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I just wanted to follow the discussion in the comments on this question: How can I find open access journals for cognitive science research?

I initially submitted a very vague question which was helpfully edited by others to make it clearer (thanks!).

However in the comments that took place someone actually suggested an even more specific and helpful question which is much more along the lines of what I'd really like to know ("are there any open access cognitive science journals with an impact factor >1 or any websites showing impact factors for open access journals in this area").

Id would like to ask that exact question. It was pointed out that its not a good idea to edit the existing question as this would invalidate the existing answers.

Should I start an entirely new question - if I do should I make reference to the original question?

Thanks for any advice - this has been a valuable lesson in specificity and clearly thinking about what I want to ask.

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    I don't feel that would be a better question. As Ben stated in a comment: "@Jeff perhaps you're right there are few "reputable" journals out there, but turning this into a list of subjectively good journals fitting a criteria makes it even more subjective and less concrete question than even the initial question.".
    – Steven Jeuris Mod
    Mar 1, 2012 at 8:24
  • @StevenJeuris the point of using impact factor is that it's not subjective.
    – Jeff
    Mar 2, 2012 at 23:01
  • @Jeff: So how do you calculate this impact factor?
    – Steven Jeuris Mod
    Mar 3, 2012 at 0:41
  • Oh, I see now that's part of the question: "or any websites showing impact factors for open access journals in this area". Perhaps that's a good first question to ask. Please don't ask them together.
    – Steven Jeuris Mod
    Mar 3, 2012 at 13:05
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    @StevenJeuris The normal way to find impact factors is through Thompson Reuters citation reports (bit.ly/eR25Im). Most instituations provide access to this database. This allows you to search for particular journals and provides a range of scores for each entry. As far as know however, it does not show whether or not a journal is open access. The interesting thing to find out, as far as im concerned, is whether any cog.sci journals have a impact score >1. A list of impact factors for this field would just be a way of determing that. Im not sure why you'd like this asked as 2 questions?
    – mob
    Mar 4, 2012 at 22:33
  • Thanks for that info. I'd ask as two questions because the list question is bound to get closed because there is a risk it doesn't follow the FAQ, unless many effort goes into it. If you can at least base the list question on a properly defined premise (in which the second question could help) I believe you'll get nearer to the goal you're trying to achieve. Try to plug all the holes which could lead the question to being interpreted as not following the faq.
    – Steven Jeuris Mod
    Mar 4, 2012 at 22:43
  • "The interesting thing to find out, as far as im concerned, is whether any cog.sci journals have a impact score >1. A list of impact factors for this field would just be a way of determing that." .. No, finding any Cog.Sci journal with an impact factor >1 would determine that, and any journal with an impact factor >1 would be a valid answer, regardless of how high the impact factor is.
    – Steven Jeuris Mod
    Mar 4, 2012 at 22:45
  • @StevenJeuris which part of the FAQ or guidelines do you think this question is at risk of violating?
    – mob
    Mar 6, 2012 at 9:30
  • @mob 1. "every answer is equally valid: “What’s your favorite ______?”, 2. "your answer is provided along with the question, and you expect more answers: “I use ______ for ______, what do you use?” Just keep those in mind. There are ways of making them work. ;p I'm just warning you it's not easy.
    – Steven Jeuris Mod
    Mar 6, 2012 at 9:32
  • .. oh and: "Your questions should be reasonably scoped. If you can imagine an entire book that answers your question, you’re asking too much." But I can't predict the scope of your question. Stating in your question why you find it to be reasonably scoped can do wonders as well. Better not make that an hypothesis either.
    – Steven Jeuris Mod
    Mar 6, 2012 at 9:35

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To answer your general question, yes, ask a different question. The spirit of the question should always remain true to the original post (I hope our edits did that), if you need to ask something more specific or something that no longer matches answers given to that post, break your new query into a new question.

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  • Thanks for the general clarification Ben. For the new specific question, I'm not sure why are you are saying what I am proposing is subjective. Impact factor is a completely objective metric. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Impact_factor
    – mob
    Mar 2, 2012 at 5:29
  • @mob my bad then; I wasn't aware of that. I withdrew that point
    – Ben Brocka
    Mar 2, 2012 at 14:19

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