Abstract:

Based on the 2014 SCI Journal Citation Reports released in June 2015, 46 geography journals are divided into five categories, namely integrated physical geography (8 journals), geomorphology and Quaternary studies (17 journals), geographical information science (10 journals), regional physical geography (7 journals) and ecology and landscape (4 journals). Then some indexes including impact factor and total citations of each category are analyzed. Furthermore, studies on the enhancement of academic influence of these journals covering 2009-2014 are conducted. Meanwhile, we made a statistical analysis of the information concerning the number of published papers, publishing country, publication cycle and publishers. Finally, we examine the relationship among the subject, academic influence, editing and publishing of international geography journals. Some conclusions can be drawn as follows: (1) IEEE J-STARS, INT J DIGIT EARTH and J GEOGR SCI are the top three in terms of the growth of impact factor and total citations. (2) The factors affecting quality of journals include academic level, subject development, journal types, the number of papers published, and native language of authors. (3) A total of 33 journals (or 71.7%) of international physical geography are published in the United Kingdom, the United States and the Netherlands. Most of the 46 geography journals (27 or 58.7%) are published by the world prestigious Springer, Elsevier, Taylor & Francis and Wiley-Blackwell.

Key words: geography, journals, journal citation report (JCR), international influence, publishers