ESSENTIAL SCIENCE INDICATORS JOURNAL CATEGORY SCOPE NOTES
Agricultural Sciences
Agricultural Sciences covers journals in general agriculture, agricultural chemistry and engineering, agronomy, dairy science, and animal science as it relates to agricultural needs, as well as food science and nutrition. Topics covered include tillage research and soil science; agroforestry; horticulture; crop protection and science; pest control and weed science; agrochemistry; phytochemistry; agricultural biochemistry; food chemistry; cereal chemistry; carbohydrate and lipid research; food composition, additives, and contaminants; food microbiology and technology; agricultural engineering and processing; meat and dairy science; animal breeding; animal genetics, nutrition, and production; poultry science; nutrition and metabolism; and nutritional biochemistry. Clinical nutrition also maps here. Agricultural economics maps to Economics & Business.
Biology & Biochemistry
Biology & Biochemistry covers a broad range of general topics. These include structure and chemistry of biological molecules; molecular, cellular, and clinical studies of the endocrine system (but does not include clinical endocrinology); regulation of cell, organ, and system functions by hormones; experimental research in general biology and biological systems; anatomy; physiology; cytology; pathology; morphology; proteomics; histochemistry; biophysics; regulation of biological functions at the whole organism level; exploitation of living organisms or their components; industrial microbiology; pollution remediation; industrial chemicals and enzymes; biosensors; bioelectronics; pesticide development; food, flavor, and fragrance industry applications; and waste treatment. Computational biology and life-science-related microscopy journals also map here.
Chemistry
The Chemistry category covers a broad spectrum of topics within the chemical sciences, including analytical chemistry, inorganic and nuclear chemistry, organic chemistry, physical chemistry, crystallography, electrochemistry, chemical methods and structures, natural and laboratory syntheses, and isolation and analysis of clinically significant molecules. This category also covers instrumentation and spectroscopy journals. Miscellaneous and applied chemistry journals also map here.
Polymer science journals not largely related to Materials Science map here; otherwise, they map to Materials Science. Chemical engineering journals also map here, provided they deal exclusively with chemical engineering—if they deal with multiple forms of engineering, they map to Engineering.
Clinical Medicine
The Clinical Medicine category covers journals dealing with a wide range of medical and biomedical topics. These include anesthesia and critical care medicine, cardiovascular medicine and cardiology, dentistry, dermatology, general and internal medicine, endocrinology, environmental medicine, gastroenterology, gynecology, hepatology, hematology, legal medicine, nephrology, nuclear medicine, nursing, obstetrics and reproductive medicine, oncology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology, pediatrics, radiology, respiratory medicine and pulmonology, rheumatology, surgery (including neurosurgery), and urology.
Clinical pharmacology as it relates to clinical trials maps here; otherwise pharmacology topics map to Pharmacology & Toxicology. All nutrition topics map to Agricultural Sciences. Ethics journals solely devoted to medical ethics map here. Journals dealing with the clinical aspects of substance abuse are classified here; those dealing with the social aspects map to Social Sciences, General.
Computer Science
Computer Science encompasses computer hardware and architecture, computer software, software engineering and design, computer graphics, programming languages, theoretical computing, computing methodologies, interdisciplinary computer applications, artificial intelligence theory, information systems and information technology, telecommunications, communications via various devices and systems, and acquisition, processing, storage, management, and dissemination of information. Bioinformatics journals also map here.
Economics & Business
The Economics & Business category includes journals which cover theoretical, political, agricultural, and developmental economics, as well as business, finance, management, organizational science, strategic planning and decision-making methods, and industrial relations and labor matters.
Engineering
Engineering includes publications covering a number of engineering disciplines, including aerospace engineering, mechanical engineering, electrical and electronics engineering, nuclear energy, civil engineering (which also encompasses water resources and supply and transportation and municipal engineering), the effects of humans on the environment and controls to minimize environmental degradation, applied artificial intelligence, robotics and automatic control, engineering mathematics (which encompasses mathematical modeling, optimization techniques, and statistical methods in engineering systems), energy and fuels, operations research, engineering management, construction and building technology, and the development, manufacture, and application of instruments.
Chemical engineering journals also related to other areas of engineering map here; otherwise they map to Chemistry.
Environment/Ecology
Environment/Ecology covers interrelated disciplines on pure and applied ecology, ecological modeling and engineering, ecotoxicology, evolutionary ecology, environmental contamination and toxicology, environmental health, environmental monitoring and management, environmental technology, environmental geology, water resources research, climate change, limnology, and biodiversity conservation. Natural history journals are also covered here. Environmental Studies subjects map to Social Sciences.
Geosciences
The Geosciences category covers a broad range of journals related to physical studies of the Earth. These include geology, geochemistry, geophysics, geotechnics, economic geology, petrochemistry, mineralogy, meteorology and atmospheric sciences, hydrology, oceanography, petroleum geology, volcanology, seismology, climatology, paleontology, remote sensing, geodesy, and geological, petroleum, and mining engineering.
Immunology
The category of Immunology incorporates journals containing cellular and molecular studies in immunology; clinical research in immunopathology; infectious diseases; autoimmunity and allergy; host-pathogen interactions in infectious diseases; and experimental therapeutic applications of immunomodulating agents.
Materials Science
The Materials Science category deals with journals covering the admixtures of matter or the basic materials from which products are constructed. These include ceramics, paper and wood products, textiles, composites, coatings and films, biomaterials, metals and alloys, metallurgy, superconductors and semiconductors, ferroelectrics, dielectrics, and the application of chemistry to materials design and testing. Polymer journals largely related to Materials Science map here; otherwise they map to Chemistry.
Mathematics
The Mathematics category comprises journals dealing with pure and applied mathematics as well as statistics and probability.
Microbiology
The Microbiology category contains journals dealing with biology and biochemistry of protozoa and microorganisms (bacterial, viral, and parasitic), medical implications of the subsets of these organisms known to cause diseases, and the biotechnology applications of microorganisms for basic science or clinical use. Fungi journals are not mapped to this category, but rather to Plant & Animal Science.
Molecular Biology & Genetics
Molecular Biology & Genetics covers all aspects of basic and applied genetics, as well as research that has specific emphasis on cellular functions in eukaryotic systems. These topics include biochemistry in eukaryotic systems; receptor biology; signal transduction; regulation of gene expression; morphogenesis; cell-environment interactions; molecular genetics; developmental genetics; developmental biology; biomedical engineering; mechanisms of mutagenesis; structure, function, and regulation of genetic material; clinical genetics; patterns of inheritance; genetics causes of diseases; and screening for and treatment of genetic diseases. General cell biology journals also map here.
Multidisciplinary
This category includes journals of a broad or general character in the sciences and covers the spectrum of major scientific disciplines. It also includes journals devoted to a multidisciplinary approach to the study of particular regions, ecosystems, or biological systems, as well as interdisciplinary journals designed to illuminate significant connections between fields.
Neuroscience & Behavior
Neuroscience & Behavior includes journals that cover cellular and molecular neuroscience, neuronal development, basic and clinical neurology, psychopharmacology, biobehavioral psychology, molecular psychology, and neuronal function underlying higher cognitive processes. Neurosurgery is not covered in this category, but rather inClinical Medicine with other surgical journals.
Pharmacology & Toxicology
Pharmacology covers journals dealing with pharmacology; pharmaceutics, cellular and molecular pharmacology; drug design and metabolism; mechanisms of drug action; drug delivery; natural products and traditional medicines; xenobiotics; medicinal chemistry; and mechanisms of action for clinical therapeutics.
Toxicology covers journals dealing with molecular and cellular effects of harmful substances, environmental toxicology, occupational exposure, and clinical toxicology.
Physics
Physics includes journals covering articles from all areas of physics and the following subfields: mathematical physics, particle and nuclear physics, physics of fluids and plasmas, quantum physics, theoretical physics, chemical physics, applied physics, condensed matter physics, physics of materials, and optics and acoustics.
Plant & Animal Science
Plant Science covers general botany journals as well as non-agricultural plant research, including regional botany, mycology, bryology, plant physiology, forestry, plant pathology, economic botany, aquatic botany and toxicology, marine ecology, plant nutrition, photosynthesis research, experimental botany, and cellular and molecular biology or physiology of plant cells and plant systems.
Animal Science covers non-agricultural animal science journals. Topics include animal behavior, health, and genetics; veterinary medicine; lab animal science; marine and freshwater biology; fisheries science; aquaculture; entomology; evolutionary biology; wildlife research; and zoology, encompassing primatology, mammalogy, ornithology, herpetology, nematology, and malacology.
Psychiatry/Psychology
All areas of psychiatry and psychology are covered in this category, including applied, biological, clinical, developmental, educational, mathematical, organizational, personal, and social, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of psychiatric disorders.
Social Sciences, General
The Social Sciences category includes journals which cover communication, environmental studies, library and information sciences, political science, public health and administration, rehabilitation, social work and social policy, sociology, anthropology, law, education, linguistics, tourism and hospitality, and demography. Journals covering the history and philosophy of science also map to this category. Ethics journals are classified here, unless they deal strictly with medical ethics, then they map to Clinical Medicine. Journals dealing with the social aspects of substance abuse map here; any with clinical aspects map to Clinical Medicine.
Space Sciences
The Space Science category covers journals dealing with all areas of astronomy and astrophysics, celestial bodies, and observation and interpretation of radiation from the component parts of the universe.
Arts & Humanities
Arts & Humanities are not covered in ESI.