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Internationalization of scientific journals: A measurement based on publication and citation scope

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Abstract

Although impact factor and related measurements are the best-known features of scientific journals, other characteristics are of particular interest. The way a journal reflects the internationalized nature of science may be determined by many methods, one of which is based on the distribution of authoring and citing countries. This can be systematically measured either by a comparison of these distributions with averages profiles of a discipline or specialty, or by concentration indexes on the other. This paper focuses on the first approach. As the average profile of science drifts with the level of visibility, stratification by impact level is discussed. In this study, experimental internationalization indexes were calculated on the SCI for journals belonging to Earth&Space and Applied Biology. Convergence of measurements (types of indexes, type of normalization, publication vs citation scope) is adressed. Internationalization indexes may have a variety of applications, including characterization of the scientific publishing market and sampling of the SCI for science indicators.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. LERECO, INRA, BP 71627, F-44316, Nantes Cedex 03, (France)

    M. Zitt & E. Bassecoulard

  2. Observatoire des Sciences et des Techniques (OST), 93 rue de Vaugirard, F-75006, Paris, (France)

    M. Zitt

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  1. M. Zitt
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  2. E. Bassecoulard
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Zitt, M., Bassecoulard, E. Internationalization of scientific journals: A measurement based on publication and citation scope. Scientometrics 41, 255–271 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02457982

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