Professional Development


20 - Evaluating the quality of journals I
As mentioned before, the peer review is the only known system that guarantees the quality of a scientific article. The Institute of Scientific Information (www.isinet.com) publishes a database called "Journal Citation Reports". This database is available in two formats (CD-Rom or Web-based) and it is used by different parties with different purposes. For instance, editors use it to assess the effectiveness of editorial policies and objectives or to track the standing of their journals, while authors use it to identify journals in which to publish their works or to identify the most relevant journals in their research area.The Journal Citation Reports (JCR) allows the user to filter journals of the different areas of science or medicine, in particular. JCR contains an area on "Dermatology and Venereal Diseases" which included 42 journals in its last issue.