The purpose of this paper is to survey the definition of scientific jo
urnals and its properties. 54 properties of scientific journals were i
ndicated and divided into 4 categories (editing, format, content and u
se). 46 properties of 173 journals (sample: covered by SCI, SSCI, text
s in English and held by either Keio, Waseda, or Tokyo University) wer
e examined. New definition of scientific journal is analyzed.