Methodological Approach to the Evaluation of Scientific Journals

Abstract

Scientific journals are the main instrument for communicating research results. The main objective of this study is to share the advances of the doctoral thesis that is being achieved on the different models used by organizations and publication platforms to classify the quality of scientific journals. A bibliographic and documentary review has been carried out oriented towards journal evaluation policies. The review also includes studies on the identification of platforms and entities that evaluate journals and the quality criteria they use. The application of quantitative and qualitative methodologies has made it possible to systematize both the types of journal platforms and the types of evaluation criteria and indicators. The thesis organizes the classes of platforms that collect and assess scientific journals while structuring the quality criteria of publications into three types: editorial criteria (administration and procedures), bibliometric criteria (impact factor), and dissemination criteria (use and visibility). The results obtained from the analysis of national policies for the evaluation of journals and the application of quality criteria will allow establishing a state of the art, with a diagnosis of the current situation, as well as proposing an objective model for evaluating the quality of scientific journals.