Abstract

Communication can be understood, under an epistemological framework, as a macrocontext from which education participates as a part. One of the objectives of this work is to contrast this theoretical consideration with the observed interaction between education and communication scientific journals defined by citations and relatedness towards other scientific journals. At the same time, there might be relevant differences between the citation patterns of Spanish and foreign (journals in Journal Citation Reports) communication journals, particularly with regard to their disciplinary composition. These differences might become a major problem for the interexchange of information between both sets of journals. The authors analyze the citations distribution by subject category for Spanish and JCR journals, as well as for the journal «Comunicar», and also the frequency of related journals per subject category in the case of JCR. It is concluded: a) that the aforementioned epistemological relationship is valid only for Spanish Communication journals, b) that there are relevant differences between both sets of journals in the disciplinary composition of their citedciting and related journals and that Information Science & Library Science might serve as a suitable communication channel; finally, c) the characteristic multidisciplinarity of the journal «Comunicar» is corroborated, both at the national and international level.

Abstract

An overview of the metrics available to evaluate scientific production is presented. The classic indicators, based on citations, and the altmetric indicators, based on downloads and the impact on social networks, are compared. In addition, the advantages and disadvantages of the two types of indicators are highlighted. The need for a classification of the indicators, that would help apply them correctly, is discussed.