Subject Guide for Evaluating Periodicals
Contents:
- Periodical directories
- Journal rankings & impact factors
- Journal acceptance/rejection rates
- Reviews of individual periodical titles
- Cited reference searching
Periodical directories
Online | Print
Online
Serials
Directory. Current.
Bibliographic information and current pricing structures for popular U.S. and
international serials and publishers. Full text. 
Cabell's
Directories for Business, Education, and Psychology.
Entries include editor's name, address, phone, fax, email and web address; manuscript
guidelines; acceptance rate review type, process and time; number of reviewers;
circulation and prince; type of readership. Covers business (accounting, economics
and finance, management, marketing), education (curriculum and methods, psychology
and administration), and psychology. Full text.
MLA Directory of Periodicals. Current.
Lists editorial addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, frequency of publication, descriptions of the periodicals' scopes, circulation figures, subscription prices and addresses, advertising information, and submission guidelines. Also provides statistics on how many articles and book reviews the periodicals publish each year, as well as how many are submitted. Full text.
Who Publishes What:
A Guide to Non-Scientific Publishing Opportunities in Magazines and Journals.
The University of Wisconsin has a helpful bibliography on this topic, listing
a variety of reference books that give journal acceptance rates in various disciplines.
Magazines for Libraries.
PN
4832 .K2 Reference Desk
Lists and descibes titles (journals and magazines) that are absolutely essential
for a basic collection.
Gale Directory of Publications and Broadcast Media.
Z
6951 .A972 Reference Desk
Covers U.S., Canadian, and internatijnal print and broadcast media; includes
journals.
Bowker's News Media Directory. 3 vols.
PN
4877 .B69 Reference Desk
Includes magazines and newsletters.
Benn's Media. 4 vols.
PN
5118 .B465 Reference Desk
Consumer, news and business, and trade/technical magazines, newspapers, televison,
radio and on-line media.
The Writer's Market.
PN
161 .W83 Reference Desk
Listings for book publishers, consumer magazines, trade journals, literary agents.
Literary Press and Magazine Directory.
PN
2 .D55 Reference
Journal rankings & impact factors
There are several methods for locating journal rankings.
1. The journal literature may include articles that identify top journals or rankings. Search the database in your discipline to find these articles (i.e., for psychology search PsycINFO). Use the Databases & Electronic Resources web page to identify appropriate databases.
2. For the sciences, consult these web sites.
High Impact Journals. Science Gateway.
Directory of links and resources for biomedical science and research. It is compiled by a group of scientists located in Europe and North America.in-cites Journals. Thomson.
Interviews, essays and rankings featuring highly cited journals in a variety of fields. Primarily science, but includes some social science.
3. General web search engines may also uncover journal ranking information.
Try the following search statement using Google:
"top * [discipline name] journals"
For example: "top * marketing journals" would retrieve "top ten marketing
journals," "top ranked marketing journals," and "top tier marketing journals."
Be sure to include the quotation marks and the * in your search statement.
4. The following books have some information.
Nisonger, T. (2003). Journal ranking studies. In Evaluation of library collections, access and electronic resources: A literature guide and annotated bibliography (pp. 207-230). Westport, CT: Libraries Unlimited.
Z 687 .N57 2003 4th floor books
Includes an annotated bibliography of works that focus on journal ranking.Stankus, T., ed. (2002). Journals of the century. New York: Haworth.
PN 4836. J685 2002 Reference
Lists first-tier and second-tier from both a U.S. and international perspecitve, as well as identifying important new journals.
5. The following article provides a good overview of journal rankings and other issues.
Rousseau, R. (2002). Journal evaluation: Technical and practical issues. Library Trends 50(3), 418-439.
6. Other tools to consider in this assignment are the periodical directories and guides to the literature in various disciplines.
Impact factors can be calculated in various ways. The easiest way to do this is to take a database that includes citations (like Web of Science, PsycINFO, or Academic Search Premier), divide the number of times a journal is cited (in a particular year or range of years) by the number of articles published in that journal for that time period, and the resulting quotient is the impact factor. It is somewhat more complex than this, but these are the basics.
Journal acceptance/rejection rates
The journal literature sometimes has articles written on this, and sometimes journals will publish their own acceptance rates. Search the databases in your discipline to find these articles (for example, for psychology search the database PsycINFO).
Business | Communication | Education | Literature | Musicology | Nursing and Allied Health | Political Science | Psychology | Social Work | Sociology | Book Publishers & Magazines
Business
Cabell's
Directories for Business, Education, and Psychology.
Entries include editor's name, address, phone, fax, email and web address; manuscript
guidelines; acceptance rate review type, process and time; number of reviewers;
circulation and prince; type of readership. Covers business (accounting, economics
and finance, management, marketing), education (curriculum and methods, psychology
and administration), and psychology. Full text.
Mitenko, G. R., & Diamond, J. M. (1994). Publication policies and practices of major finance journals: A survey of editors. Financial Practice & Education, 4(2), 88.
Family and Consumer Sciences Research:
A Compendium of Journals. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Institute. Iowa State University.
The purpose of this compendium is to help people prepare their research for submission to a journal. The following information was collected from each journal: Publisher/Sponsor; Journal's affiliation; Appropriate topics; Primary audience; Frequency of issue; Copies per issue; Type of review; Acceptance rate; Average review time; Number of reviewers; Percentage of invited articles; Maximum page length; Page charge to publish manuscript; Manuscript guidelines.
Iowa Guide: Scholarly Journals in Mass Communication and Related Fields.
Cabell's
Directories for Business, Education, and Psychology.
Entries include editor's name, address, phone, fax, email and web address; manuscript
guidelines; acceptance rate review type, process and time; number of reviewers;
circulation and prince; type of readership. Covers business (accounting, economics
and finance, management, marketing), education (curriculum and methods, psychology
and administration), and psychology. Full text.
Hensen, K. (1997). Writing for publication. Phi Delta Kappan, 78(10), 781-784.
MLA
Directory of Periodicals. Current.
Lists editorial addresses, phone numbers, fax numbers, e-mail addresses, frequency
of publication, descriptions of the periodicals' scopes, circulation figures,
subscription prices and addresses, advertising information, and submission guidelines.
Also provides statistics on how many articles and book reviews the periodicals
publish each year, as well as how many are submitted. Full text.
Writing about Music: A Guide to Publishing Opportunities for Authors and
Reviewers.
ML
128 .P24 B37 1989 4th floor books
Nursing and Allied Health Fields
Writer's Guide to Nursing and Allied Health Journals.
RT 24 .B69 5th floor books
Writer's Guide to Nursing Periodicals.
RT 24 .D35 5th floor books
Political Science Information.
JA 1 .M377 1990 4th floor books
Political and Social Science Journals.
JA 74 .P62 1983 4th floor books
APA Journal Statistics and
Operations Data.
Lists acceptance rates for journals published by APA.
Guide to Journals in Psychology and Education.
BF
76.8 .L65 1990 3rd floor books
Journals in Psychology: A Resource Listing for Authors.
BF 76.8 .J68 1993 3rd floor books
Cabell's
Directories for Business, Education, and Psychology.
Entries include editor's name, address, phone, fax, email and web address; manuscript
guidelines; acceptance rate review type, process and time; number of reviewers;
circulation and prince; type of readership. Covers business (accounting, economics
and finance, management, marketing), education (curriculum and methods, psychology
and administration), and psychology. Full text.
Family
and Consumer Sciences Research: A Compendium of Journals. Family and Consumer
Sciences Research Institute. Iowa State University.
The purpose of this compendium is to help people prepare their research for
submission to a journal. The following information was collected from
each journal: Publisher/Sponsor; Journal's affiliation; Appropriate topics;
Primary audience; Frequency of issue; Copies per issue; Type of review; Acceptance
rate; Average review time; Number of reviewers; Percentage of invited articles;
Maximum page length; Page charge to publish manuscript; Manuscript guidelines.
Author's Guide to Social Work Journals.
HV85 .A93 1997 3rd floor books
Family and Consumer Sciences Research:
A Compendium of Journals. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Institute. Iowa State University.
The purpose of this compendium is to help people prepare their research for submission to a journal. The following information was collected from each journal: Publisher/Sponsor; Journal's affiliation; Appropriate topics; Primary audience; Frequency of issue; Copies per issue; Type of review; Acceptance rate; Average review time; Number of reviewers; Percentage of invited articles; Maximum page length; Page charge to publish manuscript; Manuscript guidelines.
Family and Consumer Sciences Research:
A Compendium of Journals. Family and Consumer Sciences Research Institute. Iowa State University.
The purpose of this compendium is to help people prepare their research for submission to a journal. The following information was collected from each journal: Publisher/Sponsor; Journal's affiliation; Appropriate topics; Primary audience; Frequency of issue; Copies per issue; Type of review; Acceptance rate; Average review time; Number of reviewers; Percentage of invited articles; Maximum page length; Page charge to publish manuscript; Manuscript guidelines.
Writers Market. Current.
PN
161 .W83 Reference Desk
Includes rates for book publishers and magazine publishers, but not for scholarly
journals.
Literary Market Place.
PN
161 .L5 Reference Desk
Directory of the book publishing industry covering publishers, literary agents,
editorial services and agents, associations, and toher service providers.
Reviews of periodical titles
Magazines for Libraries.
PN
4832 .K2 Reference Desk
Lists and descibes titles (journals and magazines) that are absolutely essential
for a basic collection.
Serials
Review
A peer-reviewed scholarly journal covering all aspects of serials management,l
including statistical studies and collection analysis.
Cited reference searching
The SDSU Library does not own the Journal Citation Reports produced by ISI, either online or in print. UCSD owns the print version.
To conduct you own citation study, use the the following databases.
Try this database first
Web of
Science. 1900 to present.
Journal articles. All disciplines. Allows one to trace a line of research forward
in time. Some full text.
To search for cited references, click on CITED REF SEARCH button.
These database include a cited reference feature
Academic
Search Premier. Varies by title; mid-1980s to present.
All subjects. Articles in journals, magazines, newspapers, and more. Some full
text.
To search for cited references, click on Cited References in green
bar.
Business
Source Premier. Earliest 1965; most 1990s to present.
Academic journals, business magazines, newspapers, news wires, trade journals,
and industry reports. Some full text.
To search for cited references, click on Cited References in green
bar.
CINAHL
Plus with Full Text (Cumulative Index to Nursing and Allied Health Literature). Earliest
1937; most 1982 to present.
Journal articles, book chapters, dissertations, tests, conference proceedings,
care plans, and pamphlets. Cited reference searching available. Some full text.
To search for cited references, click on Cited References in green
bar.
Communication
& Mass Media Complete. Early 1980s to present.
Journal articles and some specialized encyclopedias and handbooks Some full
text. .
To search for cited references, click on Cited References in green
bar.
Education:
A SAGE Full-Text Collection. Varies by title to present.
Articles from 26 peer-reviewed journals published by SAGE and participating
societies. Full text.
Do an author search.
To search for cited references, click on the Cited by link in
the record.
GLBT
(Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual & Transgender) Life Full Text. Varies by title
to present.
Journals, magazines and regional newspapers, as well as dozens for full text
monographs. Some full text.
To search for cited references, click on Cited References in green
bar.
Humanities
International Index. 1925 to present.
Journals articles, essays and reviews, as well as original creative works including
poems, fiction, photographs, paintings and illustrations. Some full text.
To search for cited references, click on Cited References
in green bar.
IEEE
Xplore. Earliest 1952; most 1988 to present.
IEEE and IEE journals, magazines, conference papers, books, and standards. Some
full text. Look for the green square.
To search for cited references, click on Search By Author;
type author's name; click Get References; click Abstracts; click
Documents that cite this document.
Library,
Information Science & Technology Abstracts. Mid-1960s to present.
Periodicals, books, research reports and proceedings covering librarianship,
classification, cataloging, bibliometrics, online information retrieval, information
management and more. Some full text.
To search for cited references, click on Cited References in green
bar.
MathSciNet. 1940
to present.
Journal articles, books, and conference proceedings in the mathematical sciences.
Includes the MR Citation Database, which offers cited reference
searching in a subset of the journals (earliest 1997; most 2000 to present).
Look
for "More Links."
To search for cited references, click on the Author
Citations tab.
Nursing
and Allied Health Collection: Comprehensive. 1975 to present.
Journals, including peer-reviewed, covering the areas of nursing, biomedicine,
health sciences, consumer health and allied health disciplines. Some full text.
To search for cited references, click on Cited References in green
bar.
PsycINFO.
1887 to present.
Journal articles, books, and book chapters in psychology and related disciplines.
Cited reference searching is available. Some full text.
Comprehensive coverage of cited references from 2001 forward, some cited references
from 1998.
To search for cited references, click on Cited References in green
bar.
PubMed Central. 1865
to present.
Biomedical and life science journals. Full text with a few embargos.
To search for cited references, select PMC in Search
box; click Preview/Index tab, then select Reference or Reference
Author; type author's name; click Preview, then click Go.
Science
Direct (Elsevier). Varies by title; most 1995 to date.
Some full text.
To search for cited references, click Search; in the All Source
form type author's name, select within Authors, then click Search;
click Summary Plus; click Cited By.
SciFinder Scholar. 1907 to present.
Requires additional software; no off-campus access; restricted to SDSU
faculty, staff, and students at all times.
Click here for more information and to download software.
Six inter-linked chemistry databases. Includes journal articles, patents, dissertations,
books, and conference proceedings plus chemical properties, structures, reactions
and more. Some full text.
To search for cited references, click on author search; type author's
name; select appropriate name and click Get References; select record
and click Get Related Pubs.
Social
Services Abstracts. 1979 to present.
Journal articles, dissertations, book reviews in social work, human services,
and related fields. Some full text.
Cited references from all journal articles from 2004 forward.
To search for cited references, do an author search then click
on the Cited by link in the record.
Sociological
Abstracts. 1952 to present.
Journal articles, books, book chapters, book reviews, dissertations, and conference
papers in sociology and related disciplines. Some full text.
Cited references from core journals from 2002 forward; cited references from
all other journals from 2004 forward.
To search for cited references, do an author search then click
on the Cited by link in the record.
Worldwide
Political Science Abstracts. 1975 to present.
Journal articles in all major areas of political science and its complementary
fields, including international relations, law, and public administration and
policy. Some full text.
Cited references from core journals from 2001 forward; cited references from
all other journal articles from 2004 forward.
To search for cited references, do an author search then click
on the Cited by link in the record.
