Diversity, value and limitations of the journal impact factor and alternative metrics

Lutz Bornmann; Werner Marx; Armen Yuri Gasparyan; George D. Kitas

doi:10.1007/s00296-011-2276-1

Diversity, value and limitations of the journal impact factor and alternative metrics

Lutz Bornmann, Werner Marx, Armen Yuri Gasparyan, George D. Kitas

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Abstract

The highly popular journal impact factor (JIF) is an average measure of citations within 1 year after the publication of a journal as a whole within the two preceding years. It is widely used as a proxy of a journal's quality and scientiWc prestige. This article discusses misuses of JIF to assess impact of separate journal articles and the eVect of several manuscript versions on JIF. It also presents some newer alternative journal metrics such as SCImago Journal Rank and the h-index and analyses examples of their application in several subject categories. © Springer-Verlag 2011.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	1861-1867
Number of pages	6
Journal	Rheumatology International
Volume	32
Issue number	7
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1007/s00296-011-2276-1
Publication status	Published - Jul 2012

Keywords

Bibliometrics
Biomedical journals
H-Index
Impact factor
Periodicals as topic
Rheumatology

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10.1007/s00296-011-2276-1

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abstract = "The highly popular journal impact factor (JIF) is an average measure of citations within 1 year after the publication of a journal as a whole within the two preceding years. It is widely used as a proxy of a journal's quality and scientiWc prestige. This article discusses misuses of JIF to assess impact of separate journal articles and the eVect of several manuscript versions on JIF. It also presents some newer alternative journal metrics such as SCImago Journal Rank and the h-index and analyses examples of their application in several subject categories. {\textcopyright} Springer-Verlag 2011.",

keywords = "Bibliometrics, Biomedical journals, H-Index, Impact factor, Periodicals as topic, Rheumatology",

author = "Lutz Bornmann and Werner Marx and Gasparyan, {Armen Yuri} and Kitas, {George D.}",

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AU - Marx, Werner

AU - Gasparyan, Armen Yuri

AU - Kitas, George D.

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AB - The highly popular journal impact factor (JIF) is an average measure of citations within 1 year after the publication of a journal as a whole within the two preceding years. It is widely used as a proxy of a journal's quality and scientiWc prestige. This article discusses misuses of JIF to assess impact of separate journal articles and the eVect of several manuscript versions on JIF. It also presents some newer alternative journal metrics such as SCImago Journal Rank and the h-index and analyses examples of their application in several subject categories. © Springer-Verlag 2011.

KW - Bibliometrics

KW - Biomedical journals

KW - H-Index

KW - Impact factor

KW - Periodicals as topic

KW - Rheumatology

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JO - Rheumatology International

JF - Rheumatology International

IS - 7

ER -

Diversity, value and limitations of the journal impact factor and alternative metrics

Abstract

Keywords

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