ERGON
BULLETIN FOR THE UM ACADEMIC COMMUNITY
Editor-in-chief: Dr Toshiko Yamaguchi
USPI / Jabatan Bahasa Inggeris, FBL
Email: tyamag@um.edu.my
Head of the Unit: Associate Professor Rajeswary A. Sargunan
USPI / Jabatan Bahasa Inggeris, FBL
Email: rajesapp@um.edu.my
Unit Sokongan Penerbitan Ilmiah
Vol. 1 No. 1
October 2009
-Message
Dr.Rajeswary A.from
Sargunanthe Unit
the work of the university’s academic
community in our next Bulletin.
We are pleased to publish the first Bulletin
for the university’s academic community.
This leaflet for UM academics pertains to
our activities under USPI (Unit Sokongan
Penerbitan Ilmiah), or the SchoPuS
(Scholarly Publication Support) Unit. This
Unit was set up in February 2009 by the
Vice Chancellor, Professor Ghauth Jasmon,
under the name of UPISI (Unit Penerbitan
ISI) and was altered to the current name in
August 2009. The mission of this Unit is
twofold. First, it aims to encourage and
help UM academics and graduate students
to publish their research output in
international journals such as those listed in
the ISI Web of Knowledge, or in other
internationally recognized academic
publications. Second, it aims to reinforce
the academic culture in the university.
Since this February, we have been
organizing talks and workshops, and
editing research papers written by UM
academics. The publication of this Bulletin
is our fourth major activity. We plan to
publish this Bulletin on a regular basis, and
include topics and opinions beneficial to
our community. The word ergon, the title of
this Bulletin, means ‘work’ or ‘activity’ in
Greek. The modern English words energy
(noun), energize (verb), and energetic
(adjective) are all derived from this word.
During the Classical Antiquity period, an
ergon referred to an activity or function
essential to any person or thing. An ergon
is, to apply it to our environment, the
source of our academic performance and
success. We see Ergon as a token that
reflects the present and future of UM. We
hope to report more on our activities and
In this first Bulletin, we begin with a
welcome greeting from the Vice
Chancellor, Professor Ghauth Jasmon,
followed by a list of frequently asked
questions, as well as answers prepared by
us. The second part of the Bulletin provides
some key information about the Library.
Toshiko Yamaguchi
Welcome greeting from
the Vice Chancellor,
Professor Ghauth
Jasmon
Congratulations on the launch of Ergon. I
am delighted that USPI has made this great
effort to publish an official bulletin since its
establishment in February 2009. The first
issue contains relevant information about
the ISI Web of Knowledge and about how
to prepare and publish research. As
indicated in the Bulletin, I also hope that
this periodical will make the UM academic
community vibrant, serving as a platform
for active, useful interactions among all of
us. I look forward very much to reading the
second issue of the Bulletin with its new
features and voices of the community.
Frequently asked
questions & answers
What is ISI?
ISI stands for the Institute of Scientific
Information, which was a company
October 2009
founded by Eugene Garfield (an American
scientist with a PhD in structural
linguistics) in 1960. ISI started compiling
bibliographical databases and was a pioneer
in the indexing of academic journal
citations. In 1992, ISI was acquired by
another company, the Thomson
Corporation, and the merger gave rise to
Thomson ISI. Since 1992, the company has
grown rapidly and the Thomson
Corporation merged Thomson ISI with its
other scientific content providers, such as
Derwent, to create a new business known
as Thomson Scientific (there were other
businesses under the Thomson Corporation
such as Thomson Financial, Thomson
Legal, Thomson Healthcare, and Thomson
Learning). Then, in April 2008, the
Thomson Corporation acquired Reuters,
and the entire enterprise is now called
Thomson Reuters. The ISI business is now
under the Healthcare and Science business
of Thomson Reuters, and the citation
database remains one of its flagship
products. Since the initial plan of ISI was to
index scientific citations, the first citation
index that was produced by ISI was the
Science Citation Index (SCI) (1964)
Building on the SCI model, two other
citation databases were produced, namely
the Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI)
in 1973 and the Arts and Humanities
Citation Index (AHCI) in 1978. It has often
been claimed that the importance of Eugene
Garfield’s bibliographic endeavor was a
discovery ― based on the calculation of an
impact factor (see below for a description
of this notion) ― that journals such as
Nature or Science are the most important
for all hard sciences.
What is the Web of Science
and the Web of Knowledge?
The Web of Science (WoS) is part of the
Web of Knowledge (also called ISI Web of
Knowledge); they are both commercial
products of the Healthcare and Science
business of Thomson Reuters. The Web of
Science provides online access to seven
database citation indices. These are (i) the
Science Citation Index Expanded (SCIE),
(ii) the Social Sciences Citation Index
(SSCI), (iii) the Arts & Humanities Citation
USPI Bulletin Ergon 2
Index (AHCI), (iv) Index Chemicus, (v)
Current Chemical Reactions, (vi) the
Conference Proceedings Citation Index:
Science & Technology, and (vii) the
Conference Proceedings Citation Index:
Social Science and Humanities. The ISI
Web of Knowledge provides other
resources apart from the above-mentioned
seven databases. These include (i) Biosis
Previews, (ii) Biological Abstracts, (iii) the
Zoological Record, (iv) the Derwent
Innovations Index, (v) CAB Abstracts, (vi)
INSPEC, (vii) Food Science & Technology
Abstracts, (viii) Current Contents Connect,
(ix) Medline, (x) Essential Science
Indicators, (xi) Journal Citation Reports
(two editions: Science and Social
Sciences), and (xii) EndNote Web.
How is ISI/WoS related to THEQS?
There is no direct relation between ISI WoS
and THE-QS (Times Higher Education –
Quacquarelli Symonds). The THE-QS
World University Rankings includes
‘Citations per Faculty’ as one of five
criteria, and the source used in this
evaluation is Scopus (compiled by
Elsevier). QS’s reason for choosing Scopus
is that it is the world’s largest abstract and
citation database of research literature.
Since the majority of ISI journals are listed
in Scopus, there is an indirect correlation
between ISI and THE-QS.
What is the Impact Factor?
The Impact Factor (abbreviated as IF),
devised initially by Eugene Garfield, is
used to objectively measure the importance
of science and social science journals.
Currently, the IF is applied to journals, but
not individual articles or scientists. The IF
of a journal is calculated based on a
consecutive two-year period (e.g., 2008 and
2009) and two factors: the number of times
articles are cited (A), and the total number
of citable articles (B). The impact factor is
calculated as A/B. Simply put, when a
journal is cited an average of once per year
for each article, it has an IF of 1. The IF has
several favorable properties. For example,
it is an objective, and hence scientific,
October 2009
measurement and the results are believed to
be widely applicable. Despite this, the
number of objections is still salient. First,
the use of two consecutive years is
problematic, since classic articles are cited
frequently even after several decades. This
drawback resulted in the introduction of the
five-year impact factor in 2008. Second, the
type of publication is not considered. For
example, review articles tend to be cited
more quickly than academic articles. In
other words, if a journal accepts more
review articles, the IF of that journal will
increase at a faster rate.
Is ISI the only way to evaluate
our research output?
Not really. Getting academic articles
published in ISI journals is admittedly
considered prestigious since many journals
indexed therein have an academic
significance in their respective fields.
However, some academics have raised
criticisms of the status of ISI. One such
criticism is that the number of journals
included in its indexes differs radically
between academic fields. As of 1
September 2009, SCIE includes 7,921
journals, while SSCI covers only 2,542.
AHCI displays the smallest number, that is,
1,482.
Are there other databases in
each academic field?
Yes. Before the Web of Science became
popular, academics used (and of course still
use) other databases. In the humanities, for
example, Linguistics and Language
Behavior Abstracts (LLBA) is a useful
source. The main difference between the
ISI Web of Science and other databases is
that the latter does not emphasize the
frequency of citations and the impact
factor, while the former does. Google
Scholar, established in 2004, is another online bibliographic database.
Writing books, textbooks, and
book chapters as well as
regional/local-level articles
should be an integral part of
USPI Bulletin Ergon 3
academic life. How are these
areas of research gauged?
The Web of Science citation databases do
not include titles of books, textbooks, or
book chapters. We are aware that
academics in certain disciplines actively
produce non-journal-based publications.
With regard to language teaching, for
instance, regional factors are important and
can be more decisive for the actual practice
of teaching than some universal criteria,
though we do not deny that there are
textbooks that can be used across countries.
As a consequence, textbooks are, more
often than not, published or in demand on a
regional/local basis. One disadvantage of
regionally or locally based publications
may be that the process of peer-reviewing
is not as advanced as for international
publications.
Can you explain the
procedures for submitting
research papers to
international journals?
It is important to first choose a suitable
journal to target. You should study the
content of a prospective journal closely to
make sure your paper is appropriate for it.
When the writing is complete, you should
submit your paper following the criteria
provided by the journal. These may differ
from journal to journal. Nowadays, journals
encourage electronic submission, which is
the fastest way to submit a paper. Once the
editorial board receives your paper, it will
be sent, upon acknowledgement of receipt,
to two or three reviewers to be reviewed.
The review process may take one to three
months depending on the journal. Once this
process is complete, you will be notified
whether your submitted paper has been
accepted or not. Unless your paper is
rejected, you may be asked to make some
modifications or alterations to address
points raised by the reviewers. You will be
given some time to consider the reviewers’
comments and resubmit the new version of
the paper. When this process is successfully
completed, the paper will be ready for
publication. Bear in mind, though, that the
October 2009
USPI Bulletin Ergon 4
paper will not be published immediately.
The waiting period can be a year or even
longer and it varies from journal to journal.
When the paper has more than one author,
the first author normally corresponds with
the journal. In today’s globalized world,
the medium of language is almost
exclusively English, and this also applies
to academia. A highly qualified paper
should be written in good, grammatical
English.
■ To know in real time if a particular
journal is indexed in the ISI Web of
Science, go to the Thomson Reuters
website at
http://science.thomsonreuters.com/mjl/
■ Scroll down to Journal Lists for
Searchable Databases and choose any
three of the following databases to
search for the journal title:
Toshiko Yamaguchi assisted by
Rajdev Narayanasamy from Thomson Reuters
From the Library
How do I find out the Impact
Factor of a particular journal?
Journals with impact factors are listed in
the Journal Citation Reports database,
which the UM Library subscribes to. You
can browse this database from the Library
Interactive Portal or via the library
homepage.
From the Interactive Portal
■ Go to
http://www.diglib.um.edu.my/interaktif/
or login from the library homepage at
http://www.umlib.um.edu.my
■ Login using your library ID, which
normally begins with an X. This ID is
on the back of your matric card.
■ When logged in, click on Databases.
Scroll down and choose Journal
Citation Reports.
■ Select JCR Science or Social Sciences
Edition, the Year, and the option Search
for a specific journal.
How will I know if a particular
journal is indexed in the ISI
Web of Science?
Arts & Humanities Citation Index®
(Web of Science)
Science Citation Index Expanded™
(Web of Science)
Social Sciences Citation Index®
(Web of Science)
■ Do not search the journals in the Master
Journal List. UM includes only the
Indexes from Arts & Humanities
Citation, Science Citation, and Social
Sciences Citation.
■ The UM Library has organized the
journals to match the curriculum of the
faculties. This list can be found on the
library homepage at
http://www.umlib.um.edu.my
In the top right-hand corner, you will
see
ISI Web of Science Master Journal List
for
Academy/Faculty/Institution/Centre.
Download the list, choose the required
Faculty/Department, and open the file.
The list of journals indexed according to
title will be displayed. Remember, this
listing is not in real time and does not
include new titles that have been
recently added to the ISI Web of
Science.
How will I know if the UM
Library has journals that are
indexed in the ISI Web of
Science?
October 2009
■ Not all journals indexed in the ISI Web
of Science are currently available at the
library. If they are available, they will be
found in both print and online formats,
or at least in one of these formats. It is
therefore advisable to search the
Pendeta WebPAC for print journals and
the Interactive Portal for electronic
journals.
For Print Journals
■ Go to Pendeta WebPAC at
http://www.pendeta.um.edu.my
or click on Pendeta WebPac from the
library homepage at
http://www.umlib.um.edu.my
■ Type the journal title in the search box
and click on Periodical Title.
■ The journal details, such as the call
number, the location, and the issues
received, will be displayed.
■ If the journal title does not appear, it
means that the library does not have the
print version.
USPI Bulletin Ergon 5
For Electronic Journals
■ Go to
http://www.diglib.um.edu.my/interaktif/
or login from the library homepage at
http://www.umlib.um.edu.my
■ Login using your library ID, which
usually begins with an X. This ID is on
the back of your matric card.
■ Click on E journals.
■ Go to FIND for the journal title. Ensure
that the title you are searching is typed
correctly.
■ If the title is available, the journal title,
the name of the database, and the years
covered will be displayed on the screen.
■ You can add this title to My E Journal
to make it your favorite title.
■ If the journal title does not appear, it
means the library does not have the
electronic version.
Janaki Sinnasamy
Deputy Chief Librarian
Note from the Editor:
Dear Colleagues and Students,
With Ergon, we intend to enhance interactions and discussions among all of us. Please feel free to
comment on anything that is stated here. We also welcome your questions on issues concerning
publishing in academic journals, and your suggestions for improvements and activities for the Unit. If
you are interested in contributing to Ergon, please contact us.