PRESTIGE AND IMPACT VS USEFULNESS IN BIOLOGICAL JOURNALS OR AM I JUSTA REGIONAL KIND OF GUY

The impact factor and citation half-life for scientific journals, as c alculated by Science Citation Index, is used by some college administr ators and department chairs to indicate the prestige of a journal, and thus the ''significance'' of articles published in these journals by faculty members. Regional journals, published by associations or socie ties interested in the botany or natural history of specific geographi cal areas, are likely to have lower impact factors and thus lower pres tige than journals with national or international geographical coverag e. Evidence is presented that from the standpoint that the journals (a ) regularly have articles pertinent to one's research, (b) are likely to be cited in one's articles, (c) are likely to cite one's articles, and (d) are seen by a readership interested in one's research, regiona l journals may be as useful or even more useful to field biologists th an some far more prestigious journals. Administrators and department c hairs who are not aware of this need to be enlightened.