The impact of periodicals on expert systems research

Journals and other periodicals are influencing the field of expert systems research more than ever. This fact, coupled with the sheer number of journals related to expert systems technology, raises several questions. How do students and researchers decide which journals to read, and where to submit their work for publication to get maximum exposure? How do librarians decide which journals should get their limited subscription dollars? When promotion time rolls around, how do administrators objectively judge the relative impact of their researchers? Objective answers to such questions will not only meet the specific needs of individuals, they will also help foster the development of the field itself by documenting and contributing to its formative research tradition. Here, we re-evaluate the journals from an earlier study (C.H. Cheng et al., 1994) by assessing their breadth, consistency, trend, and intensity of recognition: is the journal prominently cited in a broad range of expert systems journals (breadth)? Is it prominently cited over a series of consecutive years (consistency)? Is it at least as widely cited in the most recent years as it was in earlier years (trend)? Is it cited more than average (intensity)?.<>