Understanding journal metrics

As part of our commitment to publishing impactful research that helps to influence and inform policy, practice, and the public, Sage has committed to the five principles for publishers outlined in the Declaration on Research Assessment (DORA). To fulfill our obligation, we make article-level metrics available to support assessment based on the content of the article rather than a journal’s publication metrics, and we present a variety of metrics for researchers to use to assess a journal’s performance. Visit our DORA website to learn more about the various ways we are taking action.

This page is your primer on what journal and article metrics are and how to use them.

Journal and article-level metrics

Publication metrics measure the influence and reach of research contributions for both journals and articles. These metrics can serve as a proxy for quality and impact of an academic work or journal and can help ensure researchers receive recognition for their contributions.  

Metrics can also help maintain transparency and fairness in scholarly publishing. We present the following journal and article metrics to give researchers a comprehensive overview of a journal’s performance: 

  • Journal-level metrics provide a quick assessment of a journal's influence. A journal's metrics page can include peer review speed, production speed, acceptance rate, and usage, along with impact data from abstracting and indexing services. 
  • Article-level metrics describe the impact of individual research papers. A journal’s article-level metrics include downloads and citations, offering valuable insights into a researcher’s contribution to the discipline and to the wider scholarly community.  

Understanding research metrics

All Sage journals have a journal metrics webpage, and all article webpages have article metrics. You can read more about the available metrics below. 

You can view a journal’s metrics through the journal’s website by clicking the Journal overview and metrics link in the Journal information menu. This page also includes an Abstract & indexing tab which lists the databases that include the journal.

Readership metrics are included on the journal’s metrics page along with individual article pages. 

Full Text usage: Full text usage is the sum of PDF, HTML, and EPUB downloads from the journal platform during the prior calendar year.

Sage encourages all journals to display average peer review decision speed, production speed, and acceptance ratio on the journal’s metrics site.  

Peer review and production speeds can provide useful insights into a journal's process. Keep in mind that some journals may have longer turnaround times due to extra submission and review steps or additional proofreading. Visit the journal's submission guidelines for more information about their peer review process. 

Time to first decision: The median number of days between submission and first editorial decision. The first editorial decision is defined as desk rejection, referral to another journal, or invitation of peer reviewers. 

Time in peer review: The median number of days a paper spends in the first round of peer review, calculated by the date peer review invitations are sent and the date a peer review decision is rendered. Peer review decisions include revisions, rejections, or acceptances. 

Time from submission to acceptance: The median number of days between the date of submission of a manuscript and the date of editorial acceptance.

Time from acceptance to online publication: The median number of days between editorial acceptance and online publication of published articles.  

Acceptance rate: The percentage of manuscripts accepted out of all submissions that received a final decision (accept or reject) within the previous calendar year. This includes all article types. 

For more information about Sage's peer review process, please visit  During peer review & production

Impact metrics

Citation metrics are produced by abstracting and indexing databases using their respective datasets. These metrics represent various methods for measuring the citation impact of published research on a journal level. Some examples are shown below: 

The Web of Science is an online research platform comprising multiple databases. At its core are four core indexes: Science Citation Index Expanded, Social Science Citation Index, Arts & Humanities Citation Index, and Emerging Sources Citation Index. These collections form the foundation for citation analysis and journal metrics, including the annual Journal Citation Reports (JCR). Beyond these, Web of Science also includes numerous specialized databases covering patents, conference proceedings, and more.

Journal Citation Reports

The JCR calculates metrics to rank individual journals by their recent content’s citation frequency. You can find more information on JCR, including user guides and references, on Clarivate’s website.

Here are some brief descriptions of metric presented in the JCR: 

  • Journal Impact Factor (JIF): The JIF is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the JCR year by the total number of citable articles published in the two previous years. It is a measure of the average citation impact of a journal.  
  • 5-year Impact Factor: The 5-year Impact Factor is the average number of times articles from the journal published in the past five years have been cited in the JCR year. It provides a wider focus on the average citation impact of a journal and is especially appropriate for journals in subject categories that trend toward a longer citation life per article such as the arts and humanities.
  • Journal Citation Indicator (JCI): The JCI is calculated for all journals in the Web of Science Core Collection and published in the JCR. It measures a journal’s citation impact by averaging normalised citation values for articles and reviews from the previous three years. The calculation uses source normalisation, which adjusts for differences in citation practices across subject categories. A JCI of 1.0 represents the approximate average for its category; values above or below indicate better or worse than average performance. 
  • Immediacy Index: The average number of times an article is cited in the year it is published. This provides a picture of the immediate citation impact of a document and is often a smaller number since article citations typically accumulate over a longer timeframe rather than within the year of publication. 
  • Eigenfactor Score: The Eigenfactor Score calculation is based on the number of times articles from the journal published in the past five years have been cited in the JCR year. It also considers which journals have contributed these citations so that highly cited journals will influence the network more than lesser cited journals. References from one article in a journal to another article from the same journal are removed, so that Eigenfactor Scores are not influenced by journal self-citation. 
  • Article Influence Score: The Article Influence Score determines the average influence of a journal's articles over the first five years after publication.  It is calculated by multiplying the Eigenfactor Score by 0.01 and dividing by the number of articles in the journal, normalized as a fraction of all articles in all publications. 
  • Cited Half Life: The median age of the articles that were cited in the JCR year. Half of a journal's cited articles were published more recently than the cited half-life. 
  • Citing Half Life: The median age of articles cited by the journal in the JCR year. 

View the full Glossary on Clarivate’s website. 

Scopus is a comprehensive abstract and citation database developed by Elsevier. It provides tools for tracking, analysing, and visualising research output and impact at the journal, article, and author level. Several metrics have been established based on Scopus data to help evaluate the reach of journals and articles, including the SCImago Journal Rank (SJR), CiteScore, and Source-normalised Impact per Paper (SNIP), each offering unique perspectives on citation performance and scholarly influence. 

  • SCImago Journal Rank (SJR): The SJR expresses the average number of weighted citations received in the selected year by the documents published in the selected journal in the three previous years. The metric is weighted so that citations from highly ranked journals are worth more than those from lower-ranked journals, and vice versa.
  • CiteScore: created and based on Scopus data, the CiteScore is calculated by dividing the total number of citations in the CiteScore year by the total number of articles published in the four previous years. 
  • Source-normalized Impact per Paper (SNIP): SNIP calculates a journal’s citation count per paper and divides it by the citation potential in the journal’s subject area to account for variability between subject categories. 

Google Scholar metrics provide a comprehensive compilation of citation numbers for a wide range of publications. This allows authors to measure the visibility and influence of a journal. Indexed publications are assigned two available metrics based on content published in the last five completed calendar years: 

  • h5-index: Google’s h5-index is a metric for evaluating the cumulative impact of a journal’s entire scholarly output and performance over a five-year span; that is, the journal has published at least h number of articles that have been cited at least h number of times over the past five years. The h5-index measures quantity with quality by comparing publications to citations and corrects for the disproportionate weight of highly cited publications or publications that have not yet been cited. The h5-median indicates that the median number of citations of those h articles with h+ citations. 
  • h5-median: The h5-median is calculated by finding the median number of citations for the articles that comprise a publication’s h5-index. 

You can view article metrics from the article webpage by clicking the Metrics and citations link in the top menu bar. A pop-up page will open displaying the available metrics for that article. From this page, you can also sin up to receive citation alerts and be notified when the article is cited. 

Publication usage: The total number of views and downloads for the article, including HTML, ePUB, and PDF. 

Publications citing this one: A list of articles that cited the article per Web of Science or Crossref data. 

Crossref:  Crossref tracks the total number of citations linked to a publication. Citations must come from publications registered with Crossref. 

Alternative metrics are becoming increasingly visible in scholarly publishing. Altmetric tracks online mentions of journal articles across online platforms and uses an algorithm to score accordingly. The Altmetric Attention score is a helpful measure of online engagement and visibility, but it is not directly linked to citations or usage. 

Altmetric Attention Score: Weighted count of all the online attention Altmetric has found for an individual research output. This includes mentions in public policy documents and references in Wikipedia, the mainstream news, social networks, blogs, and more. This is the number that appears in the badges.

Visit Altmetric’s website for a list of Attention Sources tracked, along with  Altmetric’s support site for FAQs and more information. 

 

Using research metrics

Journal and article-level impact metrics play a pivotal role in assessing the influence and significance of scholarly work. Journal-level metrics can aid researchers in gauging the prominence of a journal within their field. Article-level metrics, including citation counts, download statistics, and  Altmetric scores offer insights into the impact of individual research papers. By analyzing these metrics, researchers and editors can identify trends and topics of interest. 

Improving journal and article-level impact metrics requires a multi-faceted approach aimed at enhancing the quality, visibility, and engagement of scholarly work. In both cases, fostering a culture of collaboration, transparency, and continuous improvement within the academic community can contribute to sustained growth in impact metrics. It's important to note that while metrics provide valuable insights, the goal remains the generation of meaningful and influential research. 

There are several ways to boost your article’s impact before and after publication. When preparing for submission, you can consider the following:  

Publication is not the end of the process! You can help disseminate your paper and ensure it is as widely read and cited as possible by: 

  • Actively sharing your published articles through personal websites, social media platforms, and academic networks to increase the chances of reaching a wider readership and attracting citations. Sage Journals article access sharing lets you share a read-only version of an article with your friends and colleagues or on social media, visit the article sharing website for more information. 
  • Collaborating with colleagues and experts in related fields to extend the reach of your research and stimulate interdisciplinary discussions. 
  • Monitoring usage and citation counts to assess the resonance of your work and adapt your strategies accordingly. 
  • Tracking Altmetric engagement with your work outside of the research. 

Discover more ways to promote your articles and maximize your impact. 

Impact metrics assist Editors in evaluating the success of specific initiatives or changes made to the journal's format or scope. By monitoring how these changes correlate with shifts in impact metrics, you can make informed adjustments to enhance the journal's standing and relevance. Impact metrics empower you to make data-driven decisions that optimize the journal's impact, reputation, and contribution to the scholarly community, all while fostering an environment that supports rigorous and influential research. 

For journal-level impact, you can focus on curating a diverse range of high-quality content that addresses emerging research trends and challenges. Implementing rigorous peer review processes and maintaining ethical publishing standards will foster credibility and attract top-tier submissions.  

Collaborations with well-respected researchers and institutions can also elevate a journal's reputation. Engaging in strategic marketing efforts, such as social media promotion and conference presence, can broaden the journal's reach and readership.  Visit DORA’s website for research impact strategies and resources. 

Learn more about citation strategies for your journal on our website  Research impact, increasing citations & improving Impact Factor.

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