University of Southern California LibGuides - * Anthropology

Journal Impact Factor

The impact factor is an indicator of journal quality. A measure of the frequency with which the "average article" in a journal has been cited in a particular year, the impactor factor is calculated by dividing the number of current citations to articles published in the two previous years by the total number of articles published in the two previous years. Ultimately, the impact factor will help you evaluate a journal's relative importance, especially when you compare it to others in the same field.

ISI Journal Citation Reports (JCR Online)

Click on the "select a database" tab, and then the "Journal Citation Reports" tab. Select the "JCR Social Sciences Edition." You can browse a group of journals by category (e.g. "Communication), search for a specific journal, or view all journals.
Historical Abstracts

Click on "Cited References" and type in the journal in the box for "Cited Source." This will tell you how many times the journal got cited within articles indexed in the database. For specific article citations, type in author or title.
Ulrich's Periodicals Directory
You can look for 'refereed' indicator, circulation statistics, and included abstracting/indexing services for a good indication of a journal's impact.
WorldCat
The number of libraries owning a journal is an indication of the impact and importance of the journal. Go to 'advanced search' and search by title or ISSN. Look at the 'libraries worldwide' link.
Essential Science Indicators
In-depth analytical tool offering data for ranking scientists, institutions, countries, and journals. Also includes list of "highly cited" and "hot" research papers.

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Citation Analysis

Citation Analysis or citation tracking is a way to see the impact of an article in its field. Also, it's a great way to use a "landmark" or influential article to find more recent, related articles that cite the landmark article.

ISI Web of Science
Select the "Web of Science" database. Then use the "Cited Reference Search" link to find articles that cite the work(s) of an author. Use the format [Last Name First Initial*] (e.g. Smith H*).
Wiley InterScience
Go to "advanced search" and use the "references" field.
Historical Abstracts
Use the "Cited References" search to find out how many times a specific article or author has been cited in the database.
Sage Journals Online
Click on "advanced search" and select the "References" field from the drop-down box.
CSA Databases (PsycINFO, Linguistics & Language Behavior, Sociological Abstracts)
Click on "advanced search" and choose the 'references' field from the drop-down menu.
Google Scholar
Search results that have been cited by others will have a link that says "Cited by [number]." Click that link to go to the citing authors.
Proquest Research Library
Click on "advanced search" and do a Citation and Document Text Search. Find the author's name in footnotes by typing FOOT (Author Last Name), e.g. to see where Antonio Damasio is cited, type: FOOT (Damasio)