How to Determine a Journal's Quartile in Web of Science
A scientific journal that publishes high-quality materials, relevant research and has authoritative scientists on its editorial board receives not only high ratings, but also a place in the gradation of generally recognized databases - Web of Science (WoS) and Scopus. Scientometric databases are divided into 4 groups, therefore each of them is called a "quartile".
Before sending your article for publication in a particular scientific journal, you should study its qualitative and quantitative characteristics, citations, and determine what “weight” the publication has in the scientific world.
WoS Journal Quartiles
Quartile is a relatively new indicator that allows us to determine the professional level that a journal receives. Web of Science, which indexes about 12.5 thousand publications, is one of the popular databases that uses this tool.
The quartile allows us to indicate the level of authority of the publication source, its percentage and quantitative citation. The higher the status that a scientific journal has officially received, the more often it is accessed, resulting in an increase in citation. For authors, this means an increased chance of telling the general scientific community about their research.
Quartile, or Q, literally means “quarter,” since Web of Science is divided into four broad groups. A journal that is assessed by bibliometric indicators, including citations, falls into one or more Web of Science groups. The degree of demand for the material published by the publication is automatically determined, including at the international level.
Quartile Q1 includes the most authoritative journals, Q4 – those with a low rating, which clearly shows the quotation of journals, their percentage and quantitative citation in Web of Science. A journal divided by categories and scientific areas can simultaneously fall into different quartiles.
The system has been working effectively for decades and helps scientists popularize their research, add significance, and attract not only attention but also funding.
Impact factor
In addition to the quartile, the scientific world uses an indicator called impact factor. This tool is designed to measure article citations in percentages with a high degree of accuracy. It means, literally, the influence of an article on the course of modern scientific thought, since the most frequently cited publications set their own trends.
Calculation algorithm for a specific journal: Web of Science impact factor = number of citations of articles (per year) / total number of publications (over two years)
Thus, the impact factor of Web of Science is determined by the relevance of the presented research and the frequency of its indirect participation in scientific discussions. If they are posted on their pages by a similar publication. The more often the materials are accessed for borrowing, the higher the significance indicator. The tool for the actual use of citations is references to sources.
Are quartiles assigned to all Web of Science journals?
A journal's placement in a quartile does not always remain there for a long time. Although there are journals that have "registered" in certain quartiles for a long time. If the quality of publications changes, the publication may "move" to another WoS quartile based on the recalculation results - higher or lower in status.
But even being in the lowest-ranked quartile Q4 does not mean low-quality research materials in articles. Not all journals are capable of reaching this level. And if the scientific journal of your university is not listed in the WoS ranking, then its quality characteristics are not yet sufficient for this.
Similar nuances apply to the impact factor. A scientific journal may have a high impact factor, but not necessarily because it contains high-quality articles. But because of the relevance of the materials, which are multiplied by references in percentage terms. At the same time, references will appear much less frequently on less popular research topics, highly specialized, specific, with a small user audience. This does not mean low quality of scientific papers, but the quartile will be within Q3-Q4.
How to find quartile in Web of Science
To do this, go to the address www.isiknowledge.com. Please note – WoS will require registration. Otherwise, it will be impossible to work with the resource. Then, in the menu, select Journal Citation Reports, where you enter the name of the journal you are looking for or its ISSN, and select a section from those offered.
Important! The correct translation of the name into English is important.
After that, the table "JCR Impact Factor" will appear, where the quartile is indicated in the full statistics, as well as other indicators in percentages. The same data can be found on other similar special platforms. It is noteworthy that for WoS and Scopus they coincide.
To place an article in journals with quartile Q1 or Q2, you must provide only high-quality materials with a high scientific level. In other groups, the standards are somewhat lower and more achievable. The Academy of Articles provides services for placing publications in Web of Science: the full package includes choosing a publication for an article, information consulting, assistance in writing articles, design, etc.
