Systematization of publications in the web. Part 3 of 3: Strategy placement of scientific publications
“The future is already here - it's just not very evenly distributed.”
William Gibson
Image source
This cycle of articles includes 3 parts.
')
The first part was a review of articles on the topic of scientific work published on habrahabr.ru, considered the concept of citation index (h-index, Hirsch index) and concluded that it is necessary to have skills in working with scientometric databases for all who took the path of scientific career .
In the second part, we consider three tools for managing publications on the web: 1) Scopus; 2) Google Scholar (Google Academy); 3) Research Gate.
The third part discusses the choice of the strategy of scientific publications in order to promote a personal scientific brand. Examples in the article are considered for the scientific field that is familiar to the author - Computer Science.
Since there can be no single solution for building a publication strategy, a check list is proposed, the items of which are offered to be addressed. But we will begin with a scientific mission.
Deciding to publish on the basis of a scientific mission
Mission is a “spiritual” basis of human activity, a certain system of attitudes and beliefs, which helps to make decisions in difficult situations. In crisis situations, the mission helps to understand what is most important for a person. Strategic planning with different horizons must also be mission-based.
There are many resources and trainings aimed at the formation of the mission, so I only recall the basic points. Approaches to the formation of the mission are, for example:
- awareness of their purpose;
- projective and formative techniques;
- achieving balance in the "wheel of life";
- Dilts pyramid levels, etc.
If the purpose of a person is once given to him, then the mission can be periodically reviewed and clarified. Thus, the formation of the mission becomes an instrument of personal growth, gives faith in what you do. Consequently, there is no loss of focus and interest, “burnout,” frustration, and other unpleasant things.
Professional mission is a decision-making criterion in the professional field. If a person is engaged in science, then he formulates a scientific mission, if teaching, then a teaching one, when combining these fields of activity, a scientific and teaching mission (or two non-contradictory missions) is obtained.
Those who are engaged in the search for research and academic positions know that the research statement (teaching statement) is part of the same necessary documents as the CV. This is a more extensive document, formulating, among other things, the goals and principles of professional activity, but also everything revolves around the mission, as a kind of inner pole. Here is one of the possible approaches to the formation of the teaching statement.
Why is all this necessary? It happens so that we make a decision situationally, and then complain that we were engaged in something wrong. With a career in general and with publications in particular, there may be a similar picture.
Academic degrees and titles cannot be a global goal, because when they are achieved a legitimate question arises: “what is next?”. If there is a mission, the answer to this question is clear.
Goal setting is outside the scope of activities. For example, we learn English not to know it, but to read, communicate, travel, etc. on it. Similarly, publications for the sake of publications are not a sensible strategy.
If the publication does not help you realize your mission, then why is it needed? Therefore, before making a decision about investing in the next publication of your most important resource, time, it makes sense to think about whether this is in line with your internal values? Does this step allow to move further in the implementation of its scientific mission?
Let this be the first and most important point of our check-list.
The choice between "pure" science and practice: scientific results vs scientific and applied
Such a choice, of course, a matter of taste. Of course, theory for the sake of theory has its charm. I am familiar with scientists who feel great, developing models and methods that are far from practical application. In the end, as in the classical example with Boolean algebra, maybe your results will be in demand through the centuries. I personally always liked when theoretical results can be applied in practice, for example, to improve the technical characteristics of the system or to refine their ratings. It is in this way that, as a rule, technical progress proceeds: we develop a theory, then we try to fasten it to practice, and then we obtain a new theoretical generalization. The modern boom of formal methods in computer science produces a significant amount of significant and sought-after results. Again, the alternative path of research has every right to exist.
Selection of the applied area: results in one scientific area vs interdisciplinary
This choice is largely determined by the direction of your work and scientific mission. The mindless synthesis of directions does not always lead to the expected consequences. Nevertheless, breakthrough scientific results are often born at the intersection of scientific fields, and then they gain academic solidity. Computer science did not exist as such 50-60 years ago. The current trend is “green”, i.e. energy-saving technologies, which have already taken shape today, as an independent area of knowledge, and appeared as an interdisciplinary direction only a few years ago.
Another important approach is the symbiosis of the exact sciences and humanities. The global application of big data in the interests of various kinds of humanitarian studies is a vivid example. For me personally, the social science curtain opened slightly and gave a new quality when I became involved in the University-Industry Interaction Conference . The aim of the conference is to create an effective environment (ecosystem) for the introduction of academic developments in the industry based on the involvement of all parties in the communication process.
The choice of publication based on the time of publication
The solidity and international recognition of the journal depends, first of all, on the level of peer review of publications, and this takes time. Therefore, it is no secret that the time from sending an electronic manuscript to the editor to the release of the coveted number (a kind of Time to Market) takes months and even years.
In the "pioneer" studies, it is often the speed of publication that is important in order to "stake out" the results that claim to be new to the world, beforecompetitors and colleagues.
Usually such a choice is not a serious dilemma, since in the most serious journals it makes sense to publish the already completed results of a logically completed project, and this leads to the road from the intermediate results, which need to be published in more “fast” publishing houses, possibly Russian-speaking. If you can, of course, it is better to choose a publication that is indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) or Scopus.
The next paragraph considers another possible approach to “accelerated” publications.
Selection of publication type: Journal (Magazine) vs Conference Proceedings
I mean the choice between publishing an article in a journal and publishing an article in conference proceedings.
In my opinion, these are different approaches, therefore, an alternative choice here, as a rule, does not arise. Just another option for posting.
To realize it, it is necessary: either to have funds to pay the registration fee and a trip to the conference of at least one of the co-authors (i.e., the sum is 1-2 thousand conventional units, of course, a grant is needed for such activity), or a “special” mutual understanding with someone at the conference organizing committee (to “forgive” the registration fee). Having good communication with colleagues in foreign universities that have foundations for participating in conferences is another “hint”. Then you can prepare a joint article, and the issue of registration fee and participation will be decided on the opposite side.
The advantages are clear: a quick and easy-to-understand review with the projected publication period.
Here we must remember that not all conference proceedings are indexed in WoS & Scopus. Several times I encountered such a situation when the proceedings of the conference, which once entered the WoS & Scopus ratings, are no longer indexed, i.e. The organizers "do not twist."
Select a magazine based on rating
Here it is, the main and most ambiguous component of the choice. About h-index was already mentioned in the first part of the article and discussed in the comments. There are two polar opinions: “the citation index objectively determines the contribution to science, and the value of each scientist is determined that way” and “the citation index is the hellish invention of scientometers for making money and blurring reality”. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
Likewise, the issue of magazine rankings has been blunt many years ago . However, in this issue, the majority still shares an opinion similar to Churchill's opinion on democracy: ratings are not an ideal tool, but all other tools are even worse.
Since WoS is already the leader of scientometric databases, let us focus on the methodology for calculating the ratings of Thomson Reuters, the creator and owner of WoS.
The main indicator considered is the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) , also called the level of popularity. This is a dynamic indicator, since in each current year it is calculated as the average number of citations of published articles (in articles of rating journals) over the past two years. The approach is used when JIF is calculated for the entire history of the publication, but in this case the actual dynamics of recent years will not be visible. In 2016, the winner of the previous two years (2014 and 2015) is the Cancer Journal published in the USA with a JIF = 131.723, which, in general, is a sad fact. In the field of Computer Science in 2016, IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials , JIF = 9.22, is the leader, while ACM Transactions on Computer Systems is the absolute champion in history, with a JIF of 45.11 since its launch in 1969.
To select a particular journal, let's go through maximalism, set the bar as high as possible, we will focus on the rating of scientific journals from Thomson Reuter (JIF) for WoS, since this base is the most selective.
In open access there is only a list of journals in pdf format, i.e. The functionality of such a list is minimal. You can, for example, check if any magazine is included in the rating. I note immediately that the largest number of authoritative journals in the field of Computer Science (and not only) is published by IEEE (Institute of Electrical Engineering and Electronics Engineers) and ACM (Association for Computing Enginery), and both of these publishers are represented in the Thomson Reuter rating.
There are representatives from other publishers in the rating, however, according to IEEE , they are present at the top of the rating at a minimum, and IEEE is “ahead of the rest,” if not always in quality, then in quantity so accurately.
In order to substantiate my personal choice of a limited list of journals, I must say what I do in the scientific field. This is my RG profile . I would formulate my scientific specialization in Computer Science as assessing and ensuring reliability (in a broad sense, that is dependability) and safety (first of all, in the sense of safety, but, of course, taking security into account). About the confusing correlation of all these properties and terminological casuistry, which cannot be translated into Russian, can be found here (the full text of the article can be found, for example, at Research Gate).
As part of the assessment, I have to deal with a wide range of models of reliability and security. In terms of ensuring a wider range of interests, this includes process engineering, testing methods (for example, based on model-checking and other formal and semi-formal approaches), as well as methods for developing reliable and secure software and hardware components, for example, using self-diagnostics.
Thus, in the field of publication of results, one can move in the following directions: 1) models and methods for evaluating systems and software and hardware components; 2) technology development and testing of systems and software and hardware components; 3) a review of models, methods and technologies for evaluating, testing and developing systems and software and hardware components; 4) the aforementioned directions for the industrial branches, for example, for avionics or for nuclear technologies.
Now, according to the chosen directions, we will define a list of candidate magazines. Let's start with IEEE. For a better understanding of the direction of journals, it is useful to look through the list of published articles with abstracts. I did not find a convenient list on the IEEE website, so I made my own indicative list (the list can be revised if necessary) suitable for publication of journals taking into account the rating (we use the same rating of scientific journals from Thomson Reuter for 2016). It includes the 16 IEEE journals listed below. I immediately divided them into 4 baskets, taking into account my four directions of publications. The intersection of topics between the "baskets", of course, possible.
1. Models and assessment methods
IEEE Transactions on Reliability - 2.287
IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing - 1.592
IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability - 1.437
2. Development and testing technologies
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics - 4.708
IEEE Control Systems Magazine - 3.661
IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine - 3.0
IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology - 2.818
IEEE Transactions on Computers - 1.723
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering - 1.516
IEEE Software - 0.82
IEEE Design & Test - 0.681
3. Reviews
IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials - 9.22
4. Subject areas
IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems - 1.672
IEEE Transactions on Education - 1.33
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science - 1.198
IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine - 0.611
Indicators below the unit are not impressive. This means that not even every average article is cited at least once.
Interestingly, the most rated is a magazine on the topic of “reviews” (IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials). Formally, a journal about communications, but de facto it is the only high-ranking Surveys and Tutorials, so they print on a wide variety of topics.
Now let's take a look at the rating from ACM (Association for Computing Enginery). The ACM e-library presents Impact Factor values for the entire history of journals. This, of course, is numerically different from JIF over the past two years, but the overall picture is visible. A selection of top magazines from ACM in areas relevant to my subject publications, as follows.
1. Models and assessment methods
---
2. Development and testing technologies
ACM Transactions on Computer Systems (TOCS) - 45.11
AACM Transactions on Information and System Security (TISSEC) - 24.83
ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM) - 22.35
ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems (TECS) - 4.55
ACM Journal of Emergency Technologies in Computing Systems (JETC) - 2.25
3. Reviews
ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) - 29.62
4. Subject areas
ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE) - 5.54
Another additional criterion is the selection of such a magazine, where they publish articles that are most interesting to you and / or articles of those authors whose professional work you observe. This may lead to the choice of a magazine with a lower rating, but eventually increase the rating of the article, if your readers become more professionally close to you people.
Another well-known publisher indexed in WoS & Scopus is Springler , which publishes magazines, conference proceedings and collections of papers for Computer Science. Not all journals are indexed in WoS. About the publication in the proceedings of the conferences mentioned above.
In my opinion, an interesting option offered by Springler is thematic collections combined in a series, for example, the Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. When monitoring planned publications and timely contacts with editors, high-ranking publications are also possible here. Review and release dates of collections have clear deadlines.
So, the leaders in publications are determined, and then the choice is yours, and in this case, my own. The strategy is formulated and it is necessary to implement it, i.e. prepare a publication in IEEE and / or ACM, otherwise why all this was started?
Cost of publications
This is an obvious enough criterion to discuss it in detail, so we simply include it in our checklist as a given.
The above ACM and Springler publishers, as a rule, publish articles for free. IEEE states ambiguously that the publication is free, but it is recommended that the author’s organization transfer funds to cover the publication of the article. For most IEEE magazines, this amounts to $ 110 per magazine page.
I wonder if any of the readers have any experience in negotiating how to avoid such payment? After publication on the publisher's site, access to your publication will usually be paid. There is an Open Access (OA) option, but several hundred conventional units have to be paid for it.
Habr vs publication in a scientific publication
One of the motives for publication for many scientists is the opportunity to share their results (that is, the expected success) with the public. A high-rating article on Habré collects hundreds of thousands of reads per day, and a low-rating article reads “only” thousands. Average scientific articles collect, at best, dozens of readings, hundreds and thousands of them are rare, even for the great discoveries of leading figures.
It can be said that the basis for comparison is ambiguous.In addition, in science there are pragmatic goals, that is, if a scientist does not publish his results, then he, as it were, ceases to be such. However, viewing a publication is a viewing. If the impact on the public is still measured by the number of readings and comments, then at least you can think about adjusting the focus in the direction of technical journalism, because the response of “habrovchan” is hundreds and thousands of times higher than the response of the academic audience.
Conclusions: Checklist for choosing a magazine
Publications in high-rating journals can raise the bar for authors and increase their "market capitalization". To prepare for the writing of the publication, a fairly obvious checklist is proposed, which, nevertheless, can serve as a starting point for clarifying this difficult procedure:
— , ?
— ?
— ?
— ?
— , WoS / Scopus?
— , , ?
— (, )?
— ?
- Does it make sense to prepare a version of the presentation of results for Habrahabr?
A personal scientific and professional mission helps answer checklist questions.
Of course, this is just one of the possible views on the problem, which can be supplemented during the discussions.
PS to the cycle of three articles
In addition to this, the final part, on the topic you can still see:
Systematization of publications on the web. Part 1 of 3: Setting the Task
Organizing publications on the web. Part 2 of 3: Three Steps to Scientific Respectability
A detailed commentary on the articles “Systematization of publications on the web” by Ilya Kashnitsky
In conclusion, I would like to additionally highlight a few issues that were not covered in the articles, but which I was able to discuss, thanks to the valuable additions of Ilya (@ikashnitsky), for which I thank him separately.
Scientific portfolio in one scientific network vs several scientific networks
There is no unequivocal answer to this question, since there is no scientific network that would definitely surpass the competitors and be the standard for maintaining a list of publications and other components of the scientific portfolio. Being represented on several networks is definitely better than on one, but creating and filling a profile requires resources. There is a principle “not to store all eggs in one basket”, but it is partially overlaid by the list of publications by scientometric databases and in Google Scholar. In any case, new services appear and develop, and existing ones can “collapse”, therefore profile migration may become a necessary action.
- Create your own website
Unlike social network profiles, its own website is the intellectual property of the creator. The scientific mission here can give an answer to the question "why?". Is it only to show that the author owns some web technologies? Or is the message of the personal web site not equal to the sum of the message profiles in social networks? It seems to me important to take into account the fact that any social network provides an immeasurably greater number of profile visits than a personal web page.
- Formation of the list of publications in linkedin
, , , . , linkedin - .
— ORCID
ORCID , , , , .. , «». If today ORCID is a de facto standard, then tomorrow it may already become a de jure standard, since the world's leading publishers bind to ORCID ID when publishing. Such obvious to many things are written for the reason that not all Russian-speaking scientists or universities use this service, as well as many others.
Most spiritual practices of the world (for example, the Vedic tradition) believe that a person needs in his life, both in professional and personal activities, to set lofty goals, even those for which one may not have enough of earthly life. Probably the greatest unbelievable discoveries that were ahead of their time were made by such scientists, with a high understanding of their mission and big goals. Our “small” goals, our publications are our steps towards our big goals, therefore it is so important to appreciate, protect and strengthen the foundation of these steps.
William Gibson
Image source
This cycle of articles includes 3 parts.
')
The first part was a review of articles on the topic of scientific work published on habrahabr.ru, considered the concept of citation index (h-index, Hirsch index) and concluded that it is necessary to have skills in working with scientometric databases for all who took the path of scientific career .
In the second part, we consider three tools for managing publications on the web: 1) Scopus; 2) Google Scholar (Google Academy); 3) Research Gate.
The third part discusses the choice of the strategy of scientific publications in order to promote a personal scientific brand. Examples in the article are considered for the scientific field that is familiar to the author - Computer Science.
Since there can be no single solution for building a publication strategy, a check list is proposed, the items of which are offered to be addressed. But we will begin with a scientific mission.
Deciding to publish on the basis of a scientific mission
Mission is a “spiritual” basis of human activity, a certain system of attitudes and beliefs, which helps to make decisions in difficult situations. In crisis situations, the mission helps to understand what is most important for a person. Strategic planning with different horizons must also be mission-based.
There are many resources and trainings aimed at the formation of the mission, so I only recall the basic points. Approaches to the formation of the mission are, for example:
- awareness of their purpose;
- projective and formative techniques;
- achieving balance in the "wheel of life";
- Dilts pyramid levels, etc.
If the purpose of a person is once given to him, then the mission can be periodically reviewed and clarified. Thus, the formation of the mission becomes an instrument of personal growth, gives faith in what you do. Consequently, there is no loss of focus and interest, “burnout,” frustration, and other unpleasant things.
Professional mission is a decision-making criterion in the professional field. If a person is engaged in science, then he formulates a scientific mission, if teaching, then a teaching one, when combining these fields of activity, a scientific and teaching mission (or two non-contradictory missions) is obtained.
Those who are engaged in the search for research and academic positions know that the research statement (teaching statement) is part of the same necessary documents as the CV. This is a more extensive document, formulating, among other things, the goals and principles of professional activity, but also everything revolves around the mission, as a kind of inner pole. Here is one of the possible approaches to the formation of the teaching statement.
Why is all this necessary? It happens so that we make a decision situationally, and then complain that we were engaged in something wrong. With a career in general and with publications in particular, there may be a similar picture.
Academic degrees and titles cannot be a global goal, because when they are achieved a legitimate question arises: “what is next?”. If there is a mission, the answer to this question is clear.
Goal setting is outside the scope of activities. For example, we learn English not to know it, but to read, communicate, travel, etc. on it. Similarly, publications for the sake of publications are not a sensible strategy.
If the publication does not help you realize your mission, then why is it needed? Therefore, before making a decision about investing in the next publication of your most important resource, time, it makes sense to think about whether this is in line with your internal values? Does this step allow to move further in the implementation of its scientific mission?
Let this be the first and most important point of our check-list.
The choice between "pure" science and practice: scientific results vs scientific and applied
Such a choice, of course, a matter of taste. Of course, theory for the sake of theory has its charm. I am familiar with scientists who feel great, developing models and methods that are far from practical application. In the end, as in the classical example with Boolean algebra, maybe your results will be in demand through the centuries. I personally always liked when theoretical results can be applied in practice, for example, to improve the technical characteristics of the system or to refine their ratings. It is in this way that, as a rule, technical progress proceeds: we develop a theory, then we try to fasten it to practice, and then we obtain a new theoretical generalization. The modern boom of formal methods in computer science produces a significant amount of significant and sought-after results. Again, the alternative path of research has every right to exist.
Selection of the applied area: results in one scientific area vs interdisciplinary
This choice is largely determined by the direction of your work and scientific mission. The mindless synthesis of directions does not always lead to the expected consequences. Nevertheless, breakthrough scientific results are often born at the intersection of scientific fields, and then they gain academic solidity. Computer science did not exist as such 50-60 years ago. The current trend is “green”, i.e. energy-saving technologies, which have already taken shape today, as an independent area of knowledge, and appeared as an interdisciplinary direction only a few years ago.
Another important approach is the symbiosis of the exact sciences and humanities. The global application of big data in the interests of various kinds of humanitarian studies is a vivid example. For me personally, the social science curtain opened slightly and gave a new quality when I became involved in the University-Industry Interaction Conference . The aim of the conference is to create an effective environment (ecosystem) for the introduction of academic developments in the industry based on the involvement of all parties in the communication process.
The choice of publication based on the time of publication
The solidity and international recognition of the journal depends, first of all, on the level of peer review of publications, and this takes time. Therefore, it is no secret that the time from sending an electronic manuscript to the editor to the release of the coveted number (a kind of Time to Market) takes months and even years.
In the "pioneer" studies, it is often the speed of publication that is important in order to "stake out" the results that claim to be new to the world, before
Usually such a choice is not a serious dilemma, since in the most serious journals it makes sense to publish the already completed results of a logically completed project, and this leads to the road from the intermediate results, which need to be published in more “fast” publishing houses, possibly Russian-speaking. If you can, of course, it is better to choose a publication that is indexed in the Web of Science (WoS) or Scopus.
The next paragraph considers another possible approach to “accelerated” publications.
Selection of publication type: Journal (Magazine) vs Conference Proceedings
I mean the choice between publishing an article in a journal and publishing an article in conference proceedings.
In my opinion, these are different approaches, therefore, an alternative choice here, as a rule, does not arise. Just another option for posting.
To realize it, it is necessary: either to have funds to pay the registration fee and a trip to the conference of at least one of the co-authors (i.e., the sum is 1-2 thousand conventional units, of course, a grant is needed for such activity), or a “special” mutual understanding with someone at the conference organizing committee (to “forgive” the registration fee). Having good communication with colleagues in foreign universities that have foundations for participating in conferences is another “hint”. Then you can prepare a joint article, and the issue of registration fee and participation will be decided on the opposite side.
The advantages are clear: a quick and easy-to-understand review with the projected publication period.
Here we must remember that not all conference proceedings are indexed in WoS & Scopus. Several times I encountered such a situation when the proceedings of the conference, which once entered the WoS & Scopus ratings, are no longer indexed, i.e. The organizers "do not twist."
Select a magazine based on rating
Here it is, the main and most ambiguous component of the choice. About h-index was already mentioned in the first part of the article and discussed in the comments. There are two polar opinions: “the citation index objectively determines the contribution to science, and the value of each scientist is determined that way” and “the citation index is the hellish invention of scientometers for making money and blurring reality”. The truth is somewhere in the middle.
Likewise, the issue of magazine rankings has been blunt many years ago . However, in this issue, the majority still shares an opinion similar to Churchill's opinion on democracy: ratings are not an ideal tool, but all other tools are even worse.
Since WoS is already the leader of scientometric databases, let us focus on the methodology for calculating the ratings of Thomson Reuters, the creator and owner of WoS.
The main indicator considered is the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) , also called the level of popularity. This is a dynamic indicator, since in each current year it is calculated as the average number of citations of published articles (in articles of rating journals) over the past two years. The approach is used when JIF is calculated for the entire history of the publication, but in this case the actual dynamics of recent years will not be visible. In 2016, the winner of the previous two years (2014 and 2015) is the Cancer Journal published in the USA with a JIF = 131.723, which, in general, is a sad fact. In the field of Computer Science in 2016, IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials , JIF = 9.22, is the leader, while ACM Transactions on Computer Systems is the absolute champion in history, with a JIF of 45.11 since its launch in 1969.
To select a particular journal, let's go through maximalism, set the bar as high as possible, we will focus on the rating of scientific journals from Thomson Reuter (JIF) for WoS, since this base is the most selective.
In open access there is only a list of journals in pdf format, i.e. The functionality of such a list is minimal. You can, for example, check if any magazine is included in the rating. I note immediately that the largest number of authoritative journals in the field of Computer Science (and not only) is published by IEEE (Institute of Electrical Engineering and Electronics Engineers) and ACM (Association for Computing Enginery), and both of these publishers are represented in the Thomson Reuter rating.
There are representatives from other publishers in the rating, however, according to IEEE , they are present at the top of the rating at a minimum, and IEEE is “ahead of the rest,” if not always in quality, then in quantity so accurately.
In order to substantiate my personal choice of a limited list of journals, I must say what I do in the scientific field. This is my RG profile . I would formulate my scientific specialization in Computer Science as assessing and ensuring reliability (in a broad sense, that is dependability) and safety (first of all, in the sense of safety, but, of course, taking security into account). About the confusing correlation of all these properties and terminological casuistry, which cannot be translated into Russian, can be found here (the full text of the article can be found, for example, at Research Gate).
As part of the assessment, I have to deal with a wide range of models of reliability and security. In terms of ensuring a wider range of interests, this includes process engineering, testing methods (for example, based on model-checking and other formal and semi-formal approaches), as well as methods for developing reliable and secure software and hardware components, for example, using self-diagnostics.
Thus, in the field of publication of results, one can move in the following directions: 1) models and methods for evaluating systems and software and hardware components; 2) technology development and testing of systems and software and hardware components; 3) a review of models, methods and technologies for evaluating, testing and developing systems and software and hardware components; 4) the aforementioned directions for the industrial branches, for example, for avionics or for nuclear technologies.
Now, according to the chosen directions, we will define a list of candidate magazines. Let's start with IEEE. For a better understanding of the direction of journals, it is useful to look through the list of published articles with abstracts. I did not find a convenient list on the IEEE website, so I made my own indicative list (the list can be revised if necessary) suitable for publication of journals taking into account the rating (we use the same rating of scientific journals from Thomson Reuter for 2016). It includes the 16 IEEE journals listed below. I immediately divided them into 4 baskets, taking into account my four directions of publications. The intersection of topics between the "baskets", of course, possible.
1. Models and assessment methods
IEEE Transactions on Reliability - 2.287
IEEE Transactions on Dependable and Secure Computing - 1.592
IEEE Transactions on Device and Materials Reliability - 1.437
2. Development and testing technologies
IEEE Transactions on Industrial Informatics - 4.708
IEEE Control Systems Magazine - 3.661
IEEE Circuits and Systems Magazine - 3.0
IEEE Transactions on Control Systems Technology - 2.818
IEEE Transactions on Computers - 1.723
IEEE Transactions on Software Engineering - 1.516
IEEE Software - 0.82
IEEE Design & Test - 0.681
3. Reviews
IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials - 9.22
4. Subject areas
IEEE Transactions on Aerospace and Electronic Systems - 1.672
IEEE Transactions on Education - 1.33
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science - 1.198
IEEE Aerospace and Electronic Systems Magazine - 0.611
Indicators below the unit are not impressive. This means that not even every average article is cited at least once.
Interestingly, the most rated is a magazine on the topic of “reviews” (IEEE Communications Surveys and Tutorials). Formally, a journal about communications, but de facto it is the only high-ranking Surveys and Tutorials, so they print on a wide variety of topics.
Now let's take a look at the rating from ACM (Association for Computing Enginery). The ACM e-library presents Impact Factor values for the entire history of journals. This, of course, is numerically different from JIF over the past two years, but the overall picture is visible. A selection of top magazines from ACM in areas relevant to my subject publications, as follows.
1. Models and assessment methods
---
2. Development and testing technologies
ACM Transactions on Computer Systems (TOCS) - 45.11
AACM Transactions on Information and System Security (TISSEC) - 24.83
ACM Transactions on Software Engineering and Methodology (TOSEM) - 22.35
ACM Transactions on Embedded Computing Systems (TECS) - 4.55
ACM Journal of Emergency Technologies in Computing Systems (JETC) - 2.25
3. Reviews
ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) - 29.62
4. Subject areas
ACM Transactions on Computing Education (TOCE) - 5.54
Another additional criterion is the selection of such a magazine, where they publish articles that are most interesting to you and / or articles of those authors whose professional work you observe. This may lead to the choice of a magazine with a lower rating, but eventually increase the rating of the article, if your readers become more professionally close to you people.
Another well-known publisher indexed in WoS & Scopus is Springler , which publishes magazines, conference proceedings and collections of papers for Computer Science. Not all journals are indexed in WoS. About the publication in the proceedings of the conferences mentioned above.
In my opinion, an interesting option offered by Springler is thematic collections combined in a series, for example, the Lecture Notes in Computer Science (LNCS) series. When monitoring planned publications and timely contacts with editors, high-ranking publications are also possible here. Review and release dates of collections have clear deadlines.
So, the leaders in publications are determined, and then the choice is yours, and in this case, my own. The strategy is formulated and it is necessary to implement it, i.e. prepare a publication in IEEE and / or ACM, otherwise why all this was started?
Cost of publications
This is an obvious enough criterion to discuss it in detail, so we simply include it in our checklist as a given.
The above ACM and Springler publishers, as a rule, publish articles for free. IEEE states ambiguously that the publication is free, but it is recommended that the author’s organization transfer funds to cover the publication of the article. For most IEEE magazines, this amounts to $ 110 per magazine page.
I wonder if any of the readers have any experience in negotiating how to avoid such payment? After publication on the publisher's site, access to your publication will usually be paid. There is an Open Access (OA) option, but several hundred conventional units have to be paid for it.
Habr vs publication in a scientific publication
One of the motives for publication for many scientists is the opportunity to share their results (that is, the expected success) with the public. A high-rating article on Habré collects hundreds of thousands of reads per day, and a low-rating article reads “only” thousands. Average scientific articles collect, at best, dozens of readings, hundreds and thousands of them are rare, even for the great discoveries of leading figures.
It can be said that the basis for comparison is ambiguous.In addition, in science there are pragmatic goals, that is, if a scientist does not publish his results, then he, as it were, ceases to be such. However, viewing a publication is a viewing. If the impact on the public is still measured by the number of readings and comments, then at least you can think about adjusting the focus in the direction of technical journalism, because the response of “habrovchan” is hundreds and thousands of times higher than the response of the academic audience.
Conclusions: Checklist for choosing a magazine
Publications in high-rating journals can raise the bar for authors and increase their "market capitalization". To prepare for the writing of the publication, a fairly obvious checklist is proposed, which, nevertheless, can serve as a starting point for clarifying this difficult procedure:
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— , WoS / Scopus?
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- Does it make sense to prepare a version of the presentation of results for Habrahabr?
A personal scientific and professional mission helps answer checklist questions.
Of course, this is just one of the possible views on the problem, which can be supplemented during the discussions.
PS to the cycle of three articles
In addition to this, the final part, on the topic you can still see:
Systematization of publications on the web. Part 1 of 3: Setting the Task
Organizing publications on the web. Part 2 of 3: Three Steps to Scientific Respectability
A detailed commentary on the articles “Systematization of publications on the web” by Ilya Kashnitsky
In conclusion, I would like to additionally highlight a few issues that were not covered in the articles, but which I was able to discuss, thanks to the valuable additions of Ilya (@ikashnitsky), for which I thank him separately.
Scientific portfolio in one scientific network vs several scientific networks
There is no unequivocal answer to this question, since there is no scientific network that would definitely surpass the competitors and be the standard for maintaining a list of publications and other components of the scientific portfolio. Being represented on several networks is definitely better than on one, but creating and filling a profile requires resources. There is a principle “not to store all eggs in one basket”, but it is partially overlaid by the list of publications by scientometric databases and in Google Scholar. In any case, new services appear and develop, and existing ones can “collapse”, therefore profile migration may become a necessary action.
- Create your own website
Unlike social network profiles, its own website is the intellectual property of the creator. The scientific mission here can give an answer to the question "why?". Is it only to show that the author owns some web technologies? Or is the message of the personal web site not equal to the sum of the message profiles in social networks? It seems to me important to take into account the fact that any social network provides an immeasurably greater number of profile visits than a personal web page.
- Formation of the list of publications in linkedin
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— ORCID
ORCID , , , , .. , «». If today ORCID is a de facto standard, then tomorrow it may already become a de jure standard, since the world's leading publishers bind to ORCID ID when publishing. Such obvious to many things are written for the reason that not all Russian-speaking scientists or universities use this service, as well as many others.
Most spiritual practices of the world (for example, the Vedic tradition) believe that a person needs in his life, both in professional and personal activities, to set lofty goals, even those for which one may not have enough of earthly life. Probably the greatest unbelievable discoveries that were ahead of their time were made by such scientists, with a high understanding of their mission and big goals. Our “small” goals, our publications are our steps towards our big goals, therefore it is so important to appreciate, protect and strengthen the foundation of these steps.
Source: https://habr.com/ru/post/307328/
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