University of Wisconsin Physics Journals: 1997

25 Least Cost-Effective Titles by Cost/Impact Factor Measure

Ascending Order

Least Cost-Effective Physics Journals Publisher Publisher Type Institutional Subscription Cost: 1997 Cost /Impact Factor*
Progress on Theoretical Physics - and supplement Yukawa Institute for Theoretical Physics. . . . Non-Profit 648.83 11.982
Annalen der Physik Johann Ambrosius Barth Commercial 458.06 12.007
Canadian Journal of Physics National Research Council of Canada Commercial 374.00 12.050
Zeitschrift fur Physik A Springer Commercial 1819.00 12.201
Physics World Institute of Physics Publishing Non-Profit 182.98 12.245
Zeitschrift fur Physik D Springer Commercial 1840.00 12.285
Modern Physics Letters A World Scientific Commercial 1544.00 12.603
Applied Physics A Springer Commercial 1974.00 13.859
Journal of Plasma Physics Cambridge University Press Non-Profit 640.00 14.987
Nuclear Instruments and Methods North-Holland Commercial 8344.00 15.003
Planetary and Space Science Pergamon/Elsevier Commercial 1926.00 15.600
JETP Letters American Institute of Physics Non-Profit 1370.00 16.344
Journal de Physique IV French Physical Society Non-Profit 1057.65 17.322
Journal of Physics G Institute of Physics Publishing Commercial 1948.00 17.348
Journal de Physique III French Physical Society Non-Profit 1057.65 17.489
Letters in Mathematical Physics Kluwer Commercial 966.00 18.097
International Journal of Modern Physics D World Scientific Commercial 298.00 18.444
International Journal of Modern Physics C World Scientific Commercial 481.00 23.056
Forschritte der Physik Akademie Verlag Commercial 765.00 28.378
Helvetica Physica Acta Swiss Physical Society (by Birkhauer) Non-Profit 542.94 32.383
Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London A Royal Society of London Non-Profit 992.00 32.842
Physica B North-Holland Commercial 3686.00 48.994
Physica A North-Holland Commercial 3980.00 54.914
Annales de Physique Centre Nationale de la Reserche Scientifique... Non-Profit 557.67 130.184
Journal of Fusion Energy Plenum Press Commercial 345.00 182.194

 

Analyzing its 1997 subscription list, the University of Wisconsin found that the least cost-effective journals in Physics tended to be those published by Non-Profit publishers. This table presents the 25 least cost-effective Physics journals in the Wisconsin subscription list, as measured by the Cost/Impact Factor*. Sixteen of these journals were published by commercial publishers. Seven of the nine non-profit journals in this list were published outside the United States.

 

 

*Cost/Impact Factor has been used as one way of measuring the cost-effectiveness of journals. It relates the cost of a journal to its impact as measured by its citation record. It is derived by dividing the Cost per 1000 Characters by the ISI Impact Factor. Here is an example for the Reviews of Modern Physics.

Cost per 1000 characters = 4.0 cents.
ISI Impact Factor = 20.208
4.0/20.208 = 0.198
Cost/Impact Factor = 0.198

An Impact Factor of 20.208 is very high—the highest for all the journals in the Physics sample. So, though the cost of Reviews of Modern Physics is not among the lowest for Physics, its high frequency of citation combined with its modest cost makes it the most cost-effective journal in the Wisconsin list. The lower the Cost/Impact Factor, the more cost-effective the journal is, according to this measure.