Relationships between Journal Publication, Citation, and Usage Metrics within a Carnegie R1 University Collection: A Correlation Analysis

TL;DR

This study analyzes the relationships between various journal metrics, including citations, downloads, and impact factors, within a large university collection, revealing strong correlations and disciplinary variances.

Contribution

It provides a comprehensive correlation analysis between local and global journal metrics across disciplines at a major university.

Findings

Strong correlations between usage and citation metrics in most subsets

Normalized Eigenfactor correlates highly with local journal metrics

Disciplinary variances align with university research priorities

Abstract

This study examines the correlational relationships between local journal authorship, local and external citation counts, full-text downloads, link-resolver clicks, and four global journal impact factor indices within an all-disciplines journal collection of 12,200 titles and six subject subsets at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) Library. While earlier investigations of the relationships between usage (downloads) and citation metrics have been inconclusive, this study shows strong correlations in the all-disciplines set and most subject subsets. The normalized Eigenfactor was the only global impact factor index that correlated highly with local journal metrics. Some of the identified disciplinary variances among the six subject subsets may be explained by the journal publication aspirations of UIUC researchers. The correlations between authorship and local citations in the six specific subject subsets closely match national department or program rankings.