Journal Rankings from Citation Studies: A Comparison of National and Local Data from Social Work

Journal rankings from citation studies have been an important criterion for selection of journals for academic libraries. Recent research by Line, however, argues that rankings from one study do not indicate that rankings will result from any other study. Line, therefore, questions use of citation studies in journal selection. This paper tests Line's argument by comparing journal rankings derived from national databases with rankings based on local data. National databases are sources representative of an entire field. Local data derive from publications from a particular school. Comparison of journal rankings from three national databases with rankings from citations from a subsequent period from one school of social work suggests that easily executed citation studies are a useful, if limited and imperfect, guide to the selection of the journals most important for a given collection.