Re: Science Citation Index

[Michael Mislove <mislove@tulane.edu>]

[Note from moderator: For information, as publisher I have twice suggested
TAC to Thomson. Three years ago it was rejected after a long delay with no
explanation other than a reference to their "policy". When the suggestion
was renewed last summer via email and their web site mentioned below I
received no response at all, not even an acknowledgement, certainly no
gift card.]

Dear Colleagues,
   I wrote Thomson and asked how to find out what's covered, and also
how to request a journal be included. Below is a copy of the response
I received. I checked, and neither Cahiers nor T&AC are included (nor
is ENTCS, sad to say). I also took a brief look at the leading essay
on the ISI site about their rationalization for their selection
process. The bottom line in my view is that they provide this service
not for our needs, but for those who want quick and dirty guesstimates
of the importance of publications. Administrators like to use such
rankings, and publishers also focus on them, citing impact factor as a
major aspect of the importance of journals they publish. We can all go
to the site listed below to request that Cahiers and T&AC (and don't
forget ENTCS!!) be included, but I'm afraid this community is too
small to have an impact (sic) on this industry, so I think we should
look elsewhere for the needs we have to be met. Of course, there is
the lure of that $50 American Express gift card....
   Best regards,
   Mike Mislove

>
> From: ts.cts-ps@thomson.com
> Date: December 4, 2008 10:35:11 AM CST
> To: mislove@tulane.edu
> Subject: RE: Web of Science Journal Coverage CASE 254481
>
> Dear Michael Mislove:
>
> Thank you for contacting Thomson Reuters Technical Support.
>
> For information on our journal coverage, please go to http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/mjl/
>
> On the "Master Journal List", please see "Journal Lists for
> Searchable Databases" to see product-specific coverage.
>
> For information on our journal selection process, please go to http://thomsonreuters.com/business_units/scientific/free/essays/journalselection/
>
> To recommend a journal for coverage , please go to http://scientific.thomsonreuters.com/info/journalrec/
>
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>
>
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>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>


On Dec 3, 2008, at 11:23 AM, John Baez wrote:

> Dear category theorists -
>
> Thomson Scientific runs the well-known "Science Citation Index", which
> "provides researchers, administrators, faculty, and students with
> quick,
> powerful access to the bibliographic and citation information they
> need to
> find relevant, comprehensive research data".  I believe data from
> this index
> is used in tenure and promotion decisions at some universities.
>
> I just heard that "Theory and Applications of Categories" and
> "Cahiers" are
> not listed on the Science Citation Index, while - for example -
> Elsevier's
> journal "Homeopathy" is listed there.
>
> Is this true?  Is there some way to improve the situation?
>
> Best,
> jb
>

===============================================
Professor Michael Mislove        Phone: +1 504 862-3441
Department of Mathematics      FAX:     +1 504 865-5063
Tulane University       URL: http://www.math.tulane.edu/~mwm
New Orleans, LA 70118 USA
===============================================