#PAGE_PARAMS# #ADS_HEAD_SCRIPTS# #MICRODATA#

Size matters! Association between journal size and longitudinal variability of the Journal Impact Factor


Autoři: Dorothea Koelblinger aff001;  Georg Zimmermann aff002;  Silke B. Weineck aff001;  Tobias Kiesslich aff005
Působiště autorů: Research Office, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria aff001;  Department of Neurology, Spinal Cord Injury and Tissue Regeneration Center Salzburg, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria aff002;  Department of Neurology, Christian Doppler Medical Centre, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria aff003;  Department of Mathematics, Paris-Lodron University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria aff004;  Institute for Physiology and Pathophysiology, Paracelsus Medical University, Salzburg, Austria aff005;  Department of Internal Medicine I, Paracelsus Medical University / Salzburger Landeskliniken, Salzburg, Austria aff006
Vyšlo v časopise: PLoS ONE 14(11)
Kategorie: Research Article
doi: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0225360

Souhrn

Analyses of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF) have grown to be a major topic in scientometric literature. Despite widespread and justified critique concerning the JIF and its application, the size of a journal as a predictor for its longitudinal variability–or stability–on a long-term level has not yet comprehensively been analyzed. This study aims to provide robust evidence for an association between JIF variability and the size of journals, expressed by the number of published articles (citable items). For this purpose, the complete set of journals included in the Incite Journal Citation Reports (JCR) with an JIF in the 2017 JCR edition (n = 8750) were analyzed for the association between journal size and longitudinal JIF dynamics. Our results, based on n = 4792 journals with a complete JIF data set over the timespan of 12 annual JIF changes show that larger journals publishing more citable items experience smaller annual changes of the JIF than smaller journals, yet with this association being reversed for journals with a very large number of total cites. Consequently and in accordance with the genuine intention of the JIF to serve as a basis for decisions on journal subscriptions, evaluation of current changes of the JIF have to be accompanied by consideration of the journal’s size in order to be accurate and sensible.

Klíčová slova:

Advertising – Arithmetic – Bibliometrics – Citation analysis – Libraries – Scientific publishing – Librarians


Zdroje

1. Casadevall A, Fang FC. Causes for the persistence of impact factor mania. MBio. 2014;5(2):e00064–14. doi: 10.1128/mBio.00064-14 24643863; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3967521.

2. Carey RM. Quantifying Scientific Merit: Is it Time to Transform the Impact Factor? Circ Res. 2016;119(12):1273–5. doi: 10.1161/CIRCRESAHA.116.309883 27932470.

3. Garfield E. Citation indexes for science; a new dimension in documentation through association of ideas. Science. 1955;122(3159):108–11. doi: 10.1126/science.122.3159.108 14385826.

4. Gross PL, Gross EM. College Libraries and Chemical Education. Science. 1927;66(1713):385–9. doi: 10.1126/science.66.1713.385 17782476.

5. Garfield E. The history and meaning of the journal impact factor. JAMA. 2006;295(1):90–3. doi: 10.1001/jama.295.1.90 16391221.

6. Benedictus R, Miedema F, Ferguson MW. Fewer numbers, better science. Nature. 2016;538(7626):453–5. doi: 10.1038/538453a 27786219.

7. Van Noorden R. Metrics: A profusion of measures. Nature. 2010;465(7300):864–6. doi: 10.1038/465864a 20559362.

8. Dissecting our impact factor. Nat Mater. 2011;10(9):645. doi: 10.1038/nmat3114 21860394.

9. Kiesslich T, Weineck SB, Koelblinger D. Reasons for Journal Impact Factor Changes: Influence of Changing Source Items. PLoS One. 2016;11(4):e0154199. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0154199 27105434; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC4841562.

10. Claxton LD. Scientific authorship. Part 2. History, recurring issues, practices, and guidelines. Mutat Res. 2005;589(1):31–45. doi: 10.1016/j.mrrev.2004.07.002 15652225.

11. The impact factor game. It is time to find a better way to assess the scientific literature. PLoS Med. 2006;3(6):e291. doi: 10.1371/journal.pmed.0030291 16749869; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC1475651.

12. Epstein D. Impact factor manipulation. The Journal of the European Medical Writers Association. 2007;16(3):133–4.

13. Falagas ME, Alexiou VG. The top-ten in journal impact factor manipulation. Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz). 2008;56(4):223–6. Epub 2008/07/29. doi: 10.1007/s00005-008-0024-5 18661263.

14. Ogden TL, Bartley DL. The ups and downs of journal impact factors. Ann Occup Hyg. 2008;52(2):73–82. doi: 10.1093/annhyg/men002 18316351.

15. Amin M, Mabe M. Impact factors: use and abuse. Perspect Publishing. 2000;1:1–6.

16. R Core Team (2018). R: A language and environment for statistical computing. R Foundation for Statistical Computing, Vienna, Austria. URL https://www.R-project.org/.

17. Neff BD, Olden JD. Not So Fast: Inflation in Impact Factors Contributes to Apparent Improvements in Journal Quality. BIOONE. 2010;60(6):455–9.

18. Caramoy A, Korwitz U, Eppelin A, Kirchhof B, Fauser S. Analysis of aggregate impact factor inflation in ophthalmology. Ophthalmologica. 2013;229(2):113–8. doi: 10.1159/000343081 23075689.

19. Simons K. The misused impact factor. Science. 2008;322(5899):165. doi: 10.1126/science.1165316 18845714.

20. Alberts B. Impact factor distortions. Science. 2013;340(6134):787. doi: 10.1126/science.1240319 23687012.

21. Citation data: the wrong impact? Nat Neurosci. 1998;1(8):641–2. doi: 10.1038/3639 10196574.

22. Smith R. Commentary: the power of the unrelenting impact factor—is it a force for good or harm? Int J Epidemiol. 2006;35(5):1129–30. doi: 10.1093/ije/dyl191 16987843.

23. Analytics Clarivate (2019). Product information on the 'Journal Citation Reports'. https://clarivate.com/products/journal-citation-reports/. Accessed 28 May 2019.

24. Analytics Clarivate (2019). Company's 'News Releases' on 'Science Research Connect'. https://clarivate.com/blog/science-research-connect/the-2018-jcr-release-is-here/. Accessed 28 May 2019.

25. Laakso M, Bjork BC. Anatomy of open access publishing: a study of longitudinal development and internal structure. BMC Med. 2012;10:124. doi: 10.1186/1741-7015-10-124 23088823; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3478161.

26. Pendlebury DA. The use and misuse of journal metrics and other citation indicators. Arch Immunol Ther Exp (Warsz). 2009;57(1):1–11. doi: 10.1007/s00005-009-0008-y 19219526

27. Pulverer B. Impact fact-or fiction? EMBO J. 2013;32(12):1651–2. doi: 10.1038/emboj.2013.126 23685358; PubMed Central PMCID: PMC3680741.


Článek vyšel v časopise

PLOS One


2019 Číslo 11
Nejčtenější tento týden
Nejčtenější v tomto čísle
Kurzy

Zvyšte si kvalifikaci online z pohodlí domova

plice
INSIGHTS from European Respiratory Congress
nový kurz

Současné pohledy na riziko v parodontologii
Autoři: MUDr. Ladislav Korábek, CSc., MBA

Svět praktické medicíny 3/2024 (znalostní test z časopisu)

Kardiologické projevy hypereozinofilií
Autoři: prof. MUDr. Petr Němec, Ph.D.

Střevní příprava před kolonoskopií
Autoři: MUDr. Klára Kmochová, Ph.D.

Všechny kurzy
Kurzy Podcasty Doporučená témata Časopisy
Přihlášení
Zapomenuté heslo

Zadejte e-mailovou adresu, se kterou jste vytvářel(a) účet, budou Vám na ni zaslány informace k nastavení nového hesla.

Přihlášení

Nemáte účet?  Registrujte se

#ADS_BOTTOM_SCRIPTS#