Publishing with purpose: How quartile three and four journals support research in lower- and middle-income countries

Author: Gurpreet Gill-Bains

All validated, peer-reviewed research contributes to science even if the journal it appears in “doesn’t rank highly” in citation metrics. This can be especially true when the research comes from, or applies to, situations in lower- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This type of research might not be “buzzy” enough to generate outsized citation counts, but it really matters. That’s where journals — especially open access (OA) ones like BMC’s AIDS Research and Therapy — shine. Journals like these are platforms for the kinds of important, sometimes incremental, research that makes a difference but might not make a flash.

Why citation “rank” does not equal “importance”

A recent Springer Nature white paper, Demonstrating Journal Value Beyond Rankings, looked at the value that journals ranking in the third or fourth quartile (Q3/Q4 journals) by citations bring to the communities they serve. The white paper includes cases studies, and one of those case studies looked at the BMC journal, AIDS Research and Therapy.

To talk about this, and get some more context on that case study, I recently had the chance to catch up with AIDS Research and Therapy’s Editor-in-Chief, Dr. Barbara Castelnuovo, about how her journal does this. Born and trained in Italy, Dr. Castelnuovo now carries out research on AIDS and HIV, and treats patients in Uganda.

AIDS Research and Therapy, by “traditional citation measures,” ranks in the third or fourth quartile. Yet the research it publishes helps save lives on the ground in places like Uganda and other LMICs. For example, over the last two years, the journal has published important work on injectable antiretroviral therapy (ART) in LMICs. Says Dr. Castelnuovo, “[I]njectable ART from LMIC, particularly aimed to address patient preferences… is a very important topic as we advocate for access to injectable drugs.”

Serving research communities — regardless of size

Because a journal like AIDS Research and Therapy focuses on one specific topic, it, almost by definition, can’t earn the same scale of citation numbers that a broader-scope journal (like one publishing research broadly on all pathology-causing viruses) can. And because the work published here — and in journals of similar scope — gets used in the field by practitioners (who don’t in turn publish and cite), looking only at citation rankings can mask these journals’ true importance.

In the case study, Dr. Castelnuovo noted that, “A lot of data that comes out of Africa will be a single case study, with limited population sizes… But when there are 20 published [articles] showing differentiated service delivery is working well, then you can have countries or organisations adopting these practices.”

AIDS Research and Therapy serves a smaller, but critical, community which is itself more concentrated in LMICs. And as part of bigger OA imprint dedicated to serving these communities, a journal like this can offer more waivers so researchers from LMICs can publish OA. Dr. Castelnuovo told me:

I like to think our journal gives an opportunity for studies that cannot be published in journal[s] with very high impact factors but still provide very important information for clinicians and program managers… [S]cientists from LMIC[s] can request waivers for publication fees. This is a service that we provide because they will not otherwise have opportunities to publish their work [OA]… While research from LMICs may not always provide ground-breaking information, it is very relevant for those working in LMIC settings, where [the] majority of people living with HIV live. 

Publishing essential research

AIDS Research and Therapy is just one example of the important service these quartile three/quartile four journals provide to global research. Springer Nature recently published a white paper Demonstrating Journal Value Beyond Rankings, that goes into more depth and looks at journals across disciplines. (Dr. Castelnuovo contributed a case study for this white paper.)

Find out more in the white paper: Demonstrating Journal Value Beyond Rankings.

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