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Journals Not Included in BIOSIS Previews Have a Notable Impact in Biology
Assistant Professor and Reference Librarian
clascar@ccny.cuny.edu
Professor and Reference Librarian
pbarnett@ccny.cuny.edu
City College of New York (CUNY)
New York, New York
Abstract
The purpose of this study was to reveal influential journals used by life scientists; journals not currently included in BIOSIS Previews, but included in either PubMed or Science Citation Index Expanded. These 252 journals were revealed by the Eigenfactor, an iterative ranking scheme which quantitatively measures the scientific influence of academic publications based upon their usage by scholars. This method has allowed us to determine which journals not covered by BIOSIS Previews have a notable impact in biology. Such an analysis is important for individual scientists, libraries, professional societies and funding organizations. This analysis illustrates the benefit of searching multiple databases for more accurate article retrieval in biology.
Introduction
When researchers need to obtain all the primary journal literature on a topic, how often do end-user scientists or their mediators need to supplement a Chemical Abstracts search for chemistry, an INSPEC search for physics, or a BIOSIS Previews search for biology? Even though chemistry, physics, and biology have these large, well-established databases, do researchers in these fields truly have access to the most extensive coverage of journal literature in these disciplines? To begin to answer this question, we examined the current journal coverage in one of these venerable databases, BIOSIS Previews, to determine whether researchers in biological sciences have access to the most extensive coverage of journal literature through this abstracting index.
The BIOSIS Previews database started as BA-Previews in 1969 and changed to its current name in 1975. It monitors more than 5,000 journals, as well as non-journal literature such as books, symposia, meeting abstracts, software, and patents (Thomson Reuters 2006; 2009a; 2009b). The history and development of this product and its producer has been described by Freedman (1995). Thomson Reuters took ownership of BIOSIS Previews in 2004.
Thomson Reuters describes the subject scope of BIOSIS Previews in their fact sheets and product description (Thomson Reuters 2006; 2009a; 2009b) as providing "information in virtually every life sciences discipline, including traditional biology (botany, ecology, zoology), interdisciplinary subjects (biochemistry, biomedicine, and biotechnology), and related areas such as instrumentation and methods" (Thomson Reuters 2009a). Their source coverage policy states that, "Publications must be peer-reviewed, and the editors and editorial boards must be representative of the publication's subject area. The journal's editorial roster must also display diversity of institutional affiliation and geographic base. Furthermore, it is important that the source be regular in its publication schedule and that its contents are timely" (Ten Have 2006).
Specific subjects included in BIOSIS Previews are zoology, microbiology, and botany, as well as interdisciplinary and applied areas such as agriculture, biomedicine, biochemistry, pharmacology, veterinary science, and biotechnology. Furthermore, journals in disciplines that are closely aligned with biology are monitored. These disciplines include geology, energy, hydrology, oceanography, forestry, chemistry, and physics. Excluded are journals focusing on the more applied aspects of human life sciences, such as patient care, nursing, health care and hospital administration, medical education, legal medicine, medical practice, and technique such as surgical journals. BIOSIS Previews does not cover journals that emphasize clinical practice, such as the practice of medicine, patient care, practice-related techniques, or allied health-related titles, unless the journal focus is on research (Ten Have 2006). Even with these considerations and limitations in mind, Thomson Reuters does add journals to BIOSIS Previews. For example, 168 titles were added during the year ending in September 2005 (Fitzgerald 2005).
Several previous studies have compared the subject coverage of BIOSIS Previews with other databases. In each of these studies, the investigators performed specific subject searches both in BIOSIS Previews and other biologically oriented databases to compare the respective retrievals. These comparisons include, marine biology (Markham & Huber 2005), a single genus (Jones 2005), entropy in evolution (Fedunok 2005), ecology and ecosystem management (Haas et al. 1999), a specific search within alternative medicine (Snow 1998), clinical medicine (Brandsma et al. 1990), alternatives to animal testing (Snow 1990), human nutrition (Nixon 1989), four vitamins (Kusama & Koremura 1988), agriculture and forestry (Brooks 1980), and poison control (Lorent 1979).
While these studies showed the relative strength, weaknesses, and degree of unique coverage of BIOSIS Previews compared to some of its competitors, their subject specificity prevents them from fully answering the question of how extensively it currently covers the research literature in the life sciences.
We intend to address a different aspect of this many-faceted question by determining whether important journals in the life sciences not currently covered in BIOSIS Previews, are covered by two databases not entirely biologically oriented, MEDLINE and Science Citation Index Expanded.
Methods
Over the last fifty years the Impact Factor has become a measure of journals' relative importance in the fields of science, with implications for grants, tenure and hiring decisions. Eugene Garfield, Founder and Chairman Emeritus of the Institute for Scientific Information -- now Thomson Reuters -- introduced in 1955 the idea of the Impact Factor as a bibliographical tool for Science Citation Index (Garfield 2006). Impact Factor is the mean number of citations to articles published in a journal over a two-year period. This tool has been criticized as having several weaknesses, such as its inability to assess the citation quality, inclusion of self-citations in the analysis, and the poor comparability between different scientific fields (Cameron 2005). These limitations of the Impact Factor and advances in computational mathematics/information retrieval have prompted many researchers recently to find alternatives (Banks & Dellavalle 2008). The new instruments include the h-index (Hirsch 2005); Strike Rate Index (Barendse 2007); Y-factor, (Bollen et al. 2006); Eigenfactor (Bergstrom 2007); MESUR (Bollen et al. 2008); and SCImago (Falagas et al. 2008).
To define and identify journals not currently covered by BIOSIS Previews, we have chosen to use the Eigenfactor, developed by Carl T. Bergstrom at the University of Washington and described in detail at {http://www.eigenfactor.org/methods.php}. The Eigenfactor uses Thomson Reuters data, but ranks journals according to an iterative ranking scheme similar to that used by Google's PageRank algorithm. The concept is not new. In 1976, Pinski and Narin are credited with developing the algorithm for calculating influence weights of citing articles based on the number of times that they had been cited (Pinski & Narin 1976). Brin and Page (1998) have applied the notion of weighting hyperlinks in their PageRank algorithm used to calculate the importance of web pages used by Google search engine.
The Eigenfactor score does not measure the quality of the journal based entirely on the simple citation counts as provided by the Impact Factor, instead it takes into account "the scientific influence of a journal on the scholarly literature or, comparably, the total value provided by all of the articles published in that journal in a year" (Bergstrom 2007). As a consequence, this tool makes a definite distinction between prestigious journals, such as Nature, and obscure publications within a particular discipline (Bergstrom et al. 2008). The Eigenfactor algorithm takes a random journal and follows a random citation in that journal to another journal, then selects another random citation from the second journal and follows that to the next journal, and so on. By using the whole citation network, the algorithm accounts for differences in the publication patters of different disciplines and sub-disciplines (Bergstrom et al. 2008).
Eigenfactor.org is an open-access resource, while the Thomson Reuters Journal Citation Reports (JCR), the source of the Impact Factor data, requires a paid subscription. This web site displays the Eigenfactor score for each of the journals listed in the 2006 JCR. If a journal doubles in size while the quality of its articles remains constant, we would expect its Eigenfactor score to double, since its total importance to the scientific community has doubled.
We chose to compare BIOSIS Previews to MEDLINE and to Science Citation Index Expanded. We chose MEDLINE because its PubMed version is free, it covers a large portion of the life sciences (Bianchi 2002), and it is widely used (Herskovic et al. 2007). We picked Science Citation Index Expanded, the most current version of the venerable Science Citation Index, because it is obviously selective. Science Citation Index Expanded which is part of the Web of Science "overcomes information overload and focuses on essential data from over 6,650 of the world's leading scientific and technical journals across 150 disciplines" (Thomson Reuters 2009d). The lists of journals currently covered in these three databases are freely available on the World Wide Web and updated frequently: BIOSIS Previews (Thomson Reuters 2009c), Science Citation Index Expanded (Thomson Reuters 2009e), and PubMed (National Library of Medicine 2009).
We first compared the entire BIOSIS Previews list of journals (total journals 4,653) to a control list of 2,609 life sciences journals. This control list consists of journals ranked by the Eigenfactor score within the 2006 JCR subject categories covered by BIOSIS Previews (Table 1). 2006 is the latest year for which the Eigenfactor data are available. Titles in this control list not currently indexed by BIOSIS Previews were then checked to see whether they were included in PubMed (which indexes 5,246 journals) and in Science Citation Index Expanded (which indexes 7,907 journals). Only journals indexed by PubMed or Science Citation Index Expanded, but not BIOSIS Previews are listed in Table 2a and Table 2b.
Table 1. The JCR Subject Categories Analyzed
The numbers in parentheses are the numbers of journals in each JCR Subject Category for 2006 at: http://www.eigenfactor.org/
Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science (47) | Forestry (37) |
We used the sort feature of MS Word to alphabetize the journal lists, then stripped the extraneous data using the software's basic edit commands. By assigning a different font color to each of the lists, we easily were able to identify the unique journal titles in each database.
Each control list title not covered in BIOSIS Previews was checked in WorldCat for possible title changes. Only those titles included in either PubMed, Science Citation Index Expanded, or both of these databases were kept for further analysis.
Results
256 titles from the control list are not indexed by BIOSIS Previews but are indexed by either PubMed or Science Citation Index Expanded or both.
To ensure that each of these titles is currently being indexed in PubMed and Science Citation Index Expanded, searches were performed on each title to see if current articles from these journals were actually included in these databases. Only four of these titles did not have recent coverage. These titles with their corresponding JCR category are:
- Advances in veterinary medicine (Veterinary Sciences). While this title appears on the list of current List of Journals Indexed for MEDLINE, the 1999 issue appears to be the last one published.
- Journal of biochemistry and molecular biology (Biochemistry & Molecular Biology). While this title appears on the current List of Journals Indexed for MEDLINE, the most recent paper included in PubMed is over a year old (November 2007). The Journals Database at pubmed.gov indicates that this journal is not currently indexed in MEDLINE.
- SMPTE motion imaging journal (Horticulture, Limnology, Oceanography). While the web site for this journal posts its current issue, the latest issue covered by Science Citation Index Expanded is over a year old.
- Solid State Physics (Horticulture, Limnology, Oceanography). 2006 is the latest date included in Science Citation Index Expanded.
Table 2a lists the 252 journals currently indexed by PubMed (92 titles) or Science Citation Index Expanded (239 titles) arranged according to their JCR subject categories. The four titles which do not have current coverage are excluded. The Eigenfactor Scores of these 252 journals indicate that they are needed by practicing biologists because they are cited often by other influential journals.
51 of these titles can be found in Zoological Record. currently published by Thomson Scientific, formerly BIOSIS and the Zoological Society of London until 2004.
Many journals belong to more than one subject category, as indicated in Table 2b. The scope of these journals illustrates the multidisciplinary nature of biology and its relationship to apparently unrelated fields. Many of the journals which fall concomitantly under the three subjects -- horticulture, limnology, and oceanography -- illustrate this characteristic. They are included because their Eigenfactor score identifies them as significant within these subject categories.
Table 2a. Eigenfactor list of biology journals not currently indexed by BIOSIS Previews but indexed by PubMed or Science Citation Index Expanded
| Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science | ||
|---|---|---|
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Journal of applied poultry research |
| Yes |
Rangeland ecology & managementZR |
| Yes |
| Agriculture, Multidisciplinary | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Agricultural history |
| Yes |
Agriculture and human values |
| Yes |
Journal of agriculture and rural development in the tropics and subtropics |
| Yes |
Journal of agriculture of the University of Puerto RicoZR |
| Yes |
Journal of sustainable agriculture |
| Yes |
Landbauforschung Völkenrode |
| Yes |
Pesquisa agropecuária brasileiraZR |
| Yes |
Philippine agricultural scientist |
| Yes |
Renewable agriculture and food systems |
| Yes |
Scientia agricola |
| Yes |
| Agronomy | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Alleopathy journal |
| Yes |
Industrial crops and products |
| Yes |
International sugar journal |
| Yes |
Irrigation and drainage |
| Yes |
Postharvest biology and technology |
| Yes |
Anatomy & Morphology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Anatomical record |
| Yes |
Clinical anatomy | Yes | Yes |
Microscopy research and technique |
| Yes |
Surgical and radiologic anatomy | Yes | Yes |
| Biochemical Research Methods | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Chromatographia |
| Yes |
IEEE transactions on nanobioscience | Yes | Yes |
Journal of fluorescence | Yes (S) | Yes |
Journal of magnetic resonance | Yes (S) | Yes |
Biochemistry & Molecular Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Amyloid | Yes | Yes |
Biochemistry and molecular biology education |
| Yes |
Bioinorganic chemistry and applications |
| Yes |
Cell communication & adhesion | Yes | Yes |
Chemistry & biodiversity | Yes | Yes |
Journal of food biochemistry |
| Yes |
Journal of molecular modeling | Yes | Yes |
Macromolecular bioscience | Yes | Yes |
Molecular interventions | Yes | Yes |
Natural product reports | Yes | Yes |
Pteridines |
| Yes |
Seikagaku. The Journal of Japanese Biochemical Society | Yes |
|
Trends in glycoscience and glycotechnology |
| Yes |
| Biodiversity Conservation | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Global change biologyZR |
| Yes |
Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
American biology teacher |
| Yes |
Microscopy research and technique | Yes | Yes |
Rivista di biologia | Yes | Yes |
| Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Microscopy research and technique |
| Yes |
Biophysics | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Colloids and surfaces. B, Biointerfaces | Yes | Yes |
High altitude medicine & biology | Yes | Yes |
Journal of biomechanical engineering | Yes | Yes |
NMR in biomedicine | Yes | Yes |
Physica medica | Yes | Yes |
Pteridines |
| Yes |
| Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Agrofoodindustry hi-tech |
| Yes |
Biofutur |
| Yes |
Biopharm international |
| Yes |
Biotechnology law report |
| Yes |
Chimica oggi: Chemistry today |
| Yes |
Current nanoscience |
| Yes |
Current opinion in molecular therapeutics | Yes | Yes |
Expert opinion on biological therapy | Yes | Yes |
Food and bioproducts processing |
| Yes |
Genetic engineering & biotechnology news |
| Yes |
Journal of food safety |
| Yes |
Journal of rapid methods and automation in microbiology |
| Yes |
Metabolic engineering | Yes | Yes |
Minerva biotecnologica |
| Yes |
Molecular therapy | Yes | Yes |
Nanomedicine (London, England) | Yes | Yes |
Nature reviews. Drug discovery | Yes | Yes |
New genetics and society |
| Yes |
Plant biotechnology journal | Yes | Yes |
| Cell Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Acta histochemica | Yes | Yes |
Aging cell | Yes | Yes |
Cell communication & adhesion | Yes | Yes |
Cytopathology | Yes | Yes |
Endothelium: journal of endothelial cell research | Yes | Yes |
Traffic (Copenhagen, Denmark) | Yes | Yes |
Developmental Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Evolution & developmentZR | Yes | Yes |
| Ecology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Frontiers in ecology and the environmentZR |
| Yes |
Global change biologyZR |
| Yes |
Journal of soil and water conservation |
| Yes |
Rangeland ecology & managementZR |
| Yes |
Rangeland journal |
| Yes |
Revue d'écologie: la terre et la vieZR |
| Yes |
| Entomology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Agricultural and forest entomologyZR |
| Yes |
American bee journal |
| Yes |
Deutsche entomologische ZeitschriftZR |
| Yes |
SociobiologyZR |
| Yes |
| Evolutionary Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Anthropological scienceZR |
| Yes |
Evolution & developmentZR | Yes | Yes |
| Fisheries | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Bulletin of the European Association of Fish PathologistsZR |
| Yes |
California cooperative oceanic fisheries investigations reportsZR |
| Yes |
CCAMLR scienceZR |
| Yes |
| Forestry | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Allgemeine Forst und Jagdzeitung |
| Yes |
European journal of forest research |
| Yes |
Forest products journal |
| Yes |
Forestry chronicleZR |
| Yes |
Holzforschung |
| Yes |
International forestry review |
| Yes |
Wood and fiber science |
| Yes |
Wood science and technology |
| Yes |
| Genetics & Heredity | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Clinical dysmorphology | Yes | Yes |
Community genetics | Yes | Yes |
Evolution & developmentZR | Yes | Yes |
Genetic engineering & biotechnology news |
| Yes |
Molecular diagnosis & therapy | Yes | Yes |
Molecular therapy | Yes | Yes |
New genetics and society |
| Yes |
Prenatal diagnosis | Yes | Yes |
Twin research and human genetics | Yes | Yes |
| Horticulture | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Advances in enzymology and related areas of molecular biology | Yes |
|
American journal of health behavior | Yes |
|
Annual review of nuclear and particle science |
| Yes |
Arkivoc |
| Yes |
Astronomy reports |
| Yes |
Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine |
| Yes |
Chemical communications | Yes (S) | Yes |
CIRP annals: manufacturing technology |
| Yes |
Comptes rendus GeoscienceZR |
| Yes |
EDN |
| Yes |
Food and drug law journal | Yes | Yes |
Hastings Center report | Yes | Yes |
IEEE transactions on aerospace and electronic systems |
| Yes |
IEEE transactions on information theory |
| Yes |
Il nuovo cimento della Società Italiana di Fisica B |
| Yes |
Journal of asthma | Yes | Yes |
Journal of personality assessment | Yes |
|
Journal of sedimentary research |
| Yes |
Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association | Yes | Yes |
Journal of the Professional Association for Cactus Development |
| Yes |
Journal of universal computer science |
| Yes |
Journal of vacuum science & technology B |
| Yes |
Nursing education perspectives | Yes |
|
Ophthalmic genetics | Yes | Yes |
Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery | Yes | Yes |
Management science |
| Yes |
Polymer science. Series C |
| Yes |
Postharvest biology and technology |
| Yes |
Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen |
| Yes |
Radiation measurements |
| Yes |
Radiation physics and chemistry |
| Yes |
Research quarterly for exercise and sport | Yes | Yes |
Reviews in analytical chemistry |
| Yes |
Revue d'écologie : la terre et la vieZR |
| Yes |
Russian journal of general chemistry |
| Yes |
Separation science and technology |
| Yes |
SIAM journal on control and optimization |
| Yes |
Sub-cellular biochemistry | Yes |
|
| Limnology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Advances in enzymology and related areas of molecular biology | Yes |
|
American journal of health behavior | Yes |
|
Annual review of nuclear and particle science |
| Yes |
Arkivoc |
| Yes |
Astronomy reports |
| Yes |
Chemical communications | Yes (S) | Yes |
CIRP annals: manufacturing technology |
| Yes |
Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine |
| Yes |
Comptes rendus GeoscienceZR |
| Yes |
EDN |
| Yes |
Food and drug law journal | Yes | Yes |
Hastings Center report | Yes | Yes |
IEEE transactions on aerospace and electronic systems |
| Yes |
IEEE transactions on information theory |
| Yes |
Il nuovo cimento della Società Italiana di Fisica B |
| Yes |
Journal of asthma | Yes | Yes |
Journal of personality assessment | Yes |
|
Journal of sedimentary research |
| Yes |
Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association | Yes | Yes |
Journal of the Professional Association for Cactus Development |
| Yes |
Journal of universal computer science |
| Yes |
Journal of vacuum science & technology B |
| Yes |
Management science |
| Yes |
Nursing education perspectives | Yes |
|
Ophthalmic genetics | Yes | Yes |
Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery | Yes | Yes |
Polymer science. Series C |
| Yes |
Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen |
| Yes |
Radiation measurements |
| Yes |
Radiation physics and chemistry |
| Yes |
Research quarterly for exercise and sport | Yes | Yes |
Reviews in analytical chemistry |
| Yes |
Revue d'écologie : la terre et la vieZR |
| Yes |
Russian journal of general chemistry |
| Yes |
Separation science and technology |
| Yes |
SIAM journal on control and optimization |
| Yes |
Sub-cellular biochemistry | Yes |
|
Water and environment journalZR |
| Yes |
Water resources research |
| Yes |
| Marine & Freshwater Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Bulletin of the European Association of Fish PathologistsZR |
| Yes |
International review of hydrobiologyZR |
| Yes |
Journal of marine systemsZR |
| Yes |
| Microbiology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Clinical microbiology and infection | Yes | Yes |
Enfermedades infecciosas y microbiologia clinica | Yes | Yes |
Environmental microbiologyZR | Yes | Yes |
European journal of clinical microbiology & infectious diseases | Yes | Yes |
Journal of clinical microbiologyZR | Yes | Yes |
Reviews in medical microbiology |
| Yes |
Oceanography | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Acta oceanologica SinicaZR |
| Yes |
Advances in enzymology and related areas of molecular biology | Yes |
|
American journal of health behavior | Yes |
|
Annual review of nuclear and particle science |
| Yes |
Applied ocean research |
| Yes |
Arkivoc |
| Yes |
Astronomy reports |
| Yes |
Atmosphere-ocean |
| Yes |
Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine |
| Yes |
Chemical communications | Yes (S) | Yes |
CIRP annals: manufacturing technology |
| Yes |
Comptes rendus GeoscienceZR |
| Yes |
Continental shelf researchZR |
| Yes |
Deep-sea research. Part II, Topical studies in oceanographyZR |
| Yes |
Dynamics of atmospheres and oceans |
| Yes |
EDN |
| Yes |
Environmental fluid mechanics |
| Yes |
Food and drug law journal | Yes | Yes |
Geo-marine letters |
| Yes |
Hastings Center report | Yes | Yes |
IEEE journal of oceanic engineering |
| Yes |
IEEE transactions on aerospace and electronic systems |
| Yes |
IEEE transactions on information theory |
| Yes |
Il nuovo cimento della Società Italiana di Fisica B |
| Yes |
Izvestiya Atmospheric and oceanic physics |
| Yes |
Journal of asthma | Yes | Yes |
Journal of marine systemsZR |
| Yes |
Journal of navigation |
| Yes |
Journal of oceanographyZR |
| Yes |
Journal of personality assessment | Yes |
|
Journal of physical oceanography |
| Yes |
Journal of sedimentary research |
| Yes |
Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association | Yes | Yes |
Journal of the Professional Association for Cactus Development |
| Yes |
Journal of universal computer science |
| Yes |
Journal of vacuum science & technology B |
| Yes |
Management science |
| Yes |
Marine geology |
| Yes |
Marine geophysical researches |
| Yes |
Marine technology and SNAME news |
| Yes |
Marine Technology Society journalZR |
| Yes |
Naval engineers journal |
| Yes |
Nursing education perspectives | Yes |
|
Ocean & coastal managementZR |
| Yes |
Ocean dynamics |
| Yes |
Ocean engineering |
| Yes |
Ocean modelling |
| Yes |
OceanologiaZR |
| Yes |
Ophthalmic genetics | Yes | Yes |
Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery | Yes | Yes |
PaleoceanographyZR |
| Yes |
Polymer science. Series C |
| Yes |
Progress in oceanographyZR |
| Yes |
Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen |
| Yes |
Radiation measurements |
| Yes |
Radiation physics and chemistry |
| Yes |
Research quarterly for exercise and sport | Yes | Yes |
Reviews in analytical chemistry |
| Yes |
Revue d'écologie : la terre et la vieZR |
| Yes |
Russian journal of general chemistry |
| Yes |
Separation science and technology |
| Yes |
SIAM journal on control and optimization |
| Yes |
Sub-cellular biochemistry | Yes |
|
TAO: Terrestrial, atmospheric, and oceanic sciences |
| Yes |
Tellus. Series A, Dynamic meteorology and oceanography |
| Yes |
| Ornithology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
ArdeolaZR |
| Yes |
| Paleontology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Comptes rendus PalevolZR |
| Yes |
GFFZR |
| Yes |
Journal of micropalaeontologyZR |
| Yes |
Journal of quaternary science |
| Yes |
Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie. AbhandlungenZR |
| Yes |
PaleoceanographyZR |
| Yes |
Proceedings of the Geologists' AssociationZR |
| Yes |
Stratigraphy and geological correlation |
| Yes |
| Parasitology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Malaria journalZR | Yes | Yes |
| Physiology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Advances in physiology education | Yes | Yes |
Applied physiology, nutrition, and metabolism = Physiologie appliquee, nutrition et metabolisme | Yes | Yes |
Chemical sensesZR | Yes | Yes |
Clinical journal of sport medicine | Yes | Yes |
Hypertension in pregnancy | Yes | Yes |
Journal of electromyography and kinesiology | Yes | Yes |
Journal of mammary gland biology and neoplasia | Yes | Yes |
Journal of physiology and pharmacology | Yes | Yes |
Klinische Neurophysiologie |
| Yes |
Pediatric exercise science | Yes | Yes |
Stress (Amsterdam, Netherlands) | Yes | Yes |
| Plant Sciences | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Journal of Asian natural products research | Yes | Yes |
Journal of bryology |
| Yes |
Journal of natural productsZR | Yes | Yes |
Plant biotechnology journal | Yes | Yes |
| Reproductive Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
European journal of obstetrics, gynecology, and reproductive biology | Yes | Yes |
Reproductive biomedicine online | Yes |
|
Twin research and human genetics | Yes | Yes |
| Veterinary Sciences | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Acta veterinaria Scandinavica | Yes | Yes |
Anthrozoos |
| Yes |
Archivos de medicina veterinariaZR |
| Yes |
Australian veterinary practitioner. |
| Yes |
Bulletin of the Veterinary Institute in Pulawy |
| Yes |
Canadian Association of Radiologists journal = Journal l'Association canadienne des radiologistes | Yes | Yes |
Canadian veterinary journal. La revue veterinaire canadienne | Yes | Yes |
Cattle practice |
| Yes |
COMPEL: the international journal for computation & mathematics in electrical & electronic engineering |
| Yes |
Compendium | Yes | Yes |
Equine veterinary education |
| Yes |
In practice |
| Yes |
Ippologia |
| Yes |
Irish veterinary journal |
| Yes |
Journal of avian medicine and surgeryZR | Yes | Yes |
Journal of camel practice and research |
| Yes |
Journal of equine veterinary science |
| Yes |
Journal of exotic pet medicineZR |
| Yes |
Journal of feline medicine and surgery | Yes | Yes |
Journal of swine health and production |
| Yes |
Journal of the American Veterinary Medical Association | Yes |
|
Journal of veterinary dentistry | Yes | Yes |
Journal of veterinary diagnostic investigationZR | Yes | Yes |
Journal of veterinary emergency and critical care |
| Yes |
Journal of veterinary medical education | Yes | Yes |
Kleintier-Praxis |
| Yes |
Lab animal | Yes | Yes |
New Zealand veterinary journalZR | Yes | Yes |
Philosophical magazine |
| Yes |
Pferdeheilkunde |
| Yes |
Praktische Tierarzt |
| Yes |
Precision engineering |
| Yes |
Point vétérinaire |
| Yes |
Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers. Part L, Journal of materials, design and applications |
| Yes |
Revista Cientifica de la Facultad de Ciencias Veterinarias |
| Yes |
Revue de médecine vétérinaire |
| Yes |
Society & animalsZR |
| Yes |
Tieraerztliche Praxis. Ausgabe G, Grosstiere/NutztiereZR |
| Yes |
Turkish journal of veterinary & animal sciences |
| Yes |
Veterinární medicínaZR |
| Yes |
Veterinary anaesthesia and analgesia | Yes | Yes |
Veterinary and comparative orthopaedics and traumatology: V.C.O.T | Yes | Yes |
Veterinary clinics of North America. Equine practice | Yes | Yes |
Veterinary dermatology | Yes | Yes |
Veterinary medicine |
| Yes |
Veterinary pathologyZR | Yes | Yes |
Veterinary record | Yes | Yes |
Veterinary technician |
| Yes |
Veterinary therapeutics: research in applied veterinary medicine | Yes | Yes |
Vlaams diergeneeskundig tijdschrift |
| Yes |
Wiener tierärztliche Monatsschrift |
| Yes |
| Virology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Antiviral therapy | Yes | Yes |
Journal of clinical virology | Yes | Yes |
Journal of viral hepatitis | Yes | Yes |
| Zoology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
International journal of primatologyZR |
| Yes |
Italian journal of zoologyZR |
| Yes |
Russian journal of nematologyZR |
| Yes |
Veterinary and comparative orthopaedics and traumatology: V.C.O.T | Yes | Yes |
(S) indicates that PubMed selectively indexes these journals
ZR indicates that the journal is included in Zoological Record
Table 2b. Eigenfactor list of biology journals not currently indexed by BIOSIS Previews but indexed by PubMed or Science Citation Index Expanded
Journals in more than one JCR category
| Agriculture, Dairy & Animal Science and Ecology | ||
|---|---|---|
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Rangeland ecology & managementZR |
| Yes |
| Agronomy and Horticulture | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Postharvest biology and technology |
| Yes |
| Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Biophysics | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Pteridines |
| Yes |
| Biochemistry & Molecular Biology and Cell Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Cell communication & adhesion | Yes | Yes |
| Biodiversity Conservation and Evolutionary Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Global change biologyZR |
| Yes |
Anatomy & Morphology and Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Microscopy research and technique |
| Yes |
| Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology and Genetics & Heredity | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Genetic engineering & biotechnology news |
| Yes |
Molecular therapy | Yes | Yes |
New genetics and society |
| Yes |
| Biotechnology & Applied Microbiology and Plant Sciences | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Plant biotechnology journal | Yes | Yes |
| Developmental Biology and Evolutionary Biology and Genetics & Heredity | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Evolution & developmentZR | Yes | Yes |
| Ecology and Horticulture and Limnology and Oceanography | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Revue d'écologie : la terre et la vieZR |
| Yes |
| Fisheries and Marine & Freshwater Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Bulletin of the European Association of Fish PathologistsZR |
| Yes |
Genetics & Heredity and Reproductive Biology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Twin research and human genetics | Yes | Yes |
| Horticulture and Limnology and Oceanography | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Advances in enzymology and related areas of molecular biology | Yes |
|
American journal of health behavior | Yes |
|
Annual review of nuclear and particle science |
| Yes |
Arkivoc |
| Yes |
Astronomy reports |
| Yes |
Bulletin of experimental biology and medicine |
| Yes |
Chemical communications | Yes (S) | Yes |
CIRP annals: manufacturing technology |
| Yes |
Comptes rendus GeoscienceZR |
| Yes |
EDN |
| Yes |
Food and drug law journal | Yes | Yes |
Hastings Center report | Yes | Yes |
IEEE transactions on aerospace and electronic systems |
| Yes |
IEEE transactions on information theory |
| Yes |
Il nuovo cimento della Società Italiana di Fisica B |
| Yes |
Journal of asthma | Yes | Yes |
Journal of personality assessment | Yes |
|
Journal of sedimentary research |
| Yes |
Journal of the American Podiatric Medical Association | Yes | Yes |
Journal of the Professional Association for Cactus Development |
| Yes |
Journal of universal computer science |
| Yes |
Journal of vacuum science & technology B |
| Yes |
Management science |
| Yes |
Nursing education perspectives | Yes |
|
Ophthalmic genetics | Yes | Yes |
Otolaryngology--head and neck surgery | Yes | Yes |
Polymer science. Series C |
| Yes |
Proceedings of the Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen |
| Yes |
Radiation measurements |
| Yes |
Radiation physics and chemistry |
| Yes |
Research quarterly for exercise and sport | Yes | Yes |
Reviews in analytical chemistry |
| Yes |
Russian journal of general chemistry |
| Yes |
Separation science and technology |
| Yes |
SIAM journal on control and optimization |
| Yes |
SMPTE motion imaging journal |
| Yes |
Solid state physics |
| Yes |
Sub-cellular biochemistry | Yes |
|
| Marine & Freshwater Biology and Oceanography | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Journal of marine systemsZR |
| Yes |
| Oceanography and Paleontology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
PaleoceanographyZR |
| Yes |
| Veterinary Sciences and Zoology | ||
| PubMed | Science Citation Index Expanded |
|
Veterinary and comparative orthopaedics and traumatology: V.C.O.T | Yes | Yes |
(S) indicates that PubMed selectively indexes these journals
ZR indicates that the journal is included in Zoological Record
Discussion
Our analysis shows that using citation data as a measure of journal influence can provide insight into the reading patterns of scientists in sub-fields of biology, as exemplified by the data in Tables 2a and 2b. The Eigenfactor score captures a model of research familiar to Bergstrom, who is a working biologist (http://octavia.zoology.washington.edu/Homepage.html), by which "readers follow citations as they move from journal to journal" (Bergstrom 2007). This model of research is suited to the widespread and heavy use of the HTML reference lists associated with electronic journal articles which allows smooth transition to other related articles instead of the far more cumbersome approach required by the use of print resources. Electronic publishing, coupled with open access, has produced a growing body of literature with high impact due to increased accessibility to scientists (Tenopir and King 2008). Evans attributes that this phenomenon of increased searching and less browsing has contributed to the narrowing of scientific citation patterns and the elimination of marginally relevant referenced articles (Evans 2008).
Our analysis also shows that researchers in the basic life sciences require access to applied and clinical medical journals. This finding is not surprising considering that life sciences research has the potential of providing partial solutions to several of the most daunting problems that our species and our planet face in the 21st century. The means by which research practices are actually carried out today in the life sciences are profoundly affected by advances in other fields such as applied mathematics, computer science, statistics, physics, and engineering. As a consequence of incorporating these advances, life sciences research is undergoing a significant transformation requiring new approaches of thinking and working. One such approach is the establishment of public-private partnerships, such as Bio-X at Stanford University (http://biox.Stanford.edu), and Columbia University's Science and Technology Ventures ({http://www.techventures.columbia.edu/}). Another approach is the development of new disciplines in biology. The field of systems biology which studies complex biological processes by means of both computer modeling and in vivo approaches represents a new way of practicing biology. Systems biology is starting to help the healthcare industry diagnose, treat and ultimately prevent diseases (Camacho and Collins 2009). Developmental biology which focuses on organ regeneration is another example of the new paradigm of biology as an applied science (Xu et al. 2008).
Our study confirms these interdisciplinary collaborations using the citation data method of the Eigenfactor. Along with titles in basic biology, Tables 2a and 2b also reveal applied and clinical journals -- just the type of publications BIOSIS Previews acknowledges that are not the focus of its coverage. This lack of inclusion is relevant to the librarian providing mediated searches, who, may now know that she/he would need to search other databases (such as, Web of Science, PubMed, CAB Abstracts). Library patrons, scientists and students, however may not know to do this, or in many cases cannot do it for lack of access to the Web of Science. Thomson-Reuters has developed the ISI Web of Knowledge, an integrated Web-based platform that allows concomitant searches of the Web of Science, Current Contents Connect, and BIOSIS Previews. Thus the system searches across all three subscription-based products when one performs an "All Databases Search". An alternative would be for the editors of BIOSIS Previews to consider including some of the biology journals currently included in Science Citation Index Expanded.
The question of how comprehensively BIOSIS Previews should cover the research literature in biology is an issue the BIOSIS editors have been wrestling with and examining since the 1950s (Steere et al. 1976, page 108; Freedman 1995). Of course, adding even more titles to BIOSIS Previews would increase the overlap in coverage between this database and the other databases. Regarding including all journals in any subject field in a database, Cleverdon (1984) discusses evidence that articles from a relatively small set of journals account for the large majority of papers considered important enough to be cited, and that most end users do not read all the relevant papers retrieved in a literature search. The implications and cost of both database searching and duplicate coverage to the indexing services in BIOSIS Previews and other databases has been addressed by Salisbury and Noguera (2002), Poyer (1984), and Steere et al. (1976, page 196).
Conclusions
The Eigenfactor method has allowed us to determine in a quantitative manner which journals not indexed by BIOSIS Previews have a notable impact in biology. Such an analysis is important for individual scientists, abstract and information producers, libraries, professional societies and funding organizations. This analysis demonstrates the benefit of searching multiple databases for more complete article retrieval in biology.
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