ABSTRACT
In their endless pursuit of prestige 1 in a “publish or perish” environment, academic researchers are rarely inclined to investigate objectively the journals to which they submit the fruit of their labors. In any discipline or subset thereof, there are subjective perceptions of what journals are “the best,” “the fastest,” “the easiest,” “the cheapest,” and which must be read or may safely be ignored. But which journals are truly outstanding? That is, which are widely circulated, read, and quoted? And which are not? Furthermore, in the climate of crisis created by spiralling costs of serials, which give best (or least) value for the money? Is it possible to find criteria that will help serials librarians — and the academic colleagues they serve—judge which journals ought to be cancelled, or better yet, help convince researchers themselves to shun such journals?
