Top 4 Journals Classification Systems Every Researcher Should Know


If you’ve ever tried to figure out which journal is the best fit for your research or wondered how journals classification is carried out, you’ve probably come across terms like Quartiles (q1 q2 q3 q4 journal), h-index, Impact Factor (IF), and Source Normalised Impact per Paper (SNIP). These metrics might sound technical, but they are simply tools to measure how much attention a journal’s research gets. Here’s a straightforward explanation of what they mean and how they work
Quartiles in Journals Classification: Ranking by Performance
The system of dividing journals into four quartiles, Q1, Q2, Q3, and Q4, was created to make it easier to compare their quality and impact within a specific field. This idea became popular through Scopus and Journal Citation Reports (JCR) databases, which rank journals based on metrics like citations. The concept builds on the work of Eugene Garfield, who introduced the Impact Factor, offering a way to see how journals stand up against others. Quartiles break things down further: Q1 represents the top 25% of journals in a category, while Q4 includes those at the lower end. It's a straightforward way to help researchers determine which journals are most influential in their areas of study.
- Q1: Top 25% of journals in the field (highest-ranked).
- Q2: 25-50% (mid-high-ranked).
- Q3: 50-75% (mid-low-ranked).
- Q4: Bottom 25% (lowest-ranked).

However, not all Q3 or Q4 journals are necessarily a disadvantage. While they may not be as well-known, they are still important in scientific research. Some of the benefits include:
- Affordability: These journals are easier for researchers to access, especially for those on a tight budget.
- Focused Topics: They tend to cover more specific, niche areas of study, making them great for in-depth exploration of certain subjects.
- Great for New Researchers: Q3 and Q4 journals classification can be a good place for new researchers to publish their first paper and gain experience in the publishing world.
- Ideal for Basic Research: They’re a great option for research that focuses on the basics of science
Finally, publishing your article in a Q3 or Q4 journal doesn’t mean it lacks value or won’t make an impact. If your work presents new findings that address a real problem, it can still attract attention, even when published in a lower-ranked journal.
h-index: A Balance of Quantity and Quality
The h-index score is an important factor in journal classification. It looks at the number of articles a journal has published and how often those articles are cited. It balances quantity (how many articles a journal publishes) with quality (how many of its articles are referenced).
For example, if a journal has an h-index of 15, it means it has published 15 articles, each cited at least 15 times. It’s a simple way to measure a journal’s influence without focusing too much on just one super-cited article or a bunch of rarely cited ones.
How h-index works:
Let’s say a journal has published 4 articles, and the number of citations for each article looks like this:
- The 1st article has 10 citations – exceeds 1 citation.
- The 2nd article has 24 citations – exceeds 2 citations.
- The 3rd article has 5 citations – exceeds 3 citations.
- The 4th article falls short of 4 citations.
In this case, the journal has three articles that each have at least three citations. The fourth article doesn’t hit the mark, so the h-index stops at 3.

This metric can help researchers, professionals, and institutions decide if a journal publishes research that gets noticed and cited by the academic community. It’s not the full picture, but it’s a useful starting point for understanding the journal’s influence.
Impact Factor: Citation Average
The Impact Factor (IF) is a number that shows how often a journal’s articles are cited on average over the past two years. It helps you understand how much attention the journal’s research gets from other scholars and it also helps with journals classification.
How it works?
To calculate the IF, look at how many times articles from a journal were cited in the past two years. Then, you divide that by the total number of articles the journal published in those two years. This gives you an average citation count per article.
Example:
Let’s say we want to figure out the IF for Journal A in 2023:
- In 2021 and 2022, Journal A published 50 articles.
- In 2023, those articles were cited 200 times in total.
- You take the total citations (200) and divide it by the total number of articles (50): 200 ÷ 50 = 4
So, Journal A has an Impact Factor of 4, meaning its articles were cited, on average, four times each. A higher Impact Factor often places journals higher in classification, but keep in mind that it’s not the full story. Some specialised journals may have lower Impact Factors even though they’re highly respected in their niche.

SNIP: Fair Comparisons Across Fields
SNIP (Source Normalised Impact per Paper) is a valuable metric in journals classification because it goes one step further. It measures contextual citation impact and takes into account the fact that different research fields have different citation habits. For instance, medical papers often get cited a lot, while mathematics papers don’t, even if they’re equally important in their fields.
SNIP adjusts the average citations a journal receives based on these differences, making it easier to compare journals across disciplines.
Example:
- Journal A publishes in a low-citation field like social sciences and averages 3 citations per article. Adjusted for its field, its SNIP might be 1.6.
- Journal B publishes in a high-citation field like biomedicine and has an average of 8 citations per article. After adjustment, its SNIP might be 1.2.
SNIP makes sure journals in fields with fewer citations still get the recognition they deserve.
What it tells you:
SNIP is especially useful for journal classification because it levels the playing field between disciplines. A higher SNIP score suggests that a journal’s articles are cited more often than expected for its field. It’s a helpful tool for comparing journals, but it’s just one of many ways to evaluate a journal’s influence or importance.
Below is a concise summary table of the four journal classification systems, followed by key considerations:
Journal ranking system comparison
System | Purpose | Calculation | Key Insights |
---|---|---|---|
Quartiles (Q1-Q4) | Ranks journals by performance within a field (e.g., biology, engineering). | Journals divided into four equal groups based on citation metrics (e.g., Impact Factor): • Q1: Top 25% • Q2: 25-50% • Q3: 50-75% • Q4: Bottom 25%. | • Q1/Q2 = high prestige. • Q3/Q4 = affordable, niche-focused, beginner-friendly. • Lower quartiles ≠ low-value research. |
h-index | Measures journal influence by balancing article productivity and citations. | A journal has index h if it published h articles each cited ≥ h times.Example: h-index=15 means 15 articles cited ≥15 times each. | • Avoids over-reliance on single highly cited papers. • Useful for gauging consistent impact. |
Impact Factor (IF) | Indicates average citation attention per article. | IF = (Citations in year Y to articles from Y-1 and Y-2) ÷ (Articles published in Y-1 and Y-2). Example: 200 citations ÷ 50 articles = IF 4. | • Higher IF = higher ranking. • Field-dependent: STEM > humanities. • Less meaningful for niche fields. |
SNIP | Compares journals fairly across fields by normalizing citation practices. | Adjusts raw citations per paper by field’s typical citation density. Example: 3 citations in social sciences (SNIP=1.6) vs. 8 in biomedicine (SNIP=1.2). | • Levels comparison between high/low-citation fields. • SNIP >1 = above-field-average impact. |
Key Considerations for All Systems
- No single metric tells the whole story – A journal may rank highly in one system but lower in another.
- Field-specific biases – Metrics like IF and SNIP adjust for disciplinary differences (e.g., mathematics vs. medicine).
- Beyond rankings – Lower-quartile/niche journals offer unique advantages (accessibility, specialization).
- Research goals matter – Choose a journal based on audience fit, not just classification.


5 Tools Every Librarian Should Know in 2025
The role of librarians has always been about connecting people with knowledge. But in 2025, with so much information floating around online, the challenge isn’t access, it’s sorting through the noise and finding what really matters. This is where AI for libraries is starting to make a difference. Here are five that are worth keeping in your back pocket this year. 1. Zendy Zendy is a one-stop AI-powered research library that blends open access with subscription-based resources. Instead of juggling multiple platforms, librarians can point students and researchers to one place where they’ll find academic articles, reports, and AI tools to help with research discovery and literature review. With its growing use of AI for libraries, Zendy makes it easier to summarise research, highlight key ideas, and support literature reviews without adding to the librarian’s workload. 2. LibGuides Still one of the most practical tools for librarians, LibGuides makes it easy to create tailored resource guides for courses, programs, or specific assignments. Whether you’re curating resources for first-year students or putting together a subject guide for advanced research, it helps librarians stay organised while keeping information accessible to learners. 3. OpenRefine Cleaning up messy data is nobody’s favourite job, but it’s a reality when working with bibliographic records or digital archives. OpenRefine is like a spreadsheet, but with superpowers, it can quickly detect duplicates, fix formatting issues, and make large datasets more manageable. For librarians working in cataloguing or digital collections, it saves hours of tedious work. 4. PressReader Library patrons aren’t just looking for academic content; they often want newspapers, magazines, and general reading material too. PressReader gives libraries a simple way to provide access to thousands of publications from around the world. It’s especially valuable in public libraries or institutions with international communities. 5. OCLC WorldShare Managing collections and sharing resources across institutions is a constant task. OCLC WorldShare helps libraries handle cataloguing, interlibrary loans, and metadata management. It’s not flashy, but it makes collaboration between libraries smoother and ensures that resources don’t sit unused when another community could benefit from them. Final thought The tools above aren’t just about technology, they’re about making everyday library work more practical. Whether it’s curating resources with Zendy, cleaning data with OpenRefine, or sharing collections through WorldShare, these platforms help librarians do what they do best: guide people toward knowledge that matters. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }

Balancing AI Efficiency with Human Expertise in Libraries
AI in libraries is making some tasks quicker and less repetitive. However, even with these advances, there’s something irreplaceable about a librarian’s judgment and care. The real question isn’t whether AI will take over libraries, it’s how both AI and librarians can work side by side. How AI Helps in Libraries According to Clarivate Pulse of the Library 2025 survey, among 2,000 academic library professionals globally, many said they don’t have enough time or budget to learn new tools or skills, a challenge made even harder as global digital content is projected to double every two years. Here’s where AI tools for librarians prove useful: Cataloguing: AI can scan metadata and suggest subject tags in minutes. Search: Smarter search systems help students and researchers find relevant materials without digging through dozens of irrelevant results. Day-to-day tasks: Think overdue notices, compiling basic reading lists, or identifying key sources and trends to support literature reviews. This is where library automation with AI comes in handy. Instead of replacing people, these tools free up time. A librarian who doesn’t have to spend hours sorting through data can focus on supporting students, curating collections, analysing usage statistics to make informed decisions or tracking resource usage against budgets. Where Human Expertise Still Matters AI is fast, but it’s not thoughtful. A student asking, “I’m researching migration patterns in 19th-century Europe, where do I start?” gets much more from a librarian than from a search algorithm. Librarians bring context, empathy, and critical thinking that machines can’t replicate. This is why human-AI collaboration in libraries makes sense. AI takes care of the routine. Humans bring the nuance. Together, they cover ground neither could manage alone. Finding the Balance So how do libraries get this balance right? A few ideas: Think of AI as a helper – not a replacement for staff. Invest in training – librarians need to feel confident using AI tools and knowing when not to rely on them. Keep the focus on people – the goal isn’t efficiency for its own sake, it’s about better service for students, researchers, and communities. Final Thoughts By using AI to handle routine administrative tasks like cataloguing, managing records, or tracking resource usage, librarians free up time to focus on the part of the job that drew them to this profession in the first place: supporting researchers and students, curating meaningful collections, and fostering learning. Combining the efficiency of AI in libraries with the expertise of librarians creates a future where technology supports the human side of education. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }

How AI in Higher Education Is Helping Libraries Support Research
Libraries have always been at the centre of knowledge in higher education. Beyond curating collections, librarians guide researchers and students through complex databases, teach research skills, and help faculty navigate publishing requirements. They also play a key role in managing institutional resources, preserving archives, and ensuring equitable access to information. These days, libraries are facing new challenges: huge amounts of digital content, tighter budgets, and more demand for remote access. In this environment, AI in higher education is starting to make a real difference. How AI Makes Life Easier for Librarians Improving Discovery AI-powered search tools don’t just look for keywords, they can understand the context of a query. That means students and researchers can find related work they might otherwise miss. It’s like having an extra set of eyes to point them toward useful sources. Helping with Curation AI can go through thousands of articles and highlight the ones most relevant to a specific course, project, or research topic. For example, a librarian preparing a reading list for a history class can save hours by letting AI suggest the most relevant papers or reports. Supporting Remote Access Students, researchers and faculty aren’t always on campus. AI can summarise long articles, translate content, or adjust resources for different reading levels. This makes it easier for people to get the information they need, even from home. Working Within Budgets Subscriptions remain a major expense for libraries, and ongoing budget cuts are forcing many academic institutions to make difficult choices about which resources to keep or cancel. For example, recent surveys show that around 73% of UK higher education libraries are making budget cuts this year, sometimes slashing up to 30% of their overall budgets, and collectively spending £51 million less than the previous year. This trend is not limited to the UK, universities in the U.S. and elsewhere are also reducing library funding, which has dropped by nearly 20% per student over recent years. Even top institutions like Princeton have cut library hours and student staffing to save on costs. Subscriptions can be expensive, and libraries often have to make tough choices. AI tools that work across large collections help libraries give students and researchers more access without adding extra subscriptions. Trusted Content Still Matters AI is helpful, but the resources behind it are just as important. Librarians care about trusted, peer-reviewed, and varied sources. Librarians and AI: A Partnership AI isn’t replacing librarians. Instead, it supports the work they already do. Librarians are the ones who guide researchers, check the quality of sources, and teach information skills. By using AI tools, librarians can make research easier for students, researchers and faculty, and they can help their institutions make the most of the resources they have. Final Thoughts AI in higher education is making it easier for libraries to support students and faculty, but librarians are still at the centre of the process. By using AI tools alongside strong content collections, libraries can save time, offer more resources, and help researchers find exactly what they need. With the right AI support, research becomes easier to navigate and more accessible without overcomplicating the process. .wp-block-image img { max-width: 85% !important; margin-left: auto !important; margin-right: auto !important; }
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