Abstract Purpose This paper describes an alternative way of assessing journals considering a broader perspective of its impact. The Area-based connectedness (ABC) to society of journals applied here contributes to the assessment of the dissemination task of journals but with more data it may also contribute to the assessment of other missions. Design/methodology/approach The ABC approach assesses the performance of research actors, in this case journals, considering the characteristics of the research areas in which they are active. Each paper in a journal inherits the characteristics of its area. These areas are defined by a publication-based classification. The characteristics of areas relate to 5 dimensions of connectedness to society (news, policy, industrial R&D, technology and local interest) and are calculated by bibliometric indicators and social media metrics. Findings In the paper, I illustrate the approach by showing the results for a few journals. They illustrate the diverse profiles that journals may have. We are able to provide a profile for each journal in the Web of Science database. The profiles we present show an appropriate view on the journals’ societal connectedness. Research limitations The classification I apply to perform the analyses is a CWTS in house classification based on Web of Science data. As such the application depends on the (updates of) that system. The classification is available at www.leidenranking.com Practical implications The dimensions of connectedness discussed in this paper relate to the dissemination task of journals but further development of this method may provide more options to monitor the tasks/mission of journals. Originality/value The ABC approach is a unique way to assess performance or impact of research actors considering the characteristics of the areas in which output is published and as such less prone to manipulation or gaming.

中文翻译：

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衡量社会影响与ABC一样复杂

摘要目的本文介绍了一种从更广泛的角度考虑期刊影响的评估期刊的方法。此处应用的与期刊社会的基于区域的联系（ABC）有助于评估期刊的传播任务，但具有更多数据，也可能有助于评估其他任务。设计/方法/方法ABC方法会评估研究参与者（在本例中为期刊）的绩效，并考虑其活跃的研究领域的特征。期刊中的每篇论文都继承了其领域的特征。这些区域由基于出版物的分类定义。区域的特征涉及与社会的联系的5个维度（新闻，政策，工业研发，技术和当地利益），并通过文献计量指标和社交媒体指标进行计算。结果在本文中，我将通过显示一些期刊的结果来说明这种方法。它们说明了期刊可能具有的各种特征。我们能够为Web of Science数据库中的每个期刊提供一个配置文件。我们提供的资料显示了期刊社会联系的适当观点。研究局限性我适用于执行分析的分类是基于Web of Science数据的房屋分类中的CWTS。因此，应用程序取决于该系统（的更新）。可在www.leidenranking上找到分类。com的实际意义本文讨论的连接性维度与期刊的传播任务有关，但是这种方法的进一步发展可能会提供更多选择来监视期刊的任务/任务。原创性/价值ABC方法是一种独特的方法，可以根据研究结果的发布区域来评估研究参与者的绩效或影响，因此不易操纵或游戏。