International publishing partnerships for China's English language journals and financial security

This article considers China's English language journals (CELJs) and looks at two aspects of partnership with international publishers: the financial cost and their ability to deliver the quick success objectives of the journals. Success is defined as being indexed in international databases such as SCI (Science Citation Index) and Ei (Engineering Index) Compendex databases. Our research shows that 226 CELJs (57.8%) have an international publishing partnership with publishers such as Springer, Elsevier, and Wiley. A survey of 12 CELJs in Hubei Province, China, shows that 75% journals have financial pressures on the journal operation. The Journal of Rock Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering ( JRMGE ) is provided as an illustration of the operation costs of CELJs and to demonstrate the associated financial pressures. We conclude that although international partnership is an on‐going fashion at present in China, it has both benefits and limitations. We also propose that to reduce the financial pressure on CELJs, government funding should be differently apportioned, providing a better return on investment (ROI).     

Library and Information Services in Pakistan:A Review of Articles Published in Foreign Journals

The paper presents a statistical and subjective review of the journal articles on various aspects of library and information services in Pakistan. Only the articles published in the journals outside Pakistan are included. Articles are selected from four abstracting services, i.e. LISA, ISA, LSA, and ERIC. Authorship characteristics of 97 articles are analysed and compared with the previous studies of LIS periodicals. Authorship details include collaboration, occupation, affiliation, and the author's country. Other publication details of the articles include year, language, journal, and the country of publication. The findings show that library science teachers write more than the other professionals and the most popular subject is the library and information science education. Library science faculty at Karachi University contributes more articles in international journals. The articles are mostly published in English language journals and in English speaking countries, i.e. UK and USA.International Information and Library Reviewpublished more articles on this topic. Problems in library research in Pakistan are discussed and recommendations are made. A brief review of the articles is given according to 16 major subjects. A bibliography of the articles reviewed is also compiled.     

SCI-E收录中国期刊现状分析

中国作者对发表SCI论文有巨大的需求,但目前SCIE收录的中国期刊数量较少,且总体水平未达到世界平均水平。将SCI-E收录的中国期刊根据语种和论文作者的国籍进行分类后发现:甲类期刊(以中文刊载的论文大于50%)和乙类期刊(发表论文的作者至少50%来自中国,且至少50%的论文以英文形式发表)学术水平未达到国际平均水平,2001—2011年期间变化不大;但乙类期刊是SCI-E收录的中国期刊中的绝大多数。丙类期刊(其刊载的论文至少50%是以英文发表的,且至少50%的论文第一作者为非中国作者)引用指数(JCS)逐年上升,上升幅度明显,2011年超过国际平均水平。说明通过改变语种不能提高期刊的国际影响力。在这3类期刊中,丙类年刊均载文量最低,为117.27篇/刊,2007后呈逐年下降趋势,2011年甚至降至91.07篇/刊。中国被SCI-E收录的期刊数量少,与国内发表SCI论文的巨大需求,以及中国期刊走上国际舞台,发挥更大的学术影响力的需求差距甚远,的确有必要创办更多的英文科技期刊;但是在此过程中,有必要慎重评价SCI-E收录期刊的学术影响力和作用。     

National vs. international journals: views of medical professionals in Croatia

Scholarly journals, especially in non‐English‐speaking countries, may perform very different functions depending on whether they are published for national or international audiences. Four hundred and sixty‐six academic physicians and non‐academic general practitioners in Croatia were surveyed on their knowledge about two Croatian medical journals: Lije?ni?ki vjesnik (published in Croatian) and Croatian Medical Journal (published in English). The physicians were also surveyed about the importance of all national and international journals published in Croatia, and the types of articles they thought should be published in these journals. More respondents rated national (n = 329, 72.6%) than international journals (n = 275, 63.5%, P < 0.001, Wilcoxon test) as very important for the medical profession. On the other hand, publishing in international journals was more often rated as important than publishing in national journals (n = 184, 42.5% vs. n = 125, 27.8%; P < 0.001, Wilcoxon test). Guidelines for clinical practice were rated as the most important publication item in national journals, and original scientific articles in international journals.     

The first comprehensive Chinese university journal published in English: the Tsing Hua Journal

The Tsing Hua Journal sponsored by Tsing Hua University is investigated by reading, comparing, and analysing original literature about it. It is concluded that it was the first English‐language journal of natural science and social science published by a Chinese university. The early establishment of an editorial department, of exchange with European and American journals, and of its inclusion of abstracts of foreign papers, demonstrate its international aims. Through its parallel Chinese‐ and English‐language versions it aimed to achieve an exchange of knowledge between China and the West.     

Experiences with bilingual publishing: surveys of authors and editors

Bilingual publishing has become a strategy employed by journals from the non‐Anglophone world to gain wider recognition. Beyond anecdotal evidence, however, there are no published accounts of the experiences of editors and authors of bilingual journals with the process of bilingual publication. It is also unclear how authors writing in bilingual journals judge the quality of the translations and whether they consider this sort of publishing as beneficial for their aims. Consequently, we carried out two surveys: one among editors of bilingual journals and one anonymous survey among authors and translators of articles published in Deutsches Ärzteblatt International, the bilingual journal of the German Medical Association. Eight of nine journals as well as 233 of 353 authors and 4 of 6 translators took part. Most journals reported that bilingual publication helped in becoming indexed in important databases (e.g. Medline), receiving or improving an Impact Factor, and in attracting authors. All journals plan to continue publishing bilingually. Authors were ‘satisfied’ (40.8%) or ‘very satisfied’ (57.8%) with translations. Almost all (96.7%) were in favour of bilingual publication of their work. They did not view an English translation as an obstacle to another related English language paper. Translators highlighted challenges relating to specialized terminology and to terms specific to the regional healthcare system.     

基于引文分析方法的中国英文科技期刊的交流价值研究

为了定量研究中国英文科技期刊在我国科学研究和出版交流活动中所发挥的作用,借鉴语言学研究中对某一个语言"交际价值"的定量测度方法,设计出评价中国英文科技期刊交流价值的新指标Q。它的定义由3部分组成,即期刊所在学科的英文流行度P、在学科内期刊的学术影响中心度C、期刊学术影响的国际扩散度D。若以这3个指标构成三维坐标系,每种期刊看作是从点0出发的一个向量,则指标Q的含义可以理解为期刊向量的长度。通过对45种中国英文科技期刊样本的实际计算,发现交流价值Q可以从一个方面以较好的区分度和准确性体现中国英文科技期刊的实用价值。     

Growth and nature of international LIS research: An analysis of two journals

The study explores the publication trends of scholarly journal articles in two core Library and Information Science (LIS) journals indexed under ScienceDirect Database during the period for the period 2000–2010, and for the “Top 25 Hottest Papers” for 2006–2010. It examines and presents an analysis of 1000 research papers in the area of LIS published in two journals: The International Information & Library Review (IILR) and Library & Information Science Research (LISR). The study examines the content of the journals, including growth of the literature, authorship patterns, geographical distributions of authors, distribution of papers by journal, citation pattern, ranking pattern, length of articles, and most cited authors. Collaboration was calculated using Subramanyam's formula, and Lotka's law was used to identify authors' productivity. The results indicated that authors' distributions did not follow Lotka's law. The study identified the eight most productive authors with a high of 19 publications in this field. The findings indicate that these publications experienced rapid and exponential growth in literature production. The contributions by scientists from India are examined.     

中文医学学术期刊发表英文文章的实践与思考

中文医学学术期刊发表英文文章的现象较为普遍.通过对发表在<吉林大学学报(医学版)>上的112篇英文文章的发表时间、栏目、作者分布及被引用情况和其他3种较权威医学学术期刊发表的英文文章的数量及被引用情况进行分析,发现中文期刊发表的英文文章虽然具有较高的学术价值,但被国内期刊引用率明显低于同期发表的中文文章,SCI-E检索显示被引频次为0,认为中文医学学术期刊发表英文文章并没有起到扩大传播范围、促进期刊国际化的作用,而且浪费宝贵的信息资源.建议中文医学学术期刊不宜刊发英文文章,在国内应首选英文版期刊发表英文文章.     

英文刊《国际煤炭科学技术学报》国际化出版的经验与教训

为避免拟改造或新创办英文科技期刊国际化发展过程中走入歧途,分析《国际煤炭科学技术学报》(英文)在变更刊名、组建编委会及选择国际合作出版平台等方面走过的弯路,总结在推行专家办刊模式、引进客座主编机制、设立海外编辑分部、聘任海外助理编辑、创新传播推广渠道等方面的成功经验.认为办刊是一项系统工程,没有捷径,失败的教训和成功的经验只是让期刊在前进的路上少走弯路,一步一个脚印,按照既定的办刊方向和目标坚定不移地走下去,才是正确的办刊之道.     

Improving standards in the scientific biomedical community in Romania by using journal ranking to improve journal quality*

The paper articulates the problems of journal publication in a relatively small country such as Romania where locally (i.e. nationally) published journals include most of the national medical scientific output. The starting point was a study ordered by the Cluj University of Medicine and Pharmacy Scientific Council, for the purpose of obtaining an objectively ranked list of all current Romanian biomedical journals that could be used in the evaluation of the scientific activity of the university academic staff. Sixty‐five current biomedical journals were identified—of which more than half were new titles that had appeared over the past 5 years. None of these are included in the Science Citation Index or Journal Citation Reports (JCR). A set of criteria was used for ranking the journals: peer review, inclusion in international databases, publication time lag, language of articles and abstracts, journal specific index and domestic impact factor. The period covered, along with tools and formulas used are presented. The problems of Romanian biomedical journals as well as ways of improving publishing standards are discussed. Also emphasized is the necessity for increased awareness in the medical scholarly community and the role of the library in this respect.     

Scholarly publishing and open access in the Nordic countries

This study examines aspects of scholarly journal publishing in the Nordic countries. On average half of Nordic journals publish online. In most Nordic countries, commercial publishers predominate; however, in Finland the majority are society publishers. The number of open access journals is low, in line with international figures. There is concern to maintain local languages in journal publishing. A majority of the journals publishing in local languages are within social science, humanities, and arts; the STM sector publishes in English. English‐language publications are favoured in research assessments, international recognition, and impact, while the visibility of local‐language scholarly journals in international databases is low. The Nordbib program supports Nordic scholarly journals and fosters co‐operation with publishing companies and learned societies over migration to e‐publishing; it also supports open access. The article discusses future challenges for journal publishing, pointing out the problems of small journal publishers and the need for co‐operation between stakeholders.     

Technological impact factor: An indicator to measure the impact of academic publications on practical innovation

This study established a technological impact factor (TIF) derived from journal impact factor (JIF), which is proposed to evaluate journals from the aspect of practical innovation. This impact factor mainly examines the influence of journal articles on patents by calculating the number of patents cited to a journal divided by the number of articles published in that particular journal. The values of TIF for five-year (TIF₅) and ten-year (TIF₁₀) periods at the journal level and aggregated TIF values (TIF_{AGG_5} and TIF_{AGG_10}) at the category level were provided and compared to the JIF. The results reveal that journals with higher TIF values showed varied performances in the JCR, while the top ten journals on JIF₅ showed consistent good performance in TIFs. Journals in three selected categories – Electrical & Electronic Engineering, Research & Experimental Medicine, and Organic Chemistry – showed that TIF₅ and TIF₁₀ values are not strongly correlated with JIF₅. Thus, TIFs can provide a new indicator for evaluating journals from the aspect of practical innovation.     

Citation analysis for collection development: A study of international relations journal literature

By examining citations in international relations journal articles published between 2000 and 2005, this study reveals that international relations scholars more heavily rely on books rather than on journals. Less than 2% of the citations are from electronic resources. Materials in foreign languages are utilized insignificantly, with English language citations dominating the research literature. The analysis of subject scatter details the main disciplines that are associated with international relations research. Qualitative scholars cite a higher proportion of monographic literature, while quantitative scholars display a higher journal citation rate.     

Is Google Scholar useful for the evaluation of non‐English scientific journals? The case of Chinese journals

This study determined how useful Google Scholar (GS) is for the evaluation of non‐English journals based on a sample of 150 Chinese journals listed in the Report on Chinese Academic Journals Evaluation of Research Center for Chinese Science Evaluation (2013–2014). This study investigated two disciplines: Library, Information & Documentation Science and Metallurgical Engineering & Technology. We collected data from GS and the Chongqing VIP database to evaluate GS as a citation database for Chinese journals on its resource coverage, journal ranking, and citation data. We found that GS covered 100% of the sample journals but indexed 22% more article records than the number of articles published. The ranking of Chinese journals by GS Metrics was not suitable to present a dependable ranking of Chinese journals. GS appeared suitable to provide an alternative source of Chinese citation data, even though there existed coverage problems, including article duplication and citation omission and potential duplication. The GS Metric average citation provided results highly correlated to traditional citation results, showing that it would be suitable for evaluating Chinese journals.     

The resilience of scientific publication: From elite ancient academies to open access

• Scientific publication has been a key part of the scientific method since the inception of Philosophical Transactions in 1665.
• The scientific publications industry has grown exponentially along with science, incorporating technological innovations along the way, and adapting journal processes and practices to changing needs of science as it matured.
• Of all the technological innovations over more than 300 years, the move to online journals may be the most significant, making open access to content practical for the first time.
• The open‐access movement is disrupting the economics of journal publishing, which is hoped will make the industry more competitive: the ability of the publications industry to adapt to open access will be a measure of its resilience.
• The demand for articles published in reputable journals continues to grow as readers trust the credibility of peer reviewed journal articles, and good authors value the prestige of publishing in the best journals.
• It is difficult to predict what new functionalities may be included in articles of the future or what additional services publishers and editors will provide, but there is every reason to believe that scientific journal articles are here to stay.

     

入选“卓越行动计划”高校自然科学学报的国际影响力现状分析

文章通过Scopus数据库和SciVal分析平台,统计分析首批入选“中国科技期刊卓越行动计划”高校自然科学学报的载文量、总被引频次、篇均被引频次、高被引论文比、零被引论文比、中国学者引用贡献率、CiteScore及其百分位、发文的专业化程度等指标,定量展示入选的高校自然科学学报的国际影响力现状及差异。研究结果表明,入选的中文学报国际影响力有限,不宜过分强调国际化;入选的英文学报国际影响力有很大提升空间,提倡立足于本土的国际化;中文和英文学报均应凸显专业化特征,坚持高质量发展。     

关于《植物学报》改版问题的几点思考

在编委会的正确领导和编辑部的不懈努力下，《植物学报》已取得重大成功。要继续提高其质量，可建立2步走的奋斗目标，近期，争取由SCI 外围跨入SCI源刊，比较长远的目标是办成真正具有国际水平的刊物。欲达此目的，关键在于逐步推进刊物的英文化。此外，应力争稿件来源的国际化，编委会和审稿专家的国际化。并组建精通外文的编辑部以及使录排，印刷，装帧技术达到国际水平。