I heard about SSCI when I taught communication in the State University of New York system, but it is only "an" index, rather than "the" index. As a matter of fact, SSCI is not the first choice of many communication researchers simply because there are quite a few other indices or databases that are perceived to be more user-friendly, updated and communication-oriented. Although no programmed citation counts are provided in other indices or databases, it is usually easy to find where a person or article is cited through a full-text search.
Why is SSCI user-unfriendly? As a case in point, let us do a search for the article I published in Journal of Pragmatics in 1996: "Saying 'yes' for 'no' and 'no' for 'yes': A Chinese rule." If you use MLA International Bibliography, you can simply type "ma ringo" and have two of my publications listed on your screen immediately. SSCI, however, will not make your job so easy. You need to type my surname plus initial and use a wildcard command, i.e., "ma r*," to do the search. Then you have to dig out my article from a long "ma r*" listing. After you have located my article, you will be surprised seeing my name being listed as "Ma, RG"! Who would have thought about typing "RG" for "Ringo" when the search was initiated? I wonder if "Sheila Li" should be listed as "Li, SL" as well. This misrepresentation of my name has yielded incorrect citation counts for me.
SSCI is not the most updated index either. For instance, Quarterly Journal of Speech (QJS) is indexed in SSCI only up to 1999. Therefore, a QJS article of mine published in 2001 is not indexed. It is either because SSCI is five years lagged behind or because SSCI has ceased listing QJS since 2000. Either is unacceptable. My QJS article has been indexed in ComAbstracts of Communication Institute for Online Scholarship (CIOS), FirstSearch of OCLC, and Academic Search Elite and Communication & Mass Media Complete of EBSCOHost for a long while. If SSCI is five years behind, I doubt its usefulness. If QJS was indeed removed from SSCI beginning 2000, then the service credibility of SSCI staff is on the line. First, QJS, published since 1915, is the oldest journal of National Communication Association (NCA), which is the largest scholarly communication association in the world with about 7,100 members. It is perceived to be one of the top journals in communication studies and certainly enjoys a better reputation than many journals currently covered by SSCI. In addition, sporadic or discontinued collection of a journal without any obvious reason can constitute a disservice to researchers through misleading them to believing that there has been no publication on a searched topic.
A relevant question is whether SSCI is more selective than many other indices or databases? If it is, it is based on a set of criteria beyond my comprehension. One of the official publications by Western States Communication Association (U.S.), Western Journal of Communication, has been covered by SSCI for many years. However, none of the publications by other three regional communication associations in the U.S. is indexed. Communication Quarterly and Southern Communication Journal, for example, treated as "tier I" journals by many communication departments in the U.S. and by no means less selective than Western Journal of Communication, are never included. Both of the two journals are more "rigorous" in terms of manuscript acceptance rate than at least some SSCI indexed journals. Furthermore, because some major communication journals are not included the citation history of included journal articles can not be properly indexed.
Without being obsessed with the myth of SSCI, how do many communication scholars publish and survive in the U.S.? Let me use myself as an example. I do not perceive myself to be one of the most productive scholars but have published enough to survive two tenure and two promotion evaluations in North America. I am cited as well (not cited in the sense of SSCI, but cited in many books and articles as listed on my web page). One of the most useful indices I use is Index to Journals in Communication Studies produced by NCA. It was a multiple-volume index while I was working on my master's thesis in 1983-1984. Later it became a CD ROM, updated often and available in most U.S. university libraries and communication departments. Recently the database of NCA and Mass Media Articles Index produced by Pennsylvania State University were merged into Communication & Mass Media Complete (CMMC) on EBSCOhost. Another useful index used by many communication scholars is Communication Institute for Online Scholarship (CIOS). Both CMMC and CIOS are more inclusive, updated, and user-friendly than SSCI. Then why should SSCI become a primary research tool for communication scholars?
The value of a research index or database lies in its usefulness as a research tool. Therefore, its staff is assumed to be devoted to improving their service to researchers, rather than boosting the reputation of some selected journals. A journal index is simply a tool and should not become "the" evaluator. When we assess the scholarly output of a university teacher and its heuristic value to other researchers, we need to paint a complete picture for the person--what books, journal articles, book chapters, and conference papers he or she has produced and the overall impact of his or her scholarship. Using a generic and less popular social science index such as SSCI as the sole indicator for assessing the merit of a communication professor is like using the number of citations appeared in Chinese journals to judge the value of a Western professor. It is biased, unfair, and even illustrative of Michel Foucault's conception of power and knowledge.
The quality of higher education is demonstrated through many interrelated phenomena. To present the widely cited "America's Best Colleges Rankings" each year the U.S. News and World Report uses more than 15 indices to generate the total score for each university being evaluated. Among these indices, many are not directly related to the scholarly outputs of university teachers, such as "peer assessment score," "% of classes under 20," "selectivity rank" and "alumni giving rank." What a university offers to the society, in other words, is a comprehensive learning package. All components orchestrate to make a quality performance. A single research index such as SSCI, even if it is updated with consistent criteria for selection, will constitute only a small proportion of the overall reputation for any academic institution.
Prepared by Ringo Ma
December 30, 2005