is argued that extending the current three-year citation window to five years would be more appropriate for all disciplines, and would also make SJR  comparable to metricsbased journal league lists produced from the open access Microsoft Academic Search  (MAS ), Google Scholar Metrics for Publications (GSMP ), and Eigenfactor.org (EF) data and the subscription-based Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which pioneered the idea of a metrics-based journal league list.