{"id":1993,"date":"2013-11-04T08:58:13","date_gmt":"2013-11-04T08:58:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/why-you-should-not-use-the-journal-impact-factor-to-evaluate-research\/"},"modified":"2025-01-15T06:45:31","modified_gmt":"2025-01-15T06:45:31","slug":"why-you-should-not-use-the-journal-impact-factor-to-evaluate-research","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.editage.com\/insights\/why-you-should-not-use-the-journal-impact-factor-to-evaluate-research","title":{"rendered":"Why you should not use the journal impact factor to evaluate research"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Eugene Garfield,1<\/sup>\u00a0the founder of the Journal Impact Factor (JIF), had originally designed it as a means to help choose journals. Unfortunately, the JIF is now often used inappropriately, for example, to evaluate the influence of individual pieces of research or even the prestige of researchers. This metric has recently come under considerable criticism owing to its inherent limitations and misuse.2-4\u00a0<\/sup><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

The impact factor of a journal is a simple average obtained by considering the number of citations that articles in the journal have received within a specific time frame.5<\/sup>\u00a0A previous article “The impact factor and other measures of journal prestige”<\/span><\/span>\u00a0touched upon its calculation and features. This article delves a little deeper into the fallacies of the impact factor and points that you should consider when using it.<\/span><\/span><\/p>\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
How the JIF should be used<\/span><\/th>\nHow the JIF should not be used<\/span><\/span><\/th>\n<\/tr>\n
As a measure of journal prestige and impact<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nTo evaluate the impact of individual articles and researchers<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
To compare the influence of journals within a specific subject area<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nTo compare journals from different disciplines<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
By librarians, to manage institutional subscriptions<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nBy funding agencies, as a basis for grant allocation<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
By researchers, to identify prestigious field-specific journals to follow and possibly submit to<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nBy authors, as a singular criterion of consideration for journal selection<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
By journals, to compare expected and actual citation frequency and compare themselves with other journals within their field<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nBy hiring and promotion committees, as a basis for predicting a researcher\u2019s standing<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n
By publishers, to conduct market research6<\/span><\/span><\/td>\nBy authors, to compare themselves<\/span><\/span><\/td>\n<\/tr>\n<\/tbody>\n<\/table>\n

Characteristics of the JIF\u00a0<\/strong>

Below are listed some of the features and shortcomings of the JIF that should be well understood in order to prevent misuse of this metric:\u00a0<\/span><\/span>
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