Data you can trust: Making Wiley Journal Insights work for you

Since we launched Wiley Journal Insights (WJI) 6 years ago, WJI has provided our society partners with access to journal performance data and analysis, whenever they need it. We are continuing to look for ways to improve that platform. One user recently told us, “I have already seen a huge improvement in the variety and detail of data provided since 3 years ago, with the addition of peer-review data making a huge difference”. Last year we asked some of our partners what services they value the most (and what they don’t). Here’s what they told us.

Easy access to the right data

Respondents to the survey came from a varied group of society leaders, editors in chief, managing editors, and other key users at societies. One thing was common across the whole group – they all rely on data from a range of sources to make decisions. However, getting data quickly from multiple sources isn’t always straightforward or easy. Managing editors were the most data-dependent, but 86% of all respondents told us that data played a key role in their decision-making. Consistency was one of the biggest challenges, but over half told us they also needed to be able to dig deeper into underlying data and they needed to be confident that the data was reliable. This is where WJI comes in.

Data when you need it

Almost 60% of respondents were regular users of WJI (that is, within the last 6 months), with a further 20% using the site in the past year. On average users visit once or twice a month and overall satisfaction levels are good. Over 60% were generally satisfied with the site, especially its data display and ease of use. Above all, it’s WJI’s self-service aspect that users value the most. Being able to access journal and article usage and bibliometrics when they want is crucial. In fact, people who valued self-service and target setting were considerably more likely to recommend WJI than users as a whole.

More work to do

We recognize, however, that WJI isn’t perfect, and we’ve been working hard behind the scenes to improve the site performance. The survey told us that some users weren’t satisfied with the ability to save filters and the usability of the ‘Help’ function, for instance, which we’re addressing. We know it's important to be able to understand just how journals are performing against key target metrics like submissions and publication times, transfer metrics, and accept/reject information. We’re working on this as well. Our next major release will include more details on all transfer metrics enabling users to monitor the effectiveness of transfer networks.

We recently made improvements to financial reporting by adding revenue and subscription income, enabling users to check on their journal’s open access earnings, compare year-on-year income trends, and export a detailed view of their income results, by category and year, and in USD and in their journal’s reporting currency. This is a change that’s already a hit with our users. The Chief Executive of the Royal Entomological Society told us, “The updated Wiley Insights have been very useful as they have allowed me to drill into the data which has been great.”

Users can also track which articles are part of a transformational agreement, helping you explore sources of open access funding, as well as publication and peer-review turn-around times; both major concerns for your members.

Research publishing continues to evolve and it’s important that we help you keep up to date with those changes. It’s what your members expect, after all. In our survey, you told us that you want better updates, awareness, and usability and that’s what we’re working towards. If the last two years have taught us anything it’s that the future is difficult to predict, but whatever happens, we’ll be right beside you providing the information and data you need to navigate the journey together.

If you’d like to find out more about WJI then get in touch with your Wiley contact or email us at wileyjournalinsights@wiley.com.

Dr. Jonathan Roscoe