Interview


“I am often the only brown person, or senior woman, in the room. I don’t think this is unusual, but neither should we accept it”


and expand our collection – journals are subject to regular re-evaluations to check whether they still meet our selection criteria, and whether they are indexed in the appropriate collection.


The release of Journal Citation Reports and Journal Impact Factors is one of the biggest events each year. Why is it so important?


The citation data, impact and influence metrics, and indicators contained in the Journal Citation Reports are a vital resource for the entire research


community: publishers, librarians, funders, institutions and individual academics. Librarians use it to understand which journals are the most important to their institutions and researchers’ success and work, and which journals to subscribe to. Publishers use the JCR to understand how their journals are performing, and to benchmark them against others in their discipline. The JCR is used by researchers as a definitive list and guide to discover and select the most appropriate journals in the sciences and social sciences. Last year, we incorporated new analyses that offer richer, more detailed information to enhance users’ understanding of journal performance, which has proved popular. But I have first-hand experience, from when I was a researcher, of the Journal Impact Factor being used inappropriately, and being judged on the journals I published in, rather than the discoveries I made. It can be incredibly frustrating to be referred to as the person that published in Journal X rather than the person that discovered Y.


You mentioned the opportunity for substantial change. Can you tell us anything more about that? I joined Web of Science Group in February 2018 and our priority last year was to introduce more


transparency to our selection process and provide more clarity around the difference between three long-standing journal indices SCIE (sciences), SSCI (social sciences) AHCI (arts & humanities) and ESCI, which we launched in 2015 and covers all subject areas. This was in response to feedback that our journal selection process was a ‘black box’ and confusion regarding ESCI. We have a single


evaluation process that consists of 28 criteria; 24 quality criteria, and four impact criteria. The quality criteria are designed to select for evidence of editorial rigour


and publishing best practice. Journals that pass these criteria enter ESCI. The impact criteria are designed to select for the most influential journals in their field, using citation performance as a primary indicator of influence. Journals that pass the additional impact criteria enter SCIE, SSCI or AHCI. In order to innovate and expand, we


have to build our team and invest in our technical infrastructure. This year, we’re appointing our first China-based editors to enhance our coverage of content from this rapidly-growing research community and have created two new roles; head of editorial integrity and head of editorial outreach. We are building a new evaluation platform to help editors work more efficiently, and a new portal where publishers can submit and track journal evaluations. All of this – and much more I can’t talk about yet – will lead to huge improvements for our customers.


What is your experience as a BAME woman in the sometimes-conservative industries of academia and research publishing? I’m from a Bangladeshi background and at industry events I am often the only brown person in the room, or the only senior woman. I don’t think this is unusual, but neither should we accept it. One of the reasons I was drawn to the Web of Science Group is their record of promoting and recruiting women into senior roles. Both my boss, and my boss’ boss, are women. In all my roles I have worked to build


environments where diversity, equality, and gender parity are championed and valued. At the Web of Science Group, I have been honoured to facilitate insightful discussions for International Women’s Day, taking part in events to encourage women in STEM. I am part of the Women@ Clarivate group, an initiative to help women across our parent company grow in their careers. Much like innovation in technology, or ensuring editorial quality, diversity is a topic on which we cannot afford to stand still.


Interview by Tim Gillett


August/September 2019 Research Information 15


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