An assessment of 'Progress'

When Progress in Geography (PIG) was launched in 1969 it aimed to provide international reviews of current research in geography. One of its two offspring in 1977, Progress in Human Geography (PIHG), had a similar aim for the human branch of the discipline. It is appropriate, 21 years after the founding of the parent journal, to assess, in relation to these aims and the performance of other human geography journals, the impact that PIHG is having. Researchers make their own qualitative judgments about journals. These are in some degree reflected in their usage and recommendation of them both as sources of knowledge and vehicles of publication. There is also considerable quantitative information upon which an assessment of journals can be made, particularly the citation data assembled by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI). This information is the principal basis for the assessments made here.