How the “Most-Cited Journals (non-U.S.)” Ranking Is Calculated (Comprehensive)

Overview

This ranking identifies the most-cited non-U.S. journals within HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library. Citation and usage data are drawn exclusively from articles published in journals that are issued outside the United States, regardless of the institution or authors involved. HeinOnline’s ScholarRank formula is applied at the journal level to produce a top 100 list of the most influential non-U.S. journals.

Eligibility

Only journals published outside the United States qualify for inclusion in this ranking. For each eligible journal, all articles it has published within HeinOnline’s Law Journal Library are included when calculating citation and usage metrics. The final list presents the top 100 non-U.S. journals based on their cumulative impact as measured by these metrics.

Metrics Used

This ranking is based on the following five metrics, each drawn from citation and usage data for articles published in the journal:

1. Cited by Articles (0 to 5 Years)
   Counts the number of times articles from the journal have been cited by other articles in HeinOnline within the past five years. Citation style sources include the Bluebook, Prince’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, and the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
2. Cited by Articles (5+ Years)
   Counts the number of times articles from the journal have been cited by other articles in HeinOnline more than five years after publication. Citation style sources include the Bluebook, Prince’s Dictionary of Legal Abbreviations, and the Cardiff Index to Legal Abbreviations.
3. h5-index
   Measures the productivity and citation impact of the journal’s publications over the most recent five complete calendar years. The index reflects the number of articles (h) published during that period that have been cited at least h times.
4. h-index
   Measures the overall productivity and citation influence of the journal’s full body of published work. It is based on the journal’s most cited articles and the citations those articles have received.
5. Accessed (Past 12 Months)
   Measures relevancy and recency by counting the total number of times articles from the journal have been accessed by HeinOnline users in the past twelve months. An article counts as accessed when it is clicked from search results, navigated to directly, or retrieved through the citation navigator.

Calculation Method

Z-scores are calculated for each of the five metrics at the journal level. These five Z-scores are averaged to generate each journal’s overall score. The final average score is placed into the standard competition ranking to determine the top 100 non-U.S. journals.

Formula

Z-score Calculation:
Zx = (x – µ) / σ

Average Z-score:
Zµ = (Z1 + Z2 + Z3 + Z4 + Z5) / 5

Final ScholarRank:
Zµ, ranked using standard competition rules.

Update and Refresh Schedule

This ranking is refreshed with every monthly HeinOnline content release, at which point all citations are fully recounted. This ensures that the standings remain current as new scholarship is published and cited.

Additional Information and FAQs

For more details and answers to frequently asked questions, visit:
https://help.heinonline.org/kb/scholarly-impact-rankings-faq/