In academia, publishing articles showcases expertise and credibility. Journals with high impact factors signal significance in the field. Understanding how to gauge a journal’s impact can enhance your publication strategy. Impact factor, a key metric, reflects a journal’s influence over time. Calculating it involves dividing the number of citations by the total articles published. Assessing personal impact also matters, considering citations to your own work. This article explores the significance, methodology, and implications of impact factors, empowering academics and professionals to navigate the publishing landscape strategically and enhance their scholarly footprint.
What is Impact factor?
The impact factor (IF) or journal impact factor (JIF) of an academic journal is a scientometric index calculated by Clarivate that reflects the yearly mean number of citations of articles published in the last two years in a given journal, as indexed by Clarivate’s Web of Science.
As a journal-level metric, it is frequently used as a proxy for the relative importance of a journal within its field; journals with higher impact factor values are given the status of being more important, or carry more prestige in their respective fields, than those with lower values.
While frequently used by universities and funding bodies to decide on promotion and research proposals, it has been criticised for distorting good scientific practices [1-3].
Why is the impact factor important?
Impact factor, an index based on the frequency with which a journal’s articles are cited in scientific publications, is a putative marker of journal quality [4]. A journal’s impact factor holds immense sway over funding, submissions, and the reputation of publishers and academics. Upholding publication quality not only boosts citation rates but also enhances a journal’s ranking. High impact factor journals signal meticulous management and prestige, fostering a virtuous cycle of scholarly engagement and recognition.
How to calculate the journal impact factor?
Journal Impact Factor (JIF) is calculated by Clarivate Analytics as the average of the sum of the citations received in a given year to a journal’s previous two years of publications (linked to the journal, but not necessarily to specific publications) divided by the sum of “citable” publications in the previous two years [5].
The calculation is based on a two-year period and involves dividing the number of times articles were cited by the number of articles that are citable.
Calculation of 2010 IF of a journal:
A = the number of times articles published in 2008 and 2009 were cited by indexed journals during 2010. B = the total number of “citable items” published in 2008 and 2009.
A/B = 2010 impact factor
The Impact Factor is reported in Journal Citation Reports (JCR)
CiteScore, which is similar to the IF but is based on a 4-year period.
Impact Factor Controversy
The impact factor (IF), widely used in academia, has sparked debate due to its limitations. It quantifies a journal’s influence based on citations received by its articles within a specific time frame (usually two years). However, critics argue that it oversimplifies research quality and favors certain fields [6]. Indeed, the fact that it is simple to understand – it is roughly the average number of citations that primary research papers published in two consecutive years gather in the following year – makes it all too easy to point out its shortcomings: the metric also includes citations to non-primary content (such as reviews and news articles); for many fields, citations accumulate slowly and thus the two-year time window seems too short; and the average number of citations per paper can be skewed by a few highly cited ones, of which high-impact journals have a big share [7]. Furthermore, a recent study found that papers published in predatory journals, which often lack rigorous peer review, have little scientific impact. Around 60% of these papers hadn’t attracted any citations at all, and less than 3% received more than 10 citations [8]. As we rethink science publishing, there’s a growing need for a broader, more-transparent suite of metrics to judge journals beyond the traditional impact factor [9]. Researchers and institutions should consider these complexities when evaluating scholarly work and avoid relying solely on impact factors for assessing journal quality.
Recent Biggest Discoveries and advances in Gynaecology and Obstetrics (2024)
Congenital Anomaly Risk with Methadone or Buprenorphine Exposure:
Data from a population-based study comparing over 9500 pregnancies exposed to buprenorphine in the first trimester with nearly 3900 methadone-exposed pregnancies showed that buprenorphine use was associated with a lower overall risk of congenital anomalies (5% versus 6%) [10]. Although the analysis adjusted for multiple potential confounding factors, unmeasured confounders may explain some of the observed associations. The choice between buprenorphine and methadone for medication-assisted treatment during pregnancy should consider other factors as well.
Maternal Sepsis Risk with Membrane Rupture Before 23 Weeks of Gestation:
Chorioamnionitis, which can be a cause or consequence of preterm prelabor rupture of membranes (PPROM), poses a significant risk for maternal sepsis. A prospective study found that maternal sepsis developed in 10% of patients with singleton pregnancies who chose to undergo pregnancy termination soon after diagnosis of PPROM and in 13% of those who initially chose to continue the pregnancy [11]. Timely diagnosis, close monitoring, and appropriate antibiotic treatment are crucial in managing PPROM cases.
Perinatal Depression and Mortality:
Perinatal depression is associated with an increased risk of death. An analysis of a national register from Sweden compared outcomes among individuals with and without a diagnosis of depression during pregnancy or postpartum, matched by age and year of delivery [12]. After controlling for potential confounding factors, all-cause mortality was greater in those with perinatal depression over 18 years of follow-up; the increased risk was largely driven by suicide. These results confirm the importance of screening for depression during pregnancy and postpartum.
Acetaminophen Use in Pregnancy and Neurodevelopment:
A recent study found that acetaminophen use during pregnancy is not associated with adverse neurodevelopmental outcomes in offspring [10]. This provides reassurance for pregnant individuals who require pain relief.
References
Waltman L, Traag VA (1 March 2021). “Use of the journal impact factor for assessing individual articles: Statistically flawed or not?”. F1000Research. 9: 366. doi:10.12688/f1000research.23418.2
Curry S (February 2018). “Let’s move beyond the rhetoric: it’s time to change how we judge research”. Nature. 554 (7691): 147. Bibcode:2018Natur.554..147C. doi:10.1038/d41586-018-01642-w
Hutchins, BI; Yuan, X; Anderson, JM; Santangelo, GM (September 2016). “Relative Citation Ratio (RCR): A New Metric That Uses Citation Rates to Measure Influence at the Article Level”. PLOS Biology. 14 (9): e1002541. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1002541
Saha S, Saint S, Christakis DA. Impact factor: a valid measure of journal quality? J Med Libr Assoc. 2003 Jan;91(1):42-6. PMID: 12572533; PMCID: PMC141186.
Wouters, P., Sugimoto, C. R., Larivière, V., McVeigh, M. E., Pulverer, B., de Rijcke, S., & Waltman, L. (2019). Rethinking impact factors: better ways to judge a journal. Nature, 569(7758), 621-623. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-019-01643-3
Suarez, E. A., Bateman, B. T., Straub, L., Hernández-Díaz, S., Jones, H. E., Gray, K. J., … & Huybrechts, K. F. (2024). First trimester use of buprenorphine or methadone and the risk of congenital malformations. JAMA Internal Medicine. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamainternalmedicine/article-abstract/2814227
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