Research Impact

Measuring Journal Impact

Journal Impact metrics attempt to quantify the importance of a journal in it's particular field (usually via an algorithm). Most metrics take into account the number of articles published during a span of time (usually a year or more), while also measuring the number of citations to articles that were published in that journal within the same amount of time. While impact measurements do have limitations, more and more metrics are being created. While these metrics are useful, researchers in their discipline will have the best sense of the top journals in their field. 

The following boxes include descriptions of the most common journal impact metrics, as well as tools to use to find those metrics. 

Journal Citation Reports via Web of Science

Access Journal Citation Reports (JCR) via Web of Science (the link for Journal Citation Reports is in the upper left hand corner of the homepage). Journal Citation Reports (JCR) provides a number of journal impact measurements for journals in the sciences and social sciences. Reported metrics include Impact Factor, 5-year Impact Factor, Immediacy Index, Eigenfactor Metrics, and more. 

JCR uses a 'classic' Impact Factor wherein the frequency with which the 'average article' in a journal has been cited in a particular year (or other defined time period). Both 2-year and 5-year Impact Factors are available. 

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Google Scholar Metrics

Google Scholar Metrics includes a top 100 list of journals for particular fields ranked using their 5-year h-index. You can look at top journals in different subject categories and subcategories. The underlying data comes from Google Scholar and sections on Metrics, Coverage, and Inclusion will tell you more about how the rankings were derived. 

Google Scholar Metrics uses the H-index based on a 5 year window. The specifics of what an h-index is and how it is calculated can be found here.  

Eigenfactor and Article Influence Scores

The Eigenfactor measures the "important" or "influence" of a journal. Citations from high-quality journals are weighted more than citations from less well-known journals. The Article Influence is calculated by dividing the Eigenfactor by the number of articles published in that journal. Keep in mind that both scored use a 5-year citation window and are meant to adjust for citation differences across disciplines. 

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