化學期刊主編之自我發表研究

Abstract

在學術領域中，學術出版是促進知識流通的主要管道，學術期刊的主編和編輯負責管理學術出版過程，因而被視為學術研究品質和學術交流過程的守門人，然而編輯同時亦具研究者身分，有發表需求，遂引發對於編輯能否在自身期刊發表著作之討論。本研究欲了解編輯自我發表（self-publishing）之行為，並以期刊最高權力之編輯—主編作為研究對象，基於領域期刊數及國家分佈考量，選定化學領域423種JCR期刊之472位主編，利用書目計量法及內容分析法探究主編自我發表情形，期望了解主編內稿比例（self-publication percentage）分佈，從國家、期刊、個人三種層次探討主編自我發表，並且調查期刊針對自我發表政策之制定。 研究結果發現，多數化學期刊主編有自我發表情形，並且內稿比例具高度變化，未曾在該期刊發表著作之主編，任職後內稿比例顯著提升。不同洲之期刊主編在內稿比例上未達顯著差異，各國期刊以韓國、波蘭及俄羅斯期刊之主編內稿比例最高，中國及阿拉伯聯合大公國期刊之主編最低；在學術引文表現相近之美國、英國及中國當中，發現中國期刊之主編之內稿比例顯著低於英美期刊。就期刊層次而言，內稿情形在期刊等級較低之期刊更為常見，主編內稿比例和其任職期刊之期刊排名百分比和SNIP係數呈負相關。就主編之個人特徵而言，發現主編任期長度越長、任內年均著作量越高，主編任內年均內稿數越高，又以任內年均著作量為影響內稿數最重要因素。最後，本研究調查25種化學期刊之政策，發現所有期刊皆同意主編或編輯自我發表，僅規定發表時需迴避或揭露利益衝突。

In the academic community, scholarly publishing serves as the primary channel for disseminating knowledge. Journal editors, particularly editors-in-chief, play a vital role in managing the scholarly publishing process and are widely regarded as gatekeepers of research quality and scholarly communication. However, editors are also active researchers with publication needs, raising concerns about the appropriateness of publishing in their own journals. This study investigates the self-publishing behavior of editors-in-chief in the field of chemistry. Based on the number and geographical distribution of journals, a total of 472 editors-in-chief from 423 JCR-indexed chemistry journals were selected. Employing bibliometric analysis and content analysis, the study examines the distribution of self-publication ratios and explores this phenomenon at national, journal, and individual levels. In addition, editorial policies regarding self-publishing behavior were reviewed. The findings reveal that most editors-in-chief have published in their own journals, with considerable variation in self-publication percentage. Editors who had no prior publications in the journal showed significantly increased self-publication after assuming the position. No significant differences were found across continents; however, editors-in-chief of journals from Korea, Poland, and Russia had the highest self-publication ratios, while those from China and the United Arab Emirates had the lowest. Despite similar levels of national citation performance, editors of Chinese journals published a significantly lower self-publication percentage compared to editors of journals based in the UK and the US. At the journal level, self-publication was more prevalent in lower-ranked journals, and the self-publication percentage was negatively correlated with journal ranking percentiles and SNIP. At the individual level, editors with longer tenures and higher annual publication output were associated with greater levels of self-publication, with annual publication output being the strongest factor. Finally, an analysis of 25 journal policies showed that all permitted self-publication by editors, provided that conflicts of interest were disclosed or editorial involvement was avoided.