International Journal of Information and Management Sciences (IJIMS), a quarterly journal run by the Graduate Institute of Management Sciences, was included in Taiwan Social Science Citation Index (TSSCI) last month by Department of Humanities and Social Sciences, National Science Council. In TSSCI, IJIMS is the only journal in management field run by merely a single department of a private university. Professor Ou-Yang Liang-yu in Dept. of Management Sciences and Decision Making, the former Editor-in-chief responsible for the preparation and application of this event, indicated that the examination of TSSCI candidates is very strict, and hence it is uneasy for IJIMS to be included in the index.

“It is indeed a great honor, worked out by all the people who devoted themselves to this journal. I appreciate the former Editor-in-chief Dr. Ou-Yang Liang-yu and the Executive Editor Dr. Lou Kuo-ren, who is also the former Chair, for their hard work for such a long time,” Dr. Shih Hsu-shih, Chair, Dept. of Management Sciences and Decision Making, said happily. “After accepting by EI (Engineering Village 2) and TSSCI, we hope that IJIMS can be included in ISI (Essential Science Indicators) and SCI Expanded (Science Citation Index Expanded) after 3 to 5 years.”

Dr. Liao Shu-hsien, the Executive Editor-In-Chief and the professor of Dept. of Management Sciences and Decision Making, indicated that they would constantly improve IJIMS and run it with a long term prospect to increase its visibility. After IJIMS was included in TSSCI, more academic scholars will cite the papers in IJIMS, so that it is more possible for IJIMS to be included in SCI (Science Citation Index). Therefore, it is indeed a great academic achievement for the department.

TSSCI is the main social science citation index database in Taiwan. It offers quantification index to assess the development of social science research, analyzing the citation situation of the main social science journals published in Taiwan, and further understanding the influence of these journals. Through the index, people can also understand the citation situation of a single paper, and then to evaluate its author.

The examination of TSSCI candidates is very strict. There are more than 50 journals related to management field in Taiwan, in which only 14 are included in TSSCI by 2008.

IJIMS is a quarterly journal, established in 1990. The papers in the journal have to be written in English, and are submitted from more than 30 countries and regions. In recent years, there are about 100 submitted papers each year, in which half of them will be accepted. The examination policy is conscientious and careful. Each paper is examined by at least two professional anonymous examiners from other schools. Besides TSSCI, IJIMS is also included by EI Compendex, INSPEC, SCOPUS, MathSci, Pascal, ZMath, Mathematical Reviews.

All the papers of IJIMS published in recent 10 years are posted on the website of the department. Scholars and the public can browse them freely on the website, which has become an important reference resource for the researchers in management field.

( ~ Shu-chun Yen )