The Importance of Conference Proceedings in Research Evaluation: a Methodology for Assessing Conference Impact

TL;DR

This paper highlights the critical role of conference proceedings in research dissemination, especially in Computer Science and Engineering, and proposes a bibliometric approach to evaluate their impact using SJR rankings.

Contribution

It introduces a novel methodology for assessing conference impact through SJR-based rankings and compares it with existing expert-driven classifications.

Findings

62% overlap between bibliometric and expert rankings in Computer Science

38 Engineering and 23 Computer Science conferences ranked as Q1

Conference impact correlates strongly with journal impact metrics

Abstract

Conferences are an essential tool for scientific communication. In disciplines such as Computer Science, over 50% of original research results are published in conference proceedings. In this study, we have analysed the role of conference proceedings in various disciplines and propose an alternative approach to research evaluation based on conference proceedings and Scimago Journal Rank (SJR). The result of the study is a list of conference proceedings, categorised Q1 - Q4 in several disciplines by analogy with SJR journal quartiles. The comparison of this bibliometric-driven ranking with the expert-driven CORE ranking in Computer Science showed a 62% overlap, as well as a significant average rank correlation of the category distribution. Moreover, 38 conference proceedings in Engineering (45% of the list) and 23 in Computer Science (32% of the list) have an SJR level corresponding to the first quartile journals in these areas. This again emphasises the exceptional importance of conferences in these disciplines.