An Empirical Study on the Asymmetric Behavior of Scientometric Indicator for Journal: A Comparative Evaluation of SJR and H-Index

Authors

  • Deepjyoti Kalita
     Department of Library and Information Science, Gauhati University, Guwahati - 781014
  • M. Sai Baba
     T. V. Raman Pai Chair Professor, National Institute of Advanced Studies, Indian Institute of Science Campus, Bengaluru – 560012
  • Dipen Deka
     Department of Library and Information Science, Gauhati University, Guwahati - 781014

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.17821/srels/2018/v55i3/122795

Keywords:

H-index, Impact Metrics, Journal Evaluation, Scientometrics, SJR Indicator

Abstract

Scimago Journal Rank (SJR) is a size independent measure of journal evaluation where citation coming from quality journals carries more value than citations from ordinary journals and h-index, used as a metrics for author impact when initially introduced, is now a day’s used for journal evaluation in major citation databases like Scopus, Google scholar etc. Both the indicators follow different methods of calculation. SJR is a prestige based measure where the scholarly value of incoming citations matters most than its quantity, while h-index is a quantity based measure where the amount of incoming citations plus the number of published paper both matters. The current study tries to identify how the ranking value of journals changes when compared with the two indicators. The issue was addressed by taking the context of Indian journals indexed in Scopus. Even though the process of calculation for both the indicators is different, it is expected that their ultimate result is same i.e. ranking quality journals at top. The findings of ranking of quality journals represent strikingly different result given by both the indices. The dissimilarity in measure is tested using z-test for two sample means for median difference. Also the biasness of the indicators towards time and subject domains is tested on a raw count.

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Published

2018-06-12

How to Cite

Kalita, D., Sai Baba, M., & Deka, D. (2018). An Empirical Study on the Asymmetric Behavior of Scientometric Indicator for Journal: A Comparative Evaluation of SJR and H-Index. Journal of Information and Knowledge, 55(3), 128–140. https://doi.org/10.17821/srels/2018/v55i3/122795

Issue

Volume 55, Issue 3, June 2018

Section

Articles

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All the articles published in Journal of Information and Knowledge are held by the Publisher. Sarada Ranganathan Endowment for Library Science (SRELS), as a publisher requires its authors to transfer the copyright prior to publication. This will permit SRELS to reproduce, publish, distribute and archive the article in print and electronic form and also to defend against any improper use of the article.

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Europe PMC
Received 2018-04-10
Accepted 2018-06-26
Published 2018-06-12