Algorithmic procedure for finding semantically related journals

Using citations, papers and references as parameters a relatedness factor (RF) is computed for a series of journals. Sorting these journals by the RF produces a list of journals most closely related to a specified starting journal. The method appears to select a set of journals that are semantically most similar to the target journal. The algorithmic procedure is illustrated for the journal Genetics. Inter-journal citation data needed to calculate the RF were obtained from the 1996 ISI Journal Citation Reports on CD-ROM©. Out of the thousands of candidate journals in JCR©, thirty have been selected. Some of them are different from the journals in the JCR category for genetics and heredity. The new procedure is unique in that it takes varying journal sizes into account.