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Assessing the quality of scholarly journals in Linguistics:An alternative to citation-based journal impact factors

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Abstract

Methods were developed to allow quality assessment of academic research in linguistics in allsub-disciplines. Data were obtained from samples of respondents from Flanders, the Netherlands,as well as a world-wide sample, evaluated journals, publishers, and scholars. Journals andpublishers were ranked by several methods. First, we weighted the number of times journals orpublishers were ranked as 'outstanding', 'good', or 'occasionally/not at all good'. To reduce theinfluence of unduly positive or negative biases of respondents, the most extreme ratings weretrimmed. A second weight reflects the (international) visibility of journals and publishers. Here,journals or publishers nominated by respondents from various countries or samples received agreater weight than journals or publishers nominated by respondents from one country or onesample only. Thirdly, a combined index reflects both quality and international visibility. Its use isillustrated on the output of scholars in linguistics. Limitations and potentials for application ofbibliometric methods in output assessments are discussed.

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Nederhof, A.J., Luwel, M. & Moed, H.F. Assessing the quality of scholarly journals in Linguistics:An alternative to citation-based journal impact factors. Scientometrics 51, 241–265 (2001). https://doi.org/10.1023/A:1010533232688

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