In the Know @ the Bentley Library

Database of the Month: Journal Citation Reports (JCR)

June 15, 2011June 27, 2011 Kimberly

Anyone who has ever submitted an article for publication in an academic journal has no doubt heard the phrase “impact factor”, but do you know what an impact factor is, how it is calculated, and where you can go to find a journal’s impact factor? The Journal Citation Reports (JCR) answers those questions. JCR calculates and provides the impact factor for thousands of scholarly journals, helping you identify the top-tier journals in your field.

Understanding & Using Journal Impact Factor

JCR allows you to evaluate and compare journals using citation data drawn from 9,100 scholarly and technical journals from more than 2,200 publishers in over 78 countries. It includes all areas of science, technology, and social sciences. JCR is published in two editions – JCR Science Edition and JCR Social Sciences Edition. JCR complements the Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Science Citation Index (SCI) databases.

Authors can use impact factor to identify the most appropriate, influential journals in which to publish, while students and researchers may use impact factor to discover the most important journals in a field.

“The journal Impact Factor is the average number of times articles from the journal published in the past two years have been cited in the JCR year. The Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the JCR year by the total number of articles published in the two previous years.”

Other Metrics Included in JCR

JCR also includes the following impact and influence metrics:

Eigenfactor score (a measure of the overall value provided by all of the articles published in a given journal in a year)
Article Influence score (a measure of a journal’s prestige based on per article citations and comparable to Impact Factor)
Most highly cited journal in a field

More information about Impact factor, Eigenfactor and Article Influence scores can be found in the Help section of the JCR database. For a great explanation of what the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is and is not, I recommend reading

Holsapple, C. W. (2009). Journal Self-Citation II: The Quest for High Impact — Truth and Consequences?. Communications of AIS, 25, 11-19.

Connect to This Database

Journal Citation Reports (JCR) is included in the Library’s ISI Web of Knowledge subscription databases – Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) and Science Citation Index (SCI). Access JCR here, or by selecting Social Science Citation Index (SSCI) or Science Citation Index (SCI) from the Databases page. Once in SSCI or SCI, click on the “Additional Resources” tab to get to the JCR Collections.

For additional faculty resources, see Nick Albaugh’s Publishing Resources for Faculty library research guide.

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Database of the Month provides a very brief introduction to an important research database, highlighting key features of the database that you should know about. If you would like more information about this database (or any of the library’s databases) please contact the Reference Desk. If you would like a demonstration of this database for a class, please contact our Coordinator of User Education, Elizabeth Galoozis.

Library Printer Downtime on Tuesday, June 14

June 13, 2011June 15, 2011 Lisa

The library printer system is undergoing an upgrade tomorrow, June 14. All library printers will be offline from 10:00am until 2:00pm. If you have an urgent printing need during the downtime please stop by the Reference Desk for assistance.

Reception in the Art Gallery Today, 4:30pm – 6:30pm!

June 8, 2011June 9, 2011 Lisa

Come on in out of the heat this afternoon to the opening reception for our new art gallery exhibit – In the Flow. Artist John Redick will be on hand from 4:30pm to 6:30pm, and light refreshments will be served. Hope to see you there!

Surf by John Redick — "Surf" | Acrylic on Hardboard | 12" x 9" | 2011

Located on the main floor of the Bentley Library, the Caturano and Company Art Gallery is free and open to the public. Check the online hours calendar for information about the Library’s hours.

Library’s Tutorials Chosen as PRIMO “Site of the Month”

June 6, 2011June 15, 2011 Lisa

Earlier this year, the library’s Research Essentials tutorials were chosen for inclusion in PRIMO (Peer-Reviewed Instructional Materials Online), a database of online tutorials and other instructional resources, maintained by the Association of College and Research Libraries. The library’s tutorials were recently featured as PRIMO’s May 2011 Site of the Month, for which reference librarian Elizabeth Galoozis, who created the tutorials, was interviewed. You can find the interview here.

PRIMO reviews materials twice a year for selection; the list of the other seven projects accepted during Fall 2010 can be found here, and includes projects from everywhere from Sacramento City College to the University of North Carolina. PRIMO’s goal is to showcase high-quality online learning resources; the PRIMO committee “hopes that publicizing selective, high quality resources will help librarians to respond to the educational challenges posed by still emerging digital technologies.”

The publicly posted Research Essentials tutorials are versions of three tutorials created for students taking GB112, and cover concepts of company and industry research. If you’d like a refresher or introduction on how to use the library’s resources to conduct company and industry research, take a look!

Revisit the Library During Reunion Weekend

June 2, 2011June 6, 2011 Lisa

What did the Bentley Library look like when you were a student? If you graduated before 2005 you may remember the bright red carpet, endless rows of towering shelves, and the so-called “Search Suite”, which housed a Bloomberg terminal (connected to a phone line, oh my!), some CD-ROM databases and a couple of cantankerous dot-matrix printers. Thankfully, those days are long gone… Come see what we look like now! Join us for a tour on Friday, June 3 between 2:00pm-3:30pm, or on Saturday, June 4 at 10:00am or 11:15am. We’d love for you to stop in and share your memories of the Bentley Library with us.

study-at-old-library — The hair and clothing styles have changed, but we're still a very popular group study spot!

Unable to attend a tour? Please feel free to stop by and take a walk through the library; we’ll be happy to answer any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing you!

ESOL Center & Writing Center are Here to Lend a Helping Hand

June 2, 2011July 7, 2011 Lisa

Our good friends at the ESOL Center and the Writing Center want you to know that they are open for business this summer and are ready to lend you a helping hand! Summer session students are encouraged to make an appointment or drop by for assistance. Both centers are located on the lower level of the library. See below for detailed information and instructions.

The ESOL Center [open through August 3]

Hours: Monday – Wednesday, 3:00pm – 6:00pm

Bentley University students whose home language is not English are invited to take advantage of the free tutorial services offered by Bentley’s ESOL Center. All students (including graduate students) can schedule an appointment online using the undergraduate scheduling database link located on the English & Media Studies Department web page, call 781.891.2021 to make an appointment, or drop in to see if a faculty tutor is available.

The Writing Center [open through August 12]

Hours: Monday – Thursday, 11:00am to 5:00pm

Writing Center staff are available to provide one-to-one assistance with writing skills. Students can either drop in during open hours, schedule an appointment online via the Writing Center web page, or call 781.891.3173 to make an appointment.

May Acquisitions: New Books, DVDs & Audiobooks

June 1, 2011June 13, 2011 Lisa

Check out our book, popular reading, DVD and audiobook acquisitions for the month of May. Go to our New Books & DVDs page to browse by subject or format.

Now Showing in the Art Gallery: John Redick

May 31, 2011July 21, 2011 Lisa

The art gallery is ushering in summer with a fitting collection of abstract landscapes – titled “In the Flow” – by artist John Redick. All are invited to attend an opening reception for the artist on Wednesday, June 8, 2011, from 4:30pm – 6:30pm. To learn more about the artist and to view more of his work please visit http://www.johnredick.com.