Synthesis of Publication Metrics in Kinesiology-Related Journals: Proxies for Rigor, Usage, and Prestige

ABSTRACT

This study documented three domains of journal research quality using metrics from six major publishers and two major database services for a large sample of kinesiology-related journals: Rigor/soundness, usage, and prestige. All journal metrics were highly skewed and variable. Median acceptance rates and initial review time were consistent with rigorous peer-review. Four variables were strongly interrelated (0.849 < r < 0.963) and indicate typical usage of 1 to 3 citations for articles in these journals. The 5-year Eigenfactor Score had a relatively weaker association (0.510 < r < 0.758) with the usage metrics, supporting it as an estimate of the prestige afforded these kinesiology journals in Scopus instead of usage. Care must be taken to interpret multiple journal metrics; taking into account the skew, large variability, and confounding factors such as journal size and subject. Differences across quality domains, metrics, and bias from numerous contextual factors refute the insidious misuse of any single journal metric as quality indictor for ranking journals.

KEYWORDS:

• Impact
• quality
• ranking
• research
• top tier

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/00336297.2023.2237150

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Correction Statement

This article has been republished with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Notes

1. Citation counts do not provide true, universal zero values because of differences in indexing, inclusion criteria, and errors in databases.