Google Scholar Metrics e a proposta do novo Qualis: impacto dos periódicos brasileiros de Ciência da Informação

The present work measures the impact of Brazilian Information Science journals using the methodology proposed by the new Qualis. It analyses the journals in the “Revistas Brasileiras” collection of the Information Science Database (BRAPCI), which were designated to the area 31 of Qualis in 2016 and which had their classification published in the Qualis’ preliminary list in 2019. The FI (JCR), the CiteScore (SJR) and the h5 Index (GSM) of the indexed journals were identified. The Publish or Perish software was used to calculate the h5 index of the non-indexed journals, as well as to collect citation data of articles published in the last five years. The data received a treatment for the elimination of duplicate records and non-citable documents. The average number of citations per article, the standard deviation, the number of citations received by the most cited article and the percentage of articles without citation were calculated. The results suggest that, although most journals have increased their level of classification, the proposal for the new Qualis methodology did not favor Brazilian Information Science, considering the non-permanence of publications in A1 stratum. On the other hand, the adoption of the GSM h5 index for the evaluation of journals without FI or CiteScore is positive. It was also found that the preliminary Qualis classification (2019) presents inconsistencies, considering the classification of similar h5 index journals in different strata. Finally, it was found that the use of Publish or Perish software implies the need for data treatment, considering the various errors presented.