GIScience Journals Ranking and Evaluation

Transactions in GIS

, 2008, 12(3): 293–321

? 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ? 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Research Article

GIScience Journals Ranking and

Evaluation: An International Delphi Study

Claude Caron

GeoBusiness Group

Université de Sherbrooke

Daniel Goyer

CGI – Groupe Affaires électroniques Montréal (Québec), Canada

Stéphane Roche

Center for Research in Geomatics Université Laval

Annick Jaton

Department of Geomatics Sciences Université Laval

Abstract

Researchers’ fam e in m ost scientific fields is closely linked to their publishing capacity, both in terms of quantity and quality. In GIScience, as in other fields, this situation dem ands that the researcher evaluate and to be very fam iliar with the scientific journals in which they could publish. Some specialized journals (e.g. Journal of Citation Reports or JCR) are devoted to ranking these reviews according to various m ethods and criteria. Com pared to other scientific com m unities, GIScience is relatively new and constantly evolving. Therefore, the journals of this field do not benefit from any real formal ranking yet. The objective of this paper is to present the process and results of a study aimed at addressing this gap. More specifically,the challenge is to elaborate an importance ranking of the scientific journals in the field of GIScience. To do so, both a qualitative (Delphi study carried out with 40international experts) and a quantitative (JCR im pact factor) approach has been im plem ented. This triangulation m ethod leads to an early global ranking of the journals of this field.

1Introduction

Researchers’ reputation in m ost scientific fields is closely linked to their publishing capacity (Hamilton and Ives 1980, Latour 1987, Hardgrave and Walstrom 1997). Their

Address for correspondence:

Claude Caron, GeoBusiness Group, Faculté d’administration, Universitéde Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke (Québec), Canada, J1K 2R1. E-mail: Claude.Caron@USherbrooke.ca

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C Caron, S Roche,

D Goyer and A Jaton

? 2008 The Authors. Journal compilation ? 2008 Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Transactions in GIS , 2008, 12(3)

Table 5Final ranking of GIScience journals

Journal

Rank International Journal of Geographic Information Science 1International Journal of Remote Sensing

1Photogrammetric Engineering & Remote Sensing (PE&RS)1Computers and Geosciences 1Transactions in GIS 1GeoInformatica 1Geomatica

1Cartography and Geographic Information Sciences 2Environment and Planning B

2IEEE Transactions Geoscience and Remote Sensing 2Remote Sensing of Environment

2Computers, Environments and Urban Systems

2Annals of the Association of American Geographers 2URISA Journal

2Environment and Planning A 2Landscape Ecology 2Cartographica

2Journal of Geographic Information and Decision Analysis 2Marine Geodesy

2Revue Internationale de Géomatique 2Geographical System 2Professional Geographer

2Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers 3Earth Surface Processus and Landforms 3Progress in Human Geography 3Spatial Cognition and Computation 3Mapping Sciences and Remote Sensing 3Canadian Journal of Remote Sensing 3Cartographic Journal 3Canadian Geographer 3Geoscience Canada 3Cybergeo

3International Journal of Urban and Regional Research 3Applied Geography

3Surveying and Land Information Science 3Earth Observation and Remote Sensing

3Cartographic Perspectives (Journal North American Cartographic Information Society)

3Acta Cartographica

3Remote Sensing Reviews 3Espace Géographique

3Geofocus International Review of GI Science and Technology 3Mappemonde

3Geographical Analysis 3Geocarto International 3Geomatique Suisse 4Géospatial Solutions

4