Abstract

Siew Tyng Fung

Thomson Scientific is committed to providing comprehensive coverage of the world’s most important and influential journals for its users. But comprehensive does not necessarily mean all-inclusive. Web of Science, a corner stone of Thomson Scientific offering to academic researchers, indexes over 9,300 journals cover to cover. It doesn’t index all journals published but it still be used widely as a research and evaluation tool.

Journal evaluation and selection is conducted on an ongoing basic at Thomson Scientific. Many criteria are taken into account when evaluating journals for coverage, ranging from the qualitative to the quantitative. The journal's basic publishing standards, its editorial content, the international diversity of its authorship, and the citation data associated with it are all considered. No one criterion is considered in isolation, but by combining and inter-relating the data, the editor is able to determine the journal's overall strengths and weaknesses.