A hybrid indicator for journal ranking : An example from the field of Health Care Sciences and Services

Purpose – Although journal rankings are important for authors, readers, publishers, promotion, and tenure committees, it has been argued that the use of different measures (e.g. the journal impact factor (JIF), and Hirsch’s h -index) often lead to different journal rankings, which render it difficult to make an appropriate decision. A hybrid ranking method based on the Borda count approach, the Standardized Average Index (SA index), was introduced to solve this problem. The paper aims to discuss these issues. Design/methodology/approach – Citations received by the articles published in 85 Health Care Sciences and Services (HCSS) journals in the period of 2009-2013 were analyzed with the use of the JIF, the h -index, and the SA index. Findings – The SA index exhibits a high correlation with the JIF and the h -index ( γ > 0.9, p < 0.01) and yields results with higher accuracy than the h -index. The new, comprehensive citation impact analysis of the 85 HCSS journals shows that the SA index can help researchers to find journals with both high JIFs and high h -indices more easily, thereby harvesting references for paper submissions and research directions. Originality/value – The contribution of this study is the application of the Borda count approach to combine the HCSS journal rankings produced by the two widely accepted indices of the JIF and the h -index. The new HCSS journal rankings can be used by publishers, journal editors, researchers, policymakers, librarians, and practitioners as a reference for journal selection and the establishment of decisions and professional judgment.