Abstract
We discuss research evaluation, the nature of impact, and the use of the Thomson Reuters journal impact factor and other indicators in scientometrics in the light of recent commentary.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
ABRC (1987). A strategy for the science base. HMSO, London. ISBN 0 11 270627 4.
Adam, D. (2002). Citation analysis: The counting house. Nature, 415, 726–729.
Adams, J. (2002). Research assessment in the UK. Science, 296, 805.
Adams, J. (2005). Early citation counts correlate with accumulated impact. Scientometrics, 65(3), 567–581.
Adams, J. (2007). The use of bibliometrics to measure research quality in UK higher education institutions. Universities UK, London. ISBN 1 84036 165 4 http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/Publications/Documents/bibliometrics.pdf.
Adams, J. (2008). Strategic review of the performance-based research fund: The assessment process. A report to the New Zealand Tertiary Education Council, http://www.tec.govt.nz/Documents/Reports%20and%20other%20documents/pbrf-strategic-review-of-asessment-process-2008-review.pdf p. 112.
Adams, J. (2009). The use of bibliometrics to measure research quality in UK higher education institutions. Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis, 57, 19–32.
Adams, J., Gurney, K. A., & Marshall, S. (2007). Profiling citation impact: A new methodology. Scientometrics, 72(2), 325–344.
Adams, J., Jackson, L., Simmonds, P., & Stroyan, J. (2006). Evaluating social science bibliometrics and research indicators. A report to the UK Economic and Social Research Council. Swindon: ESRC.
Adams, J., Mount, D.R., Smith, D. & Thomson, S. (2010). The future of the UK university research base. A report to Universities UK. Universities UK, London. http://www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/Publications/Documents/UUK-FutureOfResearch-LiteratureReview.pdf p. 63.
Adams, J., & Smith, D. (2007). Higher education, research and the knowledge economy: From Robbins to the gathering storm. In D. Watson & M. Amoah (Eds.), The dearing report, ten years on. Institute of Education. ISBN 0 85473 780 4. London, pp. 81–108.
Adams, J., Watt, P. J., Naylor, C. J., & Greenwood, P. J. (1989). Loading constraints, body size and mating preference in Gammarus species. Hydrobiologia, 183, 157–164.
Bensman, S. J. (2012). The impact factor: Its place in Garfield’s thought, in science evaluation, and in library collection management. Scientometrics. doi:10.1007/s11192-011-0601-9.
Braun, T. (2007). The impact factor of scientific and scholarly journals: Its use and misuse in research evaluation. Akademiai Kiado, Budapest. ISBN 9 63 058528 6.
Buchanan, R. A. (2006). Accuracy of cited references: The role of citation databases. College and Research Libraries, 67, 292–303.
Campanario, J. M. (2011). Empirical study of journal impact factors obtained using the classical two-year citation window versus a five-year citation window. Scientometrics, 87, 189–204.
Campanario, J. M., Carretero, J., Marangon, V., Molina, A., & Ros, G. (2011). Effect on the journal impact factor of the number and document type of citing records: A wide-scale study. Scientometrics, 87, 75–84.
European Commission (2012). Evidence base for research and innovation. http://ec.europa.eu/research/evaluations/index_en.cfm?pg=fp7-evidence.
Garfield, E. (1955). Citation indexes for science: A new dimension in documentation through association of ideas. Science, 122, 108–111.
Garfield, E. (1972). Citation analysis as a tool in journal evaluation: Journals can be ranked by frequency and impact of citations for science policy studies. Science, 178, 471–479.
Garfield, E. (1976). Significant journals of science. Nature, 264, 609–615.
Garfield, E. (2006). The history and meaning of the journal impact factor. Journal of the American Medical Association, 295, 90–93.
Garfield, E., & Sher, I. H. (1963). New factors in evaluation of scientific literature through citation indexing. American Documentation, 14, 195–201.
Goodhart, C. A. E. (1975). Monetary relationships: A view from threadneedle street. papers in monetary economics. Sydney: Reserve Bank of Australia.
HM Government (1993). Realising our potential: A strategy for science, engineering and technology., Cm 2250. HMSO, London. ISBN 0 10 122502 4.
Hirsch, J. E. (2005). An index to quantify an individual’s scientific research output. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the USA, 102, 16569–16572.
Hubbard, S. C., & McVeigh, M. E. (2011). Casting a wide net: The journal impact factor numerator. Learned Publishing, 24, 133–137.
Leydesdorff, L. (2012). Alternatives to the journal impact factor: I3 and the top-10% (or top-25%?) of the most-highly cited papers. Scientometrics. doi:10.1007/s11192-012-0660-6.
Leydesdorff, L., & Bornmann, L. (2011). Integrated impact indicators compared with impact factors: An alternative research design with policy implications. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62, 2133–2146.
Marx, W. (2011). Special features of historical papers from the viewpoint of bibliometrics. Journal of the American Society for Information Science and Technology, 62, 433–439.
Moed, M. F. (2005). Citation analysis in research evaluation. Springer, Dordrecht, pp. 95–96 and 174–178.
Moed, H. F., Glanzel, W., & Schmoch, U. (2004). Handbook of quantitative science and technology research (eds.). Kluwer, Dordrecht. ISBN 1 4020 2702 8.
Moed, H. F., & van Leeuwen, T. N. (1996). Impact factors can mislead. Nature, 381, 186.
Pendlebury, D. A. (2008). Thomson scientific corrects inaccuracies in editorial. Retrieved from http://community.thomsonreuters.com/t5/Citation-Impact-Center/Thomson-Scientific-Corrects-Inaccuracies-In-Editorial/ba-p/717/message-uid/717. Accessed on 29 January 2012.
Pendlebury, D. A. (2009). The use and misuse of journal metrics and other citation indicators. Archivum Immunologiae et Therapiae Experimentalis, 57, 1–11.
Rousseau, R. (2012). Updating the journal impact factor or total overhaul? Scientometrics. doi:10.1007/s11192-012-0649-1.
Rossner, M., Van Epps, H., & Hill, E. (2007). Show me the data. Journal of Cell Biology, 179, 1091–1092.
Testa, J. (2008). The Thomson Reuters journal selection process. Retrieved from http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/free/essays/journal_selection_process/. Accessed 29 January 2012.
Testa, J. (2011). The globalization of the Web of science: 2005–2010. Retrieved from http://wokinfo.com/media/pdf/globalwos-essay.pdf. Accessed 29 January 2012.
Thomson Reuters (2012). Journal citation reports. Retrieved from http://thomsonreuters.com/products_services/science/science_products/a-z/journal_citation_reports/. Accessed 29 January 2012.
Van Raan, A. F. J. (2005). Fatal attraction: Conceptual and methodological problems in the ranking of universities by bibliometric methods. Scientometrics, 62(1), 133–143.
Vanclay, J. K. (2012). Impact factor: Outdated artefact or stepping-stone to journal certification? Scientometrics. doi:10.1007/s11192-011-0561-0.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Pendlebury, D.A., Adams, J. Comments on a critique of the Thomson Reuters journal impact factor. Scientometrics 92, 395–401 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0689-6
Received:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11192-012-0689-6