Tag Archives: citations

Journal rankings of environmental studies and science

The impact of journals over the short and the long term is often quite different.  ScienceWatch.com presents journal impact factors based on the longer term impact of journals in environmental science and environmental studies.

Below are rankings in environmental science for between 1998 and 2007, which only include journals cited over 10,000 times between 1998-2007.

Rank Journal Papers Citations Citations/
Paper
1 Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution & Systematics 131 15,293 116.74
2 Nature 395 41,042 103.9
3 Science 397 34,568 87.07
4 Trends in Ecology and Evolution 727 39,356 54.13
5 Ecological Monographs 309 11,310 36.6
6 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA 491 17,088 34.8
7 Systematic Biology 416 12,194 29.31
8 Ecology 3,161 80,313 25.41
9 Ecology Letters 1,133 26,327 23.24
10 The American Naturalist 1,618 36,694 22.68
11 Conservation Biology 1,729 36,209 20.94
12 Environmental Health Perspectives 3,374 70,023 20.75
13 Molecular Ecology 3,345 69,275 20.71
14 Ecological Applications 1,711 34,899 20.4
15 Journal of Ecology 1,081 20,969 19.4
16 Global Change Biology 1,508 27,995 18.56
17 Journal of Applied Ecology 1,162 21,032 18.1
18 Oecologia 3,219 56,010 17.4
19 Ecosystems 705 12,199 17.3
20 Environmental Science & Technology 10,006 171,816 17.17

note: The data for the multidisciplinary journals listed – Science, Nature, and the Proceedings of the National Academy of the USA – take into account only those articles that have been classified by Thomson Reuters as ecology and environmental sciences papers.

And, using a slightly different system, journal rankings in Environmental Studies.  Note the contrast in short and longer term rankings.  It is unclear whether these are due to changes in the journal over time, or speed of citation.

Rank 2007 Impact Factor Impact 2003-07 Impact 1981-2007
1 Ann. Rev. Envir. Res.
(4.04)
Ann. Rev. Envir. Res.
(7.60)
J. Envir. Econ./Mgmt.
(14.66)
2 Global Envir. Change
(3.92)
Global Envir. Change
(4.74)
Environ. & Planning-D
(13.13)
3 Energy Policy
(1.90)
J. Envir. Econ./Mgmt.
(3.80)
Environment & Behavior
(11.25)
4 Environ. & Planning-D
(1.81)
J. Envir. Psychology
(3.49)
Land Economics
(10.37)
5 Regional Studies
(1.80)
Int. Region. Sci. Rev.
(3.41)
J. Leisure Research
(10.20)
6 Harvard Env. Law Rev.
(1.78)
Landscape Urban Plan.
(3.13)
J. Envir. Psychology
(9.72)
7 Environ. & Planning-A
(1.73)
Environ. & Planning-A
(3.01)
Global Envir. Change
(8.54)
8 Int. Region. Sci. Rev.
(1.72)
Res. & Energy Economics
(2.80)
Regional Studies
(8.06)
9 Landscape Urban Plan.
(1.63)
Land Economics
(2.80)
J. Regional Science
(7.94)
10 Energy Journal
(1.58)
Environ. & Planning-D
(2.72)
Environ. & Planning-A
(7.88)

Growth of ecosystem services concept

Research addressing ecosystem services is rapidly increasing.

Growth in number of papers on ecosystem services since 1990

Growth in number of papers on ecosystem services since 1990

The graph shows increases in the number of papers following publications of Daily’s Nature’s services in 1997 and the MA in 2005.

Note: the graph is based on searching ISI web of science using the terms ecological or ecosystem service(s). It includes many papers that mention ecosystem services, but don’t substantially address them.

The top five journals in which these papers are published (and the number of papers) are:

  1. ECOLOGICAL ECONOMICS (161)
  2. PROCEEDINGS OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMY OF SCIENCES OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA (50)
  3. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS (43)
  4. FRONTIERS IN ECOLOGY AND THE ENVIRONMENT (43)
  5. ECOLOGY AND SOCIETY (42)

With more than 1 500 citations, the most cited paper on ecosystem services is the controversial 1997 Nature paper by Bob Costanza et al The value of the world’s ecosystem services and natural capital.

The most cited paper published between 2000-2004, with over 400 citations, was David Tilman et al’s 2001 Science paper Forecasting agriculturally driven global environmental change.

While the most cited paper published between 2005-2009, with more than 300 citations, was the controversial paper (but not for its ecosystem service part) was the Boris Worm et al Science paper Impacts of biodiversity loss on ocean ecosystem services.

Overall the people who have published the most papers related to ecosystem services are:

  1. Robert Costanza (30)
  2. Carl Folke (30)
  3. Claire Kremen (22)
  4. Gretchen Daily (20)
  5. Teja Tscharntke (20)