This document summarizes and discusses various methods for judging research quality, including bibliometrics and alternative approaches. It discusses bibliometrics such as impact factors and how they are calculated. However, it notes that bibliometrics only measure one dimension of quality and do not reflect the broader societal impacts of research. The document advocates considering additional factors beyond citation counts, such as qualitative evaluations and altmetrics, to more fully capture research quality.

1. Judging research quality:
bibliometrics and beyond
Roger Watson
Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Advanced Nursing
Editor, Nursing Open

2. YOU
ME
This is how most authors view the publishing process

3. Content
•Publication
•Authorship
•Open access
•Salami slicing
•Impact factors
•Bibliometrics
•…and beyond

4. Promoting integrity in research
publication
COPE http://publicationethics.org/

5. Publication

6. 2015:
56 countries
1126 submissions

7. Aims and scope
Tells you:
• The mission of the journal
• What it publishes
• Who is expected to write for the journal
• The nature of the articles published
• Who is the intended readership

8. Quality assurance in the publication process:
authors, editors, reviewers, publishers
Submission
Peer review
Editorial decision and input
Revision
Production
Publication
• submission requirements
based on international
standards (e.g. ICMJE) re
content, ethics, authorship etc
• peer review (blind or open)
• reasons for rejection/revision
include plagiarism,
redundancy, sub-standard
research, faulty or incomplete
analysis, poor or incomplete
reporting
• revision aims to improve
quality
• further checks at production
• post-publication scrutiny

10. Authorship

12. Authorship
International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE)
at http://www.icmje.org/ states authorship is based on:
1) substantial contributions to the conception and design of a
paper, or acquisition of data or analysis and interpretation
of data, and,
2) drafting the article or revising it critically for important
intellectual content and final approval of the version to be
published.

13. Open access

16. Beware of predatory journals

19. Salami slicing

21. Impact factors

22. Impact factor
In a given year, the impact factor of a journal is the average number
of citations to those papers that were published during the two
preceding years.
For example, the 2014 impact factor of a journal would be calculated
as follows:
2014 impact factor = A/B
where:
A = the number of times articles published in 2012 and 2013
were cited by indexed journals during 2014
B = the total number of "citable items" published in 2012 and
2014. ("Citable items" are usually articles, reviews,
proceedings, or notes; not editorials or Letters-to-the-Editor.)

23. Which papers get cited most
(long term)?
•Methodological papers
•Discussion papers (including concept analysis)
•Review papers
•Original research

24. Which papers get cited most
(short term)?
•Review papers
•Methodological papers
•Discussion papers (including concept analysis)
•Original research

25. Bibliometrics

26. …and beyond

27. …and beyond

28. …and beyond

29. 21/02/2016
Altmetrics
In scholarly and scientific publishing, Altmetrics are new
metrics proposed as an alternative to the widely used
journal impact factor and personal citation indices like the
h-index.
(Wikipedia)

30. Enhancing the QUAlity and
Transparency Of health Research

31. Enhancing the QUAlity and
Transparency Of health Research
CONSORT http://www.consort-statement.org/

33. Enhancing the QUAlity and
Transparency Of health Research
CONSORT http://www.consort-statement.org/
PRISMA http://www.prisma-statement.org/

36. Preventing Plagiarism in Published Works

37. Edited by Karen Holland and Roger Watson
An invaluable guide on writing for publication, enabling
the reader to develop skills in writing articles,
book reviews and other forms
of publications, written by experts in the field.
September 2012, 288 pages
ISBN: 9780470657829
£19.99 / €25.90 / $32.95
Order online at www.wiley.com
Prefer digital? Visit your e-book retailer to order
Writing for Publication in Nursing and
Healthcare:
Getting It Right

38. Thank you
Email: r.watson@hull.ac.uk
@rwatson1955