Whilst looking around for inspiration for things that could go into a mashup to jazz up the OU repository, I came across the rather wonderful eigenfactor.org which provides an alternative (the “eigenfactor”) to the Thompson Scientific Impact Factor measure of academic journal “weight”.
The site provides a range of graphical tools for exploring the relative impact of journals in a particular discipline, as well as a traditional search box for tracking down a particular journal.
Here’s how we can start to explore the journals in a particular area using an interactive graphical map:
The top journals in the field are listed on the right hand side, and the related fields are displayed within the central panel view.
A motion chart (you know: Hans Rosling; Gapminder…) shows how well particular journals have fared over time:
As well as providing eigenfactor (cf. impact) ratings for several hundred journals, the site also provides a “cost effectiveness” measure that attempts to reconcile a journal’s eigenfactor with it’s cost, giving buyers an idea of how much “bang per buck” their patrons are likely to get from a particular journal (e.g. in terms of how well a particular journal provides access to frequent, highly cited papers in a particular area, given its cost).
Reports are also available for each listed journal:
Finally, if you want to know how eigenfactors are calculated (it’s fun :-), the algorithm is described here: eigenfactor calculation.
By the by, a humourous look at a “real” impact factor calculation: http://rafaelsidi.blogspot.com/2008/12/impact-humour-factor.html