1. What is bibliometrics?

A number of quantitative analysis techniques of bibliographic information such as: titles, keywords, citations, authors and their addresses

2. What is the correct impact factor equation?

Citations in year x to paper published in year x-2 and year x-1
      divided by
Papers published in year x-2 and year x-1

3. What is a subject classification?

Each journal in the ISI database is assigned to at least one subject category (or discipline), indicating a general area of science or the social sciences. Journals may be included in more than one subject category; therefore, when comparing journals across related categories, it is possible to see the same journal title in different categories.

4. What is the difference between the cited and citing journal lists?

With the Citing lists the JCR specifically identifies those publications most frequently cited by a particular citing journal. With the Cited list the JCR specifically identifies those publications that most frequently cited a particular journal. These citation links can reveal a journal's subject orientation, point to its closest peer or competitor publications, and describe speciality-specific networks of journals.

5. What is the difference between the Science Citation Index (SCI), the Social Science Citation index (SSCI) and the Journal Citation Reports (JCR)?

SCI (& expanded index): The Science Citation Index covers approximately 4,000 of the world's leading scholarly journals in more than 150 disciplines. The Science Citation Index Expanded, which includes the SciSearch and the Web of Science formats, covers more than 5,600 journals.

SSCI: Social Sciences Citation Index, which provides access to current bibliographic information and cited references, covering more than 2,000  of the world's leading social sciences journals in a broad range of disciplines.

JCR: The Journal Citation Reports is a comprehensive, and unique resource for journal evaluation, using citation data drawn from over 7,000 scholarly and technical journals worldwide. Coverage is both multidisciplinary and international, and incorporates journals from over 2,000  publishers in 60 nations. This is where one can find the impact factors.

6. Do you have another question on bibliometrics?

Please contact our experts at Bibliometrics@elsevier.com