Thomson Reuters extends the power of its Journal Selection Process by focusing
on the world’s best Regional Journals. The goal of this initiative is to enrich
the collection of important and influential International Journals now covered
in Web of Science with a number of superbly produced journals whose content
is of specific Regional importance.
Since its inception nearly fifty years ago by Eugene Garfield, PhD, the primary
goal of the Journal Selection Process has been to identify those journals which
formed the core literature of the sciences, social sciences, and arts &
humanities. These journals publish the bulk of scholarly research, receive the
most citations from the surrounding literature, and have the highest citation
impact of all journals published today. The journals selected for the Web of
Science are, in essence, the scholarly publications that meet the broadest research
needs of the international community of researchers. They have been selected
on the basis of their high publishing standards, their editorial content, the
international diversity of their contributing authors and editorial board members,
and on their relative citation frequency and impact. International journals
selected for the Web of Science define the very highest standards in the world
of scholarly publishing.
In recent years, however, the user community of the Web of Science has expanded
gradually from what was once a concentration of major universities and research
facilities in the United States and Western Europe to an internationally diverse
group including virtually all major universities and research centers in every
region of the world. Where once the Thomson Reuters sales force was concentrated
in Philadelphia and London, local staff are now committed to the service of
customers at offices in Japan, Singapore, Australia, Brazil, China, France,
Germany, Taiwan, India, and South Korea.
As the global distribution of Web of Science expands into virtually every region
on earth, the importance of Regional Scholarship to our emerging regional user
community also grows. Our approach to Regional Scholarship effectively extends
the scope of the Thomson Reuters Journal Selection Process beyond the collection
of the great international journal literature: it now moves into the realm of
the Regional Journal literature. Its renewed purpose is to identify, evaluate,
and select those scholarly journals that target a Regional rather than and International
audience. Bringing the best of these Regional titles into the Web of Science
will illuminate regional studies that would otherwise not have been visible
to the broader international community of researchers.
In the Fall of 2006, the Editorial Development Department of Thomson Reuters
began this monumental task. Under the direction of Maureen Handel, Manager of
Journal Selection, the team of subject editors compiled a list of over 10,000
scholarly publications representing all areas of science, social science, the
arts, and humanities. Over the next twelve months the team was able to select
700 Regional Journals for coverage in the Web of Science.
The Web of Science Regional Journal Profile
These Regional Journals are typically published outside the US or UK. Their
content often cen-ters on topics of regional interest or that are presented
with a regional perspective. Authors may be largely from the region rather than
an internationally diverse group. Bibliographic in-formation is in English with
the exception of some arts and humanities publications that are by definition
in native language (e.g. literature studies). Cited references must be in the
Roman alphabet. All journals selected are publishing on time and are formally
peer reviewed. Citation analysis may be applied but the real importance of the
Regional journal is measured by the specificity of its content rather than its
citation impact.
Subject Areas and Their Characteristics
These first 700 journals selected in 2007 included 161 Social Science titles,
148 Clinical Medicine titles, 108 Agriculture/Biology/Environmental Science
titles, 95 Physics/Chemistry/Earth Science titles, 89 Engineering/Computing/Technology
titles, 61 Arts/Humanities titles, and 38 Life Sciences titles. The editors’
exploration of each subject area surfaced hidden treasure.
Social Sciences
The European Union and Asia Pacific regions yielded over 140 social science
titles. Subject ar-eas such as business, economics, management, and education
have been enriched with regional coverage. Several fine law journals have been
selected and will provide balance in an area normally dominated by US journals.
Because of the characteristically regional nature of many studies in the social
sciences, this area will provide a rich source of coverage that would otherwise
not be available to the broader international community.
Clinical Medicine
Several regional journals dealing with General Medicine, Cardiology, and Orthopedics
have been selected. Latin America, Asia Pacific, and European Union are all
well represented here. Research in Surgery is a growing area in regional journals.
Robotic and other novel surgical technology is no longer limited to the developed
nations but now originates in China and India as well and has potential use
internationally.
The spread of diseases such as bird flu and SARS eastward and westward from
Southeast Asia is a high interest topic regionally and internationally. In some
cases host countries develop defen-sive practices and, if enough time elapses,
vaccines. Regional Studies on these critical subjects will now be available
in Web of Science.
Agriculture/Biology/Environmental Sciences
Many of the selected Regional titles in this area include new or endemic taxa
of interest globally. Likewise regional agriculture or environmental issues
are now known to result in global consequences. Many titles are devoted to niche
topics such as polar/tundra environment issues, or tropical agronomy. Desertification
has heightened the value of literature from central Asian countries. Iranian
journals report voluminously on the use of native, desert tolerant plants and
animals that may soon be in demand by desertification threatened countries.
Physics/Chemistry/Earth Sciences
Regional Journals focused on various aspects of Earth Science are now available
in Web of Science. These include titles focused on geology, geography, oceanography,
meteorology, climatology, paleontology, remote sensing, and geomorphology. Again,
the inherently regional nature of these studies provides a unique view of the
subject and brings forward studies heretofore hidden.
Engineering/Computing/Technology
Engineering is a subject of global interest. Regional Journals in this area
typically present subject matter as researched by regional authors for their
local audience. Civil and Mechanical Engineering studies are well represented
providing solutions to engineering problems arising from local geological, social,
environmental, climatological, or economic factors.
Arts & Humanities
The already deep coverage of Arts & Humanities in Web of Science is now
enhanced by additional Regional publications focused on such subjects as History,
Linguistics, Archaeology, and Religion. Journals from countries in the European
Union, Latin American, Africa, and Asia Pacific regions are included.
Life Sciences
Life Sciences subject areas lending themselves to regional studies include
parasitology, microbiology, and pharmacology. A specific example of valuable
regional activity is stem cell research. The illegality of stem cell studies
in an increasing number of developed countries has moved the research to various
Asian countries where it is of great interest inside and outside of the region.
CONCLUSION
The primary mission of the Journal Selection Process is to identify, evaluate
and select the top tier International and Regional journals for coverage in
the Web of Science. These are the journals that have the greatest potential
to advance research on a given topic. In the pursuit of this goal Thomson Reuters
has partnered with many publishers and societies worldwide in the development
of their publications. As an important by-product of the steady application
of the Journal Selection Process, Thomson Reuters is actively involved in raising
the level of research communication as presented in journals. The objective
standards described in the Journal Selection Process will now be focused directly
on a new and expansive body of literature. Our hope, therefore, is not only
to enrich the editorial content of Web of Science, but also to expand relations
with the world’s primary publishers in the achievement of our mutual goal: more
effective communication of scientific results to the communities we serve.
This essay was compiled by James Testa, Senior Director, Editorial Development
& Publisher Relations. Special thanks to Editorial Development staff members
Maureen Handel, Mariana Boletta, Rodney Chonka, Lauren Gala, Anne Marie Hinds,
Katherine Junkins-Baumgartner, Chang Liu, Kathleen Michael, Luisa Rojo, and,
Nancy Thornton for their critical reading and comments.
