Journal Impact Factor


Journal Impact Factor

Journal Impact Factor

Journal Impact Factor: Understanding its Significance in the World of Science

 

The Journal Impact Factor (JIF) has become a commonly used measure of a journal’s success and influence in academic publishing. The JIF is a metric that measures the frequency with which articles from a particular journal are cited within a certain period. In this article, we will explore what the Impact Factor is, how it is calculated, its reliability, its tools, what constitutes a good Impact Factor, and how to find a journal’s Impact Factor.

What is the Journal Impact Factor?

 

The Impact Factor is a measure that quantifies the relative importance of a scientific journal in its field of study. It is calculated by dividing the number of citations received by the journal in a particular year by the total number of articles published in the journal during the preceding two years. The resulting number is the journal’s Impact Factor. For example, if a journal published 100 articles in 2018 and 2019, and those articles were cited 500 times in 2020, then the Impact Factor of the journal would be 5.0.

Why use Impact Factor?

 

Researchers, scientists, and publishers use the Impact Factor to measure a journal’s quality and impact in a particular field. For researchers and scientists, publishing in high-impact journals can increase their visibility and reputation within the academic community. For publishers, a high Impact Factor can increase the prestige and desirability of their journal, which can lead to more submissions and higher subscription rates.

How is the Journal Impact Factor Calculated?

 

The calculation of the Impact Factor is relatively straightforward. The journal’s total number of citations in a particular year is divided by the number of articles published during the preceding two years. This calculation is repeated each year, and the resulting values are averaged to give the journal’s Impact Factor for the current year.

Calculation of 2010 IF of a journal

 

To calculate the 2010 Impact Factor of a journal, we would look at the citations received by the journal in 2010 and divide that number by the total number of articles published in the journal in 2008 and 2009. For example, if a journal published 100 articles in 2008 and 2009 and received 500 citations in 2010, then the Impact Factor of the journal for 2010 would be 5.0.

Where to find Journal Impact Factors?

 

The most notable source for journal impact factors is the annual publication called the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) published by Thomson Scientific.

How is the Journal Impact Factor Calculated?

 

Thomson defines impact factor as, “The journal Impact Factor is the average number of times articles from the journal published in the past two years have been cited in the JCR year.

The Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the JCR year by the total number of articles published in the two previous years.

  • An Impact Factor of 1.0 means that, on average, the articles published one or two year ago have been cited one time.
  • An Impact Factor of 2.5 means that, on average, the articles published one or two year ago have been cited two and a half times.
  • Citing articles may be from the same journal; most citing articles are from different journals.”

Example:

A journal's impact factor for 2008 would be calculated by taking the number of citations in 2008 to articles that were published in 2007 and 2006 and dividing that number by the total number of articles published in that same journal in 2007 and 2006. Below is how Thomson calculated the 2008 impact factor for the journal Academy of Management Review:

Journal Impact Factor

Thus, the Impact Factor of 6.125 for the journal, Academy of Management Review for 2008 indicates that on average, the articles published in this journal in the past two years have been cited about 6.125 times.

Factors to Consider While Consulting journal Impact Factors:

  • Publication Date:
    • The impact factor is based on citation frequency of articles from a journal in their first few years of publication.
    • This does not serve well the journals with articles that get cited over a longer period of time (let's say, 10 years) rather than immediately.
    • In other words, journals in rapidly expanding fields such as cell biology and computing tend to have much higher immediate citation rates leading to higher IFs than journals in fields like Education or Economics.
  • Journal Impact Factor not Article Impact Factor:
    • Citations to articles in a journal are not evenly distributed.
    • In fact, some articles in a journal may not be cited at all but a few highly cited articles could lead to a high IF.
    • Therefore, the IF does not accurately reflect the quality of individual articles published in a journal.
    • Also, journals with more issues and articles can have higher Impact Factors which could be misleading as it does not really reflect the quality of articles.
  • Review Articles:
    • Review articles (which tend to receive more citations), editorials, letters, and news items are not counted in article total but if cited are counted as citations for the journal.
    • This leaves room for manipulation of ratio used to calculate impact factors leading to
      inflated impact factors in some cases.
  • Clinical Journals:
    • Clinical journals usually have low citation counts. This puts such
      journals at a disadvantage with research journals in the field that have higher
      citation counts.
    • Uneven Coverage: The Journal Citation Reports focuses much more on disciplines where the primary means of publishing is through journal article.
    • It provides less coverage to areas in Social Sciences and Humanities, where books and other publishing formats are more prevalent.
  • Uneven Coverage:
    • The Journal Citation Reports focuses much more on disciplines where the primary means of publishing is through journal article.
    • It provides less coverage to areas in Social Sciences and Humanities, where books and other publishing formats are more prevalent.

Reliability of the Impact Factor

 

The Impact Factor has been criticised for several reasons. One major criticism is that the field of study heavily influences it. Journals in some fields, such as medicine and biology, tend to have higher Impact Factors than journals in other fields, such as mathematics and philosophy. Another criticism is that the Impact Factor needs to consider the quality of the articles published in a journal. A journal with a high Impact Factor may still publish articles that could be of better quality or have little impact on the field.

Tools to Measure Journal Impact (Impact Factor)

 

There are several tools available to measure the Impact Factor of a journal. The Journal Citation Report (JCR) is the most well-known device produced by Clarivate Analytics. The JCR provides Impact Factor data for thousands of journals in various fields of study. Other tools include Scopus, Google Scholar, and Web of Science.

What is a good journal impact factor for a scientific journal?

 

The answer to this question depends on the field of study. Journals in some fields, such as medicine and biology, tend to have higher Impact Factors than journals in other fields, such as mathematics and philosophy. An Impact Factor above 1.0 is considered good, and an Impact Factor above 2.0 is considered excellent.

There are several ways to find the journal Impact Factor of a journal:

 

  • Journal Citation Reports: The most reliable and widely used source of Impact Factor data is the Journal Citation Reports (JCR), which Clarivate Analytics produces. The JCR provides Impact Factor data for thousands of journals in various fields of study.
  • Scopus: Scopus is another database that provides Impact Factor data for journals. It is a comprehensive source of academic literature, including articles from thousands of journals.
  • Google Scholar: Google Scholar is a free database that provides access to scholarly articles, books, and conference proceedings. While it does not offer an official Impact Factor, it does provide a citation count for individual pieces and can be used to estimate the Impact Factor of a journal.
  • Journal’s website: Many journals publish their Impact Factor on their website. This information can usually be found on the “About” or “Editorial” pages of the journal’s website.
  • Library databases: Many academic libraries provide access to databases that include Impact Factor data. Check with your university or local library to see if they can access such databases.

 

In conclusion, finding the Impact Factor of a Journal Impact Factor can be done through various sources, with the Journal Citation Reports being the most widely used and reliable. However, other sources such as Scopus, Google Scholar, and the journal’s website can also provide valuable information.

 

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