For most subject areas (except for some arts and humanities subjects) it’s very easy to see how journals are ranked. Journal rankings are important and so this may be useful when deciding where to publish.
Journal rankings are based on the number of citations that their articles receive, with more highly ranking journals containing articles that have attracted more citations.
You can do this using the free Journal Metrics website. Just go to the website and select your subject area (see above). Be sure to click on the small arrow next to the subject area to ensure that you select the most relevant sub-topic for your research (see below).
This website takes data from the international database, Scopus. This guide gives an overview of what each of the metrics mean.
Also, it’s important to be aware that some metrics aren’t ‘subject normalised’. This means that you can use them to compare journals within a research area, but you shouldn’t use them to compare journals across subject areas. e.g. you can compare journals within biology, but you can’t compare biology to sociology.
People in the business and law subject areas can use the Journal Metrics website, but the ABS list may be more useful.
If you would like more information about metrics, the Library website has more information.
Research and Innovation Services 