Federation of Finnish Learned Societies has completed the Publication Forum Project at the initiative of the Universities Finland UNIFI. The aim of the project has been to create a system in which the scientific publication activity can be evaluated on basis quality, not only quantity. Following the Norwegian and Danish examples, the Publication Forum system is based on quality classification of scientific publication channels - journals, publication series and book publishers - in all research fields. Rating of publication channels takes place in 23 field specific expert panels.
The rating has three levels: 1 = basic; 2 = leading; 3 = top
The first Publication Forum rating has been completed in 2011. The publication channel ratings can be browsed on the search page. The level ratings will be reviewed every three years, the next time in 2014. Unclassified publication channels will be added to level 1 each year, and the first evaluation to complement the classification took place in 2012. The panels will evaluate new journals, publication series and book publishers to be added to level 1 the next time during autumn 2013, and to this evaluation round additions can be suggested here until the 31 May 2013.
The Publication Forum ratings are meant to be used for the evaluation of large publication volumes. The purpose of classification is to serve as the quality indicator of the whole scientific publication production of universities within the MinEdu funding model as of 2015. The universities are autonomous in using different tools in developing their own activities. Publication Forum classification is not suited for interdisciplinary comparisons. Under no circumstance can the classification substitute the peer evaluation based on the contents of the publication in the evaluations of individual researcher or research groups.
More information on the Publication Forum and the use of ratings
User Instructions of the Publication Forum Classification
