Letter. Research evaluation entities cause a shift of publication to Q1 journals

Abstract

In Scopus there are four times more documents in first-quartile publications than in fourth-quartile ones. Publishers intend to adjust the editorial supply to the demand from authors, which seems to focus primarily on Q1 publications. Since 44% of the papers are concentrated in Q1 journals, papers published in journals in this quartile will be more likely to exceed the global average of impact. To the extent that publications are in greater demand by authors, they tend to be absorbed in different ways by large publishing groups. It has not been the growth of the editorial offer that has caused this over-demand from authors, but rather the identification of part of the editorial offering by public regulators as reliable in the research evaluation processes, resulting in a concentration of demand for Q1 journals by researchers.