Strategies to increase impact factor: myth or reality?

Ana Marušić

Editor in chief, Journal of Global HealthEditor emerita, Croatian Medical Journal

University of Split School of Medicine, Split, Croatia

Workshop: Editorial Process

Manipulating impact factor – is it ethical?

citations journal articles from two previous years receive in the current year

number of articles published in the two previous yearsIF=

Institute for Scientific Information

Science Citation Index

COPE examples:- Publishing “annual reviews” where journal articles are

cited- Editor insists that authors include citations to the

journal in their manuscript

“Beginning in 2009, all manuscripts accepted by the International Journal of Cardiology must contain a citation to an article on ethical authorship published in the same journal in January 2009. The immediacy index (which measures the citations in the same year) of the International Journal of Cardiology rose from 0.413 in 2008 to 2.918 in 2009, and a significant boost in the impact factor will occur in 2010 and 2011.”

Coats AJS. Ethical authorship and publishing. Int J Cardiol. 2009;131: 149-50.

citations journal articles from two previous years receive in the current year

number of articles published in the two previous yearsIF=

Journal and type of published item

No. (%) of items in WoS

Nature: Articles Reviews Editorial material Letters Other†Total

1869 (36.0)66 (1.3)

1270 (24.4)351 (6.7)

1637 (31.5)5193 (100.0)

AABC: Articles Reviews Editorial material Letters OtherTotal

121 (96.0)3 (2.4)1 (0.8)0 (0.0)1 (0.8)

126 (100.0)J Med: Articles Reviews Editorial material Letters OtherTotal

563 (15.5)116 (3.2)

860 (23.6)2043 (56.1)

58 (1.6)3540 100.0

Croat Med J: Articles Reviews Editorial material Letters OtherTotal

202 (71.4)1 (0.3)

80 (28.3)-

7 (2.5)283 (100.0)

• Impact factor depends on the types or atricles published and citations to these types

Advice:Follow your journal’s citationsIdentify highly cited articles and topicsWork on attracting articles that will be used and citedUse new means of communication

Rmax        Related journal (j)      

Relatedness (R)CROAT MED J

to jj to CROAT

MED J446.66 CROAT MED J  446.66  446.66 226.35 FORENSIC SCI INT-GEN  125.98  226.35 148.38 INT J LEGAL MED  148.38  57.18 

61.31 FORENSIC SCI INT  61.31  8.48 53.70 SPORTS MED  53.70  4.08 52.49 J FORENSIC SCI  52.49  49.64 47.47 LANCET  47.47  2.27 46.43 BRIT MED J  46.43  1.95 34.64 EUR J HUM GENET  34.64  5.22 20.57 ZDR VESTN  8.77  20.57 20.32 PLOS MED  7.80  20.32 18.67 AM J PHYS ANTHROPOL  18.67  6.24 18.00 FAM PRACT  18.00  12.92 15.66 ARH HIG RADA TOKSIKO  15.60  15.66 14.97 AM J FOREN MED PATH  6.97  14.97 11.59 WIEN KLIN WOCHENSCHR  8.12  11.59 11.20 PRENATAL DIAG  5.23  11.20 10.78 BMC FAM PRACT  9.23  10.78 

8.76 BMC PUBLIC HEALTH  3.57  8.76 8.21 AM J MED GENET A  8.21  2.04 

Category Name

Total Journalsin Category

Journal Rankin Category

Quartile in Category

MEDICINE, GENERAL & INTERNAL

155 54 Q2

Cite and retweet this widely: Tweets can predict citations! Highly tweeted articles 11x more likely to be highly cited http://t.co/dcJLRj7yCite and retweet this widely: Tweets can predict citations! Highly tweeted articles 11x more likely to be highly cited http://t.co/dcJLRj7y

arXiv.org > cs > arXiv:1205.4328Computer Science > Digital LibrariesGeorge A. Lozano, Vincent Lariviere, Yves Gingras. The weakening relationship between the Impact Factor and papers' citations in the digital age(Submitted on 19 May 2012)

The future of impact factor?

Social media and science journals

Gunther Eysenbach. Can tweets predict citations? Metrics of social impact based on twitter and correlation with traditional metrics of scientific impact. Journal of Medical Internet Research 2011;4:e123

Cite and retweet this widely: Tweets can predict citations! Highly tweeted articles 11x more likely to be highly cited http://t.co/dcJLRj7y

Obrigada!

ana.marusic@mefst.hr

pius7.slu.edu