Demystifying the Impact Factor (IF): A Guide for Researchers and Academics

In the realm of academic publishing, navigating the intricacies of journals and their significance can be a daunting task. One metric frequently employed to assess a journal’s prominence is the Impact Factor (IF). This article delves into the concept of the IF, exploring its meaning, calculation, strengths, limitations, and alternative metrics.

Understanding the Essence: What is the Impact Factor?

The Impact Factor serves as a quantitative measure of the average number of citations received by articles published in a particular journal during a specific two-year period. It is calculated by dividing the number of citations in the current year to articles published in the two preceding years. For instance, a journal with an IF of 5 indicates that, on average, articles published in that journal within the past two years have been cited five times in scholarly publications during the current year.

The Calculation Process: Unveiling the Formula

The Impact Factor is calculated using the following formula:

IF(2024) = Citations in 2024 to articles published in 2022 & 2023 / Number of articles published in 2022 & 2023

This formula is applied annually by Clarivate Analytics, a leading provider of scientific information and citation data, through their Web of Science platform. It’s crucial to remember that the IF is a journal-level metric, reflecting the average citation impact of articles published within that specific journal, not the impact of individual articles.

The Merits of the Impact Factor: A Look at the Advantages

The Impact Factor offers several advantages:

• Provides a Benchmark for Journal Prestige: A higher IF generally signifies a journal’s greater prominence and influence within its field. This can be a valuable consideration for researchers seeking to publish their work in high-impact journals, potentially enhancing the visibility and reach of their research.
• Facilitates Journal Selection: Researchers can leverage the IF as a starting point when selecting journals for submission, helping them target publications with a strong reputation within their specific research area.
• Aids in Research Evaluation: Institutions and funding agencies might utilize the IF to assess the quality of research outputs, particularly when evaluating the publication record of researchers.

Beyond the Glimmer: Recognizing the Limitations

While the Impact Factor holds some value, it’s essential to acknowledge its limitations:

• Field-Specific Variations: The IF can be misleading when comparing journals across different disciplines. Journals in some fields naturally receive higher citation counts compared to others. A social science journal with an IF of 3 might be equally prestigious as a physics journal with an IF of 5.
• Focus on Quantity over Quality: The IF solely considers the number of citations, not the quality or significance of those citations. A highly cited article might be cited for various reasons, including agreement or disagreement with the findings.
• Potential for Manipulation: Unethical practices, such as self-citation or citation cartels, can artificially inflate a journal’s IF.
• Limited Scope: The IF only considers citations from a specific database (Web of Science) and excludes valuable citations from other sources.

Alternative Metrics: Exploring Broader Evaluation Techniques

Given the limitations of the IF, researchers and institutions are increasingly exploring alternative metrics to assess journal impact and research quality. These include:

• Altmetrics: This refers to a broader range of metrics that capture the online attention and discussion surrounding research outputs, such as social media mentions, downloads, and altmetrics scores.
• Eigenfactor Score: This metric considers the importance of the citing journals, providing a more nuanced picture of a journal’s influence.
• Citation Rate by Field: This metric normalizes citation counts based on the average citation rate within a specific field, addressing the issue of field-specific variations.

A Balanced Approach: Utilizing the IF Effectively

The Impact Factor should not be the sole criterion for evaluating journals or research. Researchers are encouraged to consider the IF in conjunction with other factors, such as:

• Journal’s reputation and editorial board: A journal’s editorial board composition and its reputation within the field can offer valuable insights into its quality and relevance.
• Target audience: Consider the intended audience for your research and select a journal with a readership that aligns with your field and research questions.
• Article fit: Ensure your research aligns with the journal’s scope and editorial focus to maximize the likelihood of acceptance and impact.
• Open access options: Explore the open access options available through the journal, considering the importance of making your research readily accessible to a wider audience.

Conclusion: A Compass, Not a Destination

The Impact Factor serves as a guidepost, not a definitive measure of journal quality or research significance.

Thomson Reuters Company is a multipurpose company, one of which is scientific activities. It releases a list of journals which identified as qualified journals worldwide, every year. The journals which are included in this list are called ISI journals.

ISI stands for “Institute for Scientific Information”

The other activity of Thomson Company was calculating the Impact Factor (IF) of ISI journals. IF is calculated by dividing “the number of papers referenced to the journal, during the last two years” into “the total number of journals published by the journal, during the last two years”. The higher IF, the more quality of a journal.

This report that is containing IF of journals is called JCR which stands for “Journal Citation Reports”.

Now, JCR is the property of Clarivate Analytics and is integrated with The web of science – which previously was a property of Thomson company –

What is considered a good impact factor?

There is not a definite range for IF; as it was said, the higher IF, the more quality of a journal.

In order to compare different journals in terms of IF, they should be of the same scope, for example, you cannot compare the IF of a medical journal with an engineering journal.

How to find the impact factor of a journal?

Most of the journals write their IF in their websites, however, it cannot be a reliable source to refer.

Clarivate website is the most reliable source. Visit this website and insert the full title of the journal, a word in the title, or an ISSN of it. A list will be appeared. If the journal you are searching for exists in the list, it is an ISI journal, otherwise, it is not. The problem is that the appeared list does not contain the IF of the journals.

There are also other websites publishing the IF list for journals. for example, you can see the IF list for 2017 in this PDF.

Considering the IF formula, JCR publishes the list of every year for the previous year. So in 2019, the list of 2018 will be published.

Criticism of impact factor

Remember the IF formula? It is the average of citations a journal has got during the past two years. Considering this fact, the IF is under some criticisms.

For example, naturally open access journals will get more citations, since the access to them is possible to every researcher easily.

Or in some fields the number of citations is more than others. So you cannot compare the IF of two journals in two different fields.

Besides, it causes editors to accept those papers that have more chance of getting citations.

Source

What is the impact factor used for?

IF is using in two cases:

• When you are writing a research paper; if you want to write a high-quality paper, you need to use papers published in journals with higher IF to reference to.
• When you are going to publish your research paper in a journal, you can evaluate the quality of journals by their IF and choose which journal you are going to publish in.

What other metrics are there assessing the quality of a journal?

There are other metrics such as “Global Impact Factor” or GIF, “Universal Impact Factor” or UIF, “Scientific Journal Impact Factor” or SJIF, “Google Scholar metrics”, and so on which are calculated by publishers or other companies.

Note that the only reliable metrics to assess a journal in terms of academic value are JCR and SJR -which is calculated by Scopus and is of a range between Q1 to Q4- however, there are some criticisms of them as well.

Questions and Answers about “What is the Impact Factor (IF)?”

1. What is the Impact Factor (IF)?

Answer:
The Impact Factor (IF) is a measure of the frequency with which an academic journal’s articles are cited in a particular year. It is often used to evaluate the relative importance or rank of a journal within its field. A high Impact Factor indicates that the articles published in the journal are frequently cited by other researchers, suggesting that the journal is influential and reputable.

2. How is the Impact Factor calculated?

Answer:
The Impact Factor is calculated by dividing the total number of citations received by articles published in a journal during the previous two years by the total number of articles published in that journal during the same two-year period. The formula is:

Impact Factor (IF)=Citations in year X to articles published in years X-1 and X-2Total number of articles published in years X-1 and X-2\text{Impact Factor (IF)} = \frac{\text{Citations in year X to articles published in years X-1 and X-2}}{\text{Total number of articles published in years X-1 and X-2}}

3. What does a high Impact Factor indicate?

Answer:
A high Impact Factor indicates that the journal is widely cited and considered influential in its field. This can suggest that the research published in the journal is of high quality, relevant, and has a significant impact on the academic community. Journals with higher IFs are often considered prestigious.

4. What does a low Impact Factor mean?

Answer:
A low Impact Factor generally suggests that the journal is cited less frequently in academic literature. This could mean that the journal publishes niche or less well-known research, or it may indicate a lower level of influence within its field. However, a low IF does not necessarily mean that the research published in the journal is of poor quality.

5. Is the Impact Factor the only measure of journal quality?

Answer:
No, the Impact Factor is just one measure of journal quality. While it can indicate the citation frequency and perceived influence of a journal, it does not assess the actual quality or validity of the research published. Other factors, such as peer review quality, editorial standards, and the reputation of the journal within its academic community, also play important roles in determining journal quality.

6. How often is the Impact Factor updated?

Answer:
The Impact Factor is typically updated annually. Journals receive their new IF based on the total number of citations and publications for the two previous calendar years.

7. Can the Impact Factor vary across different academic fields?

Answer:
Yes, the Impact Factor can vary significantly across different academic disciplines. For example, journals in fields like medicine, biology, and chemistry often have higher Impact Factors because they tend to publish articles that are widely cited. In contrast, journals in fields like humanities or social sciences might have lower Impact Factors, as citation patterns tend to be different in these areas.

8. How can the Impact Factor affect researchers and authors?

Answer:
Researchers may prefer to publish their work in journals with higher Impact Factors to increase the visibility and perceived credibility of their research. Publishing in high-IF journals is often associated with higher academic prestige and can enhance the author’s career prospects. However, a high IF should not be the sole consideration when choosing where to publish.

9. Can the Impact Factor be manipulated?

Answer:
Yes, there have been concerns about journals attempting to manipulate their Impact Factor by publishing a large number of review articles or by encouraging authors to cite articles from the same journal. While the IF is a useful metric, it can be influenced by editorial strategies rather than just the inherent quality of the research.

10. What is the difference between the Impact Factor and the h-index?

Answer:
The Impact Factor is a measure of how often articles from a specific journal are cited, while the h-index is a measure of a researcher’s overall citation performance. The h-index takes into account the number of articles a researcher has published and how often they have been cited. Both metrics are useful for evaluating academic influence but in different contexts (journal vs. individual research output).

11. Does the Impact Factor measure the quality of an individual article?

Answer:
No, the Impact Factor measures the citation frequency of a journal as a whole, not individual articles. It does not reflect the quality of any specific research paper published within the journal. To evaluate the impact or quality of an individual article, other metrics like citation counts or altmetrics may be more relevant.

12. Is the Impact Factor a reliable indicator of journal prestige?

Answer:
The Impact Factor is often used as a rough indicator of journal prestige, but it has limitations. It does not account for the quality of the peer review process, the reputation of the editorial board, or the specific contributions of the articles published. While a high IF may indicate that a journal is influential, it should not be the sole factor used to assess the journal’s reputation.

13. What are some limitations of the Impact Factor?

Answer:
Some limitations of the Impact Factor include:

• It does not account for the quality of individual articles.
• It can be influenced by citation manipulation or editorial practices.
• It varies significantly across disciplines, making it less meaningful for interdisciplinary journals.
• It may favor journals with a high volume of articles rather than those with selective, high-quality content.

14. How does the Impact Factor relate to journal rankings?

Answer:
The Impact Factor is one of the key metrics used to rank journals within a specific field. Journals with higher Impact Factors tend to rank higher in their discipline, though other factors like reputation, peer review quality, and subject relevance are also considered in comprehensive journal rankings.

15. Can a journal with a low Impact Factor still be valuable?

Answer:
Yes, a journal with a low Impact Factor can still be valuable. In niche or emerging fields, journals with lower IFs may publish high-quality, original research that may not receive immediate widespread attention. Additionally, for certain types of research (e.g., local or specialized topics), a lower IF journal may be more appropriate for publication.