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in-cites,
September 2006
Citing URL: http://www.in-cites.com/journals/NewJofPhysics.html
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July 2006,
Essential Science Indicators
named the New Journal of Physics (NJP) a Rising
Star in the field of Physics—that is, the journal had
the highest percent increase in total citations in this field.
The journal’s current record includes 829 papers cited a
total of 3,187 times. Founded in 1998, NJP is an
open-access journal published jointly by the Institute of
Physics and the German Physical Society. This month, in-cites
talks with Publisher Dr. Tim Smith and Editor-in-Chief
Professor Eberhard Bodenschatz about NJP’s citation
record.
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Did you expect NJP to become highly cited, or is this
surprising to you?
We are delighted to receive this welcome news although the
results of your analysis are not entirely surprising. As an
open-access journal NJP was launched (8 years ago by the
Institute of Physics and German Physical Society) with the prime
objective of publishing research articles of the highest quality
across the whole of physics, and making them completely free for
everyone to read.
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“The increased citation rate is perhaps testament to the growing stature of NJP within the physics publishing environment, and serves as one indicator that the editorial and promotional activity we carry out towards expanding both our authorship and readership is working.”
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From the outset this publishing model has ensured outstandingly
high visibility for our authors (emphasized recently by the journal
passing the milestone of one-million article downloads) and as NJP’s
readership has grown year upon year, it is not unexpected to see the
number of citations going up too.
How would you account for the increased citation rate?
NJP is still a relatively young journal. A key early
challenge has therefore been (and remains) to fully establish both NJP
editorially, and its publishing model, within the key research
communities that extend across physics. The increased citation rate
is perhaps testament to the growing stature of NJP within the
physics publishing environment, and serves as one indicator that the
editorial and promotional activity we carry out towards expanding
both our authorship and readership is working. This is further
supported by the continued growth of NJP’s Impact Factor in
the Journal Citation Reports® (which has increased for the
last three years to its current figure of 3.585) showing that
citations to the journal have been going up for a number of years.
Was there a change in policy or editorial direction that might account
for this?
NJP’s editorial policy has always taken the long-term view
(even if at the expense of short-term growth) that imposing high
editorial standards are paramount to the journal’s success. This
remains unchanged. As an open-access journal we are particularly
aware of the need for the importance of work in NJP to be
apparent and accessible to its broad readership (one that includes
the wider physics community as well as specialist researchers). By
guiding the peer-review process, the editorial board plays a key
role in ensuring that the very strict demands we place on quality
and broad impact are met. Over 70% of submissions are currently
rejected.
What is clear when considering citation rates is that there is
strong subject-field dependence. Even within physics there are large
disparities; it is not, for example, particularly meaningful to
compare the Impact Factor of a journal specializing in high-energy
particle physics with one covering mathematical physics. The broad
subject coverage of NJP (certainly encompassing both particle
physics and mathematical physics) means that its Impact Factor to a
certain degree represents a combination of citing behaviors of the
various research communities across physics.
What historical factors have contributed to the success of NJP?
Receiving the backing of the community it serves is vital to any
research journal. Since its launch NJP has enjoyed the formal
support of large sections of the physics community through its close
links with national physical societies across the world. Eighteen
societies now endorse the journal and its open-access model as
Associate Members, all of which have played a key part in NJP’s
success.
As a journal that essentially shifts the burden of cost from the
reader to the author (or research grant), acceptance of NJP’s
open-access publishing model within the physics community has been
gradual. With the growing support of research institutions, funding
bodies and the library community for open-access, however, new
funding arrangements have been realized. For example, the last three
years have seen NJP receive financial support from JISC
(Joint Information Systems Committee ) in
the UK, enabling us to waive the article publication charge for
staff members at UK universities. Research institutes including
Cornell University, Northwestern University and, most recently, the
Max-Planck Society, have also demonstrated their support for NJP
by paying the article charge for their members. A key priority is to
seek further centralized funding agreements with other major
research and funding organizations so that we can look to further
remove financial barriers to our authors at an individual level.
As an electronic-only journal NJP has always looked to
take advantage of its online medium. Although of course not a
requisite, our authors are encouraged to include relevant
supplementary material (such as movies, simulations, appendices of
data) with their articles that may not be possible in the archival
version of traditional print journals. The inclusion of such
features can certainly enhance the reader’s experience and more
and more of our authors are seeing this as a real benefit.
One very important factor is the fast publication time that NJP
can offer to authors (currently averaging below 90 days for the
entire publication process). In the future we will be looking to
decrease publication times even further through improvements in the
web-based services that NJP, and other journals published by
IOP Publishing, already offers to authors and referees.
Have there been specific developments in the fields served by NJP
that may have contributed?
One of NJP’s key assets is its fantastic editorial
board. In addition to ensuring that the journal maintains high
quality standards, they play a pivotal role in guiding editorial
direction so that NJP can look to fulfill its broad subject
scope by publishing in the key areas of physics.
In terms of achieving general editorial growth one strategy that
has proved successful has been our "focus issue" program.
Forming collections of articles on topics that the editorial board
believes to be of particular current interest, these invited issues
serve the dual purpose of alerting specific niche research
communities within physics to NJP, and extending the journal’s
subject coverage. The 25 or so focus issues published in NJP
so far have certainly helped the journal amass a good body of
wide-ranging content in areas including quantum information, plasma
physics, particle physics, surface science, condensed matter, atomic
and molecular physics, optics, and astrophysics.
What, in your view, is the journal’s main significance or
contribution in the field of physics?
Publishing what we believe to be research articles of the highest
quality on topics extending across physics, and making them free to
everyone regardless of financial means.
How do you see your field (s) evolving in the next few years?
That’s a difficult one! For a number of years science research
in general has certainly become increasingly interdisciplinary. The
trend for physicists to form collaborations with other disciplines
such as biologists, chemists, engineers, and mathematicians I am
sure will continue and it is likely to be at the interface of these
core fields that new research fronts will emerge. Needless to say, NJP
will be looking to establish itself in whatever the next hot topics
of physics might turn out to be!
What role do you see for your journal?
NJP’s role for its readers will be to continue to publish
free-to-read research articles of the highest quality in the key
growth areas of physics.
For our authors we believe NJP has an important role to play
in providing the widest possible dissemination of their work. Article
download figures already demonstrate that NJP provides very
high visibility and the broad audience that the journal captures means
that our authors have the opportunity to convey the importance of
their work to the wider community as well as their specialist peers.
New Journal of Physics
Eberhard Bodenschatz, Editor-in-Chief
Tim Smith, Publisher
Institute of Physics and the German Physical Society, co-owners
| New Journal of Physics's
most-cited paper with 127 cites to date: |
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Maltoni M, et
al., "Status of global fits to neutrino oscillations,"
New J. Phys. 6: art. no. 122, 28 September 2004. 127 cites. |
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Source:
Essential Science Indicators |
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in-cites, September 2006
Citing URL: http://www.in-cites.com/journals/NewJofPhysics.html
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