Web Mail | LearnJCU | Contacts | Bulletins | Campus Maps
   Information For > Prospective Students | International Students | Current Students | Visitors | Staff | Jobs at JCU
Information About > The University | Research | Teaching | Courses & Degrees | Faculties & Divisions | Library & Computing

Using Journal Citation Reports (JCR)

Other ERA Resources: Where should I publish? | Who is citing me? | Research Leaders | FAQ

Journal Citation Reports is a unique database that provides impact factors for journals which can also be used as an indication of quality.

To access JCR

  1. from the Library & Computing Services homepage select Databases and then ISI Journal Citation Reports (don't forget to log in via remote access if you are off campus)
  2. select Journal Citation Reports (JCR) from the Web of Knowledge welcome page
  3. select a JCR edition and year. For example: JCR Social Sciences Edition and 2003

Note :

  1. You cannot search both editions at the same time. The default is Science Edition and the current year
  2. Impact factor calculations are based on a 3-year cycle of publication and citation, so a journal has to be included in one of the 2 editions for the last 3 years before it receives an impact factor
  3. There is no Arts & Humanities Edition. JCR only contains journals indexed in Science Citation Index and Social Science Citation Index, NOT Arts & Humanities Citation Index. So, a journal can be indexed in the Web of Science (which consists of all 3 citation indexes), but still not be mentioned in JCR. You can use the data in the Arts & Humanities Citation Index itself to count citations to journals, but impact factors are not calculated for journals in the arts and humanities

How do I find out if the journal has an impact factor ?

Searching for a known journal title

  1. select Search for a specific journal and select submit
  2. type in Journal name and select search
  3. note the information about this journal title:
    • the impact factor, total no of cites in 2003 and the no of articles in 2003
  4. select the Journal title link
    • journals may be assigned more than one subject category. Use the Scope note to check what is included in a particular subject category
    • select Impact Factor Trend. View the impact factor graph for the last 5 years - check the impact factor pattern for this journal title. This is a comparison of each year for the journal title but not a comparison of this title with others in the field

To compare this title with other titles in the field:

  1. select Return to Journal
  2. select View journal summary (this is a list of all titles in this area)
    • change Sorted by option to sort by impact factor then select Sort again
    • note where your journal title is ranked - you may have made a good choice or you may want to revise your choice

How do I find out the relative ranking of my journal within a particular field?

Searching within a subject category

  1. select View a group of journals by and then select Subject Category
  2. select submit
  3. scroll down the list of categories to find and select the category you are interested in, e.g.: "Educational & Educational Research"
  4. submit your request
  5. change Sorted by option to sort by impact factor then select Sort again. This will produce a list of titles beginning with the title with the highest impact factor for that category.

Top of Page

If this information is inadequate, incorrect, or can be improved in any way, please let us know