Briefing for Journal Editors and Authors Regarding Selection Criteria for Inclusion in Ei Compendex®
q[qX O5 Xk%eU>d The purpose of this document is to help editors and publishers of primary literature and authors of papers submitted for publication to become familiar with the way Engineering Information is representing the content and descriptive information for these papers in database records. If you know the rules, you can write good abstract and have your article retrieved by an online search. This is important because it allows other scientists and engineers around the world to discover your work and to encourage cooperation among scientists.
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}4N[]Sb o'$ - Overview of Ei and Compendex
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Gq1C"s$4' Engineering Index was founded in 1884 as the first United States literature abstracting and indexing service for the purpose of providing access to and awareness of the world’s engineering literature. We went online in 1970 with Dialog and Orbit. In 1995 we introduced the Ei Engineering Village, one of the first database web applications in the world, and through the Village, the Compendex Database.
'j'6x'[> ] >wqWIw.w> The Compendex database currently contains over 7 million abstracts and is growing at the rate of about a quarter of a million records each year.
J#wf`VR% ,|$1(z*a{c Over 5,000 journals and conference proceedings are reviewed for coverage in Compendex.
-:_3N2U=+ /!Ag/SmS!9 Ei currently covers close to 300 journals published in China.
WNjG/U sqh IKw@ Our extensive coverage of the Chinese engineering literature began in the early 1990s, when we established an editorial office in Beijing, headed by Lu Ping. All Chinese journals are sent to her for processing locally in China.
}KUK|p5 Adiw@q1 & In 1992, we abstracted about 4,000 records from Chinese journals. By the year 2000 that number had tripled to about 12,000 articles annually.
s SKD" ]lGkZyU hI We feel that Chinese engineering and technology is important and will continue to cover new journals that are appropriate to our coverage areas.
z [[qrR aO inD How do we make decisions about what journals we cover in Compendex?
R$u1\r1I j-/$e, xX Subject matter is the primary criterion for selection of a journal.
q m_r~j cy6YajOk7 A Second criterion is the quality of the journal.
Z"Lr5'} ~u0<c:C^ Subject Matter
l =P)$O|=w s~(`~Y4 Subject Matter is the primary criterion for selection. Our emphasis is on the major engineering disciplines:
&k*oG: J3 F# 9^ RA)9 chemical,
\25EI] civil,
mnZ fk electrical/electronic,
Xl<*Fn? mechanical,
DS4y@,/)' metallurgical, mining and petroleum engineering.
bydI+pVMo computer engineering and software
vD#kH 1 :_HdOm eW<NDI&b We consider these “core” areas for Compendex and will index every signed (authored article) from these journals. We do not cover editorials or discussions. Journals that publish entirely in these disciplines are called “CORE” Journals.
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4M-;y -XnIDXM There are also many special subject areas. Journals in these areas are covered selectively. These special subject areas include,
9Ut eD@* nvQX)Xf agricultural engineering,
8H };p u2 industrial engineering,
wU'+4N". textile engineering,
"+O/OKfR0 applied chemistry,
cY!Pv applied mathematics,
Y#9bM $x7 atmospheric sciences,
Y <Ae_yLa paper chemistry and technology.
PQ_A^ 9 5 s."N7F Selective coverage means that our indexers scan the journal and look for articles that are relevant to engineering. For example in the some of these areas, such as Industrial Engineering, there may be trade journals (non-scientific journals). For these we would not cover product reviews. In the area of General Science, for example a very important journal such as Nature, we would only choose articles that are appropriate to our subject scope. We would not index an article on biology or astronomy.
&QQ6F>'T It2:2 Format and Clarity
P(b~3 NB) G
9 &,` The format and clarity of a journal is important for selection for coverage in Compendex. It is very helpful if the articles in the journal are written in English. The editorial scope of the journal should be stated very clearly so that the Compendex staff can determine if the journal is appropriate for inclusion in the database. Peer Review is also important. If other scientists know fellow scientists have reviewed your work, they know that the work is good.
-0` n(`2 dlZ2iDQ% Contribution to knowledge in the subject areas covered.
G,WLca[ ] !"7k_ We do not want journals that contain reprints of earlier published papers.
PL31(!`@d We do want journals that publish original research or other original work
`N}V i6FG >@G"*le*) Publication Level Criteria
PpLh j @>ys,dy At the publication level, a good journal will have:
Y>c+j LrdED[Z A journal title in English.
73u97oe>1 An ISSN and a CODEN.
,qB@agjvo< Complete publisher information:
5sEk rT ' Publisher Name
?)<zzL", Publisher Address
Dh}d-m_5 Publisher City, Country and Postal Code
%'. x vC Publisher Telephone, fax and e-mail
Vy/G -IASb QS4~":D/C If the journal is on the web, the url should be published in the journal.
A[fTpS ~~% q 3v5gz^t _I,GH{lh I A good conference will have the following:
\AI-x$5R * NyC&j`d An English Language Conference Title
Ke# Rkt Conference Location (including meeting city, country)
yoieWnL} Conference Dates (date started – date ended)
M;AvOk|& Conference Sponsors
:! $+dr(d An ISSN or ISBN
u!+;Iy7 Publisher Information
lOb(XH9 I%Z=O= Formatting Issues
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OO@z 3 TV4|&W; The following are important when preparing a citation:
'Zex/:QS "85)2*+ Paper citation information
B )\;Ja Contact information for correspondence with authors
}=| {"C References
NTK9`#SA Subject Access
h{\S '8 Abstracts
($UUgjv F >^,?0HP )3|a_
English Item Title:
b,jo94.G ]M "U 'Z Mandatory field, maximum 400 Characters
f*xv# G Separate titles and subtitles by a colon (:)
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MV 1$ rOYYZ)Qw Authors:
e^;:iJS E}0g In the format:
F4V) 0)G l LBzY`j Write your author names in a consistent format so that our abstractors can be sure that we record your name properly.
eMn'z]M&] 5}5oj37x Do not “Westernize” your name. Publish it exactly as you are known in China. For example,
z wwJyy%/ x{G 'IEf Zhong Sixuan
h ~._R6y Lu Ping
Ks^wX N<KsQsy= In Compendex, beginning this year, we are including more information about authors to make it easier to correspond with each other.
bQN3\mvY kQ2Wd pZ/ We will include author name, author address, the name of the organization, the department, address, postal code and e-mail address. Please be sure to provide this information for your articles.
`d/* sX?k 5D7k[+6 For special Elsevier products,(Science Direct) and perhaps for the EI Village, we want to include references in our database for “reference linking purposes” especially for our Science Direct Products.
\?Xoa"^ ,|#biT-<T Be certain that for articles that contain references that you include:
@x[A ^ z.h;}QRJ,@ Author of the referenced article
$Dv5TUKw English Title
_ q>|pt.W Full or abbreviated source title (title of the journal, conference or report in which the referenced article was published)
y^Q);siSy Volume, issue number and year of the referenced publication
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m:; q Page range
f\R TO63|O Website name: If a website name appears in a reference it should be listed exactly as it appears, e.g. Cornell University Web Page.
ESFJN}Q%0. URL: If the reference is to a web page, make sure you give the full URL, e.g.
http://physics.nist.gov/ionxsec g{>0Pa 1?C Publication Name
'4M; ;sKW Volume and Issue Number
qrZ3`@C4k Page Range
%SCt_9u Publication Year
#Lk~{ Uhn3usK Ei uses a thesaurus that contains about 9000 terms to index Compendex records. For best retrieval online, it is advisable that authors use words and phrases from the Ei Thesaurus as author keywords.
;V f{3 ]j*uD317 Also important is that author keywords contain common words that represent the content of the article. For example, if an article is about the Nanjing Oil Fields, use the term Nanjing Oil Field as an author keyword.
{+5Ud#\y 9`^(M^ |c j`Ek : The purpose of an abstract is to tell the reader what the article is about. Then they can decide whether or not they want to see the entire article. Abstracts can only serve their purpose if they are carefully written and transmit important retrievable information. It is really a summary of the article.
"So "oT1 ) 3 f\H This requires the ability to identify key concepts in the document: the ability to organize these concepts: and the ability to write abstracts clearly and concisely.
~GJ;;v1b2 /74h+.amg There are 2 types of abstracts.
NP4u/C< f1U8 b*F< Informative
A | U0e`Iw [yc7F0Aw The informative abstract includes the objectives, methodology, results and conclusions of the reported research.
J5<1 6}* i ;Kax4k Indicative
nq+6ipx BbL]0i The indicative abstract indicates the contents of the document. It does not report on the methods or results.
#2Vq "Zn X(#8EY}X Following are some of the kinds of articles and the types of abstracts that would be appropriate.
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68<W6z Most of the articles in Compendex fall into the first category. They are papers presented at conferences, reports of research or journal articles. In this case you would write an informative abstract that contains the subject and scope of the work, the methodology used, results and conclusions.
c7[Ba\Cr4h %(K} 1[ In the case of a literature review, you would use an indicative abstract, and only give a description of the subject and scope of the work.
AG;KXL[V Fs =)*6}& For a detailed state of the art review, you would also use an indicative abstract, give a description of the subject and scope, and also the conclusion reached.
<{YzmN\Z zITxJx Case Studies should have an informative abstract, just like the one for conference papers and journal articles. For example:
i]@k'2N ]!jfrj Telephone interviews conducted in 1985 with 655 Americans, brought these results:
.SSyW{a3w Most (54-56%) think US aid to Israel and Egypt should be reduced; most (65%) favor US participation in a peace conference that includes the PLO; more than 80% consider it important
:>H {? That the US should maintain friendly relations with both Israel and the Arab countries; 70%
udc9KuR@ Believe that the US should favor neither side; most (55%) think that the establishment of a Palestinian state is essential to peace in the Region.
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7t V_n tS& 2o Note that in this example the methodology (telephone interviews), the detailed results are given.
t0/Ol'kgs cBOt=vg,5 INDICATIVE ABSTRACT
Rz& }e@stl .*W7Z8!e Telephone interviews were conducted in 1985. Opinions are expressed on whether (1) the establishment of a Palestinian state is essential for peace in the region; (2) US aid to Israel and to Egypt should be reduced; (3) the US should (a) participate in a peace conference that includes the PLO, (b) favor neither Israel nor the Arab nations, (3) maintain friendly relations with both. Respondents indicated whether or not they had sufficient information concerning various national groups in the region.
Cy5iEI# bJ6 H6D> In this example the methodology was given, but then simply a description of the results but not the actual results of the study.
z/p^C~|} XJwgh y?( OTHER QUALITIES
_^ n>kLd$ ,I]]52+?4 Length
{%&04yq+ \O,yWyU4 An abstract should be no longer than 1500 characters or 150 English Words.
\F+".X#jh v:9'k~4) Writing Style
LN5q_ZvR ,K 30.E The writing style should be in English, clearly written and concise.
OJM2t`}_t *Utx 0Me Quality
k ;SKQN %503 <j An abstract should not be too short and it should not repeat the information given in the title of the article. Do not use unnecessary phrases such as “It is reported that.”, or “Extensive investigations show that…”
QvOl-Lfc jJ 'NYG Eliminate or minimize background information (e.g., history or other commentary)
7xW Jw pbwOma2 Do not include authors future plans in an abstract.
*M>~$h7 7*W O9R/ w`M`F<_\: y4=T0[
V RjrQDh|(( F8/n ; Good Publications + Good Articles = Good Scholarly Communication
bwszfPM C } L2'l, In our global economy, it is very important that good scholarly communication takes place, not simply via informal communications on the web, but also through scientifically peer reviewed articles published in well-respected journals.
]n:R#5 5A *&+z I$u( This is especially important now that China is interested in getting money (e.g. for IPOs) to support its scientist’s inventions and turn them into profitable enterprises.
O CCC' k W(-son~I Compendex attempts to facilitate this communication and information transfer by selecting good journals and conferences and indexing important articles. You can help by following our rules and increasing the likelihood that others around the world will know of your important work.
^'+#BPo9@ (hK jr1s CHARACTERISTICS OF A WORLD-CLASS JOURNAL
%@ q2 jzWgyI1b • English language articles
Y 9st3 • Peer review
#~qza ETv, • Thorough and to international standards
9U )9u["DH • International editorial board
bB*c d! 7y uFlf #t
= • Must appear on ISI impact factor list
Ri::Ek3qu • Measurement of how often journals published in a specific journal are cited in other articles
:C0)[L wM-H5\9n • Coverage by major abstracting & indexing services
WOeLn[ – Compendex
)U]q{0 ` – INSPEC
1L?W+zMO – Chemical Abstracts
v5?ct ?q – Fluidex
,K PrUM} – GeoRef
P"@^BQ4 Yg 2P( m?8o\|i, • First class publishing processes
K_.|FEV • Fast publication times
;l < amB • Free, high-quality reprints to authors
pQ4HX)<P • Editing
*o(bB!q"c • Automatic indexing
~[BGKq h • No advertising
g1l:k1\Ht • ISSN
9d=\BBNZ • Listing in Ulrich’s International Periodicals Directory
Z^WI~B0nt • Published by an official publishing house:
,u- 9e4 – University press
Yz EOfHL, – National press
]'hel#L;l 1C*mR%Q • International circulation
mGmZ}H'{ • International author base
MFWkJ bZV • Awareness of leading edge developments
"W9z>ezp • Recruit an international editorial board
y;P%= M P • Recruit international authors
*7L1SjZw Editors and authors should attend international conferences to stay current with latest developments in their field and to meet potential authors and board members
