Citation ranking versus subjective evaluation in the determination of journal hierachies in the social sciences

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Abstract
Considerable interest has been shown in problems associated with ranking journals in accord with their relative importance. With the publication of Journal Citation Reports, regularly updated ranking indicators, based on citation analysis, are made readily available. These indicators have been shown to have significant correlations with scientists' evaluations of the relative importance of journals in the biomedical sciences, but not the physical sciences. This article examines the situation in the social sciences, and finds a strong association between sociologists' evaluations of journal rank and particular citation rank indicators. This suggests that Social Science Journal Citation Reports could prove a valuable aid to journal selection for libraries and information systems.

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