Distributional differences of the impact factor in the sciences versus the social sciences: An analysis of the probabilistic structure of the 2005 journal citation reports

The impact factor is a measure of the frequency with which the “average article” in a journal has been cited in a particular year or period (Journal Citation Reports; http://jcr.isihost.com). Specifically, it is the ratio of the number of articles from the journal cited over a given time period to the number of articles published by that journal during the same period. It is an objective measure of the journal’s importance, especially when compared to others in the same field. The purpose of the present study was to compare the impact factor of APAQ to 11 other journals in sport science, special education, and rehabilitation. The impact factor of APAQ compares quite favorably to most other journals in sport science, special education, and rehabilitation. However, it is strikingly different in 1998 and 1999, and therefore scholars should monitor it closely in the next few years while remembering it is only one estimate of journal prestige.

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Journal influence in corporate research

Managerial Finance ◽

10.1108/mf-05-2015-0150 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 42 (4) ◽

pp. 376-389 ◽

Cited By ~ 3

Author(s):

Kenneth Borokhovich ◽

Allissa Lee ◽

Betty Simkins

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Corporate Finance ◽

Relative Influence ◽

Impact Factors ◽

Content Type ◽

Journal Citation Reports ◽

The Social ◽

Total Influence ◽

The Impact

Purpose – Studies of research influence commonly look at the overall field of finance. The purpose of this paper is to examine the sub-field of corporate finance at four different points in time to determine its evolution and range of influence, specifically focussing on the relative influence of seven leading journals. Design/methodology/approach – Not all articles appearing in the set of journals are in corporate finance. The authors examine each article published in the journals for four key periods and identify those that are corporate. The impact factors (IFs) published in the Journal Citation Reports (JCR) are for all articles appearing in a journal. The authors are interested only in the corporate articles, so the authors calculate separate corporate IFs based on the citations to the corporate articles using the JCR technique. Findings – The authors find a broad corporate research environment with influence that extends well beyond finance. The authors also find differences in the relative influence of the journals not only in their total influence, but in where the influence occurs outside finance and other business journals and even more broadly in the social sciences. Research limitations/implications – The exclusion of journals outside the seven selected may not uncover other areas where corporate finance articles impact research more broadly. Also, classification of articles is inherently subjective. Practical implications – The authors draw comparisons between journals and corporate finance topic areas; indicating the breadth and depth research in these areas attain. These results should prove beneficial to researchers in determining areas of influence for their work, consequently providing opportunities for additional exchanges of ideas resulting in better and more informed research in the overall social sciences. Further, our approach to analyzing journal influence could prove fruitful for additional research. Originality/value – The findings allow for a greater understanding of the influence of individual journals and their subsequent rankings by a number of different means. The authors propose that the means and measures employed here can lead to a greater understanding of how influential a journal really is. Further, the authors contend that the study provides comparisons of the scope and depth of influence for each journal in a way that could lead to new avenues of research.

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The correlations between certain features of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology and its impact factor: a comparative analysis at the thematic and national levels

Neotropical Ichthyology ◽

10.1590/s1679-62252013000100001 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 11 (1) ◽

pp. 1-8

Author(s):

Sabrina Menezes ◽

Letícia Strehl

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Impact Factor ◽

Quantitative Methods ◽

Short History ◽

Microsoft Excel ◽

Journal Citation Reports ◽

The Social ◽

Two Samples ◽

The Subject ◽

The Relationship

The present article analyzes the relationship between characteristics of the journal Neotropical Ichthyology and its impact factor (IF) between 2006 and 2011 using bibliometric descriptive quantitative methods. To perform this analysis, two samples of journals included in Journal Citation Reports (JCR) were studied. One sample was composed of journals classified within the subject of zoology, and the other contained journals from different areas published in Brazil. The instrument used for data collection was a database created in Microsoft Excel 2007 and the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) version 18. The results show that despite its short history, Neotropical Ichthyologyhas exhibited a distinctive impact, as manifested in a significant progression in the IF of this journal in the field of zoology during the investigated period.

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Significant impact of developing countries and emerging markets in Systematic and Applied Acarology

Systematic and Applied Acarology ◽

10.11158/saa.24.7.1 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 24 (7) ◽

pp. 1121-1123

Author(s):

Zhi-Qiang Zhang

Keyword(s):

Developing Countries ◽

Emerging Markets ◽

Impact Factor ◽

Impact Factors ◽

Journal Citation Reports ◽

Number Of Publications ◽

The Impact ◽

Journal Impact ◽

Journal Citation

Journal impact factors for 2018 were recently announced by Clarivate Analytics in the June 2019 edition of Journal Citation Reports (JCR). In this editorial, I compared the impact factor of Systematic and Applied Acarology (SAA) with those of other main acarological journals as I did in Zhang (2017). Following Zhang (2018a), I also highlighted the top 10 SAA papers from 2016/2017 with the highest numbers of citations in 2018 (according to JCR June 2019 edition). In addition, I remarked on the increasing impact of developing countries and emerging markets in systematic and applied acarology, both in the number of publications and citations, and also include announcements of meetings on applied acarology.

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Visualization of Disciplinary Profiles: Enhanced Science Overlay Maps

Journal of Data and Information Science ◽

10.1515/jdis-2017-0015 ◽

2017 ◽

Vol 2 (3) ◽

pp. 68-111 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Stephen Carley ◽

Alan L. Porter ◽

Ismael Rafols ◽

Loet Leydesdorff

Keyword(s):

Social Sciences ◽

Science Citation Index ◽

Web Of Science ◽

Citation Index ◽

Science Citation ◽

Journal Citation Reports ◽

The Social ◽

Using Data ◽

Social Sciences Citation Index ◽

Journal Citation

Abstract Purpose The purpose of this study is to modernize previous work on science overlay maps by updating the underlying citation matrix, generating new clusters of scientific disciplines, enhancing visualizations, and providing more accessible means for analysts to generate their own maps. Design/methodology/approach We use the combined set of 2015 Journal Citation Reports for the Science Citation Index (n of journals = 8,778) and the Social Sciences Citation Index (n = 3,212) for a total of 11,365 journals. The set of Web of Science Categories in the Science Citation Index and the Social Sciences Citation Index increased from 224 in 2010 to 227 in 2015. Using dedicated software, a matrix of 227 × 227 cells is generated on the basis of whole-number citation counting. We normalize this matrix using the cosine function. We first develop the citing-side, cosine-normalized map using 2015 data and VOSviewer visualization with default parameter values. A routine for making overlays on the basis of the map (“wc15.exe”) is available at http://www.leydesdorff.net/wc15/index.htm. Findings Findings appear in the form of visuals throughout the manuscript. In Figures 1–9 we provide basemaps of science and science overlay maps for a number of companies, universities, and technologies. Research limitations As Web of Science Categories change and/or are updated so is the need to update the routine we provide. Also, to apply the routine we provide users need access to the Web of Science. Practical implications Visualization of science overlay maps is now more accurate and true to the 2015 Journal Citation Reports than was the case with the previous version of the routine advanced in our paper. Originality/value The routine we advance allows users to visualize science overlay maps in VOSviewer using data from more recent Journal Citation Reports.

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The 2011 Journal Citation Reports and the impact factor of the Journal of Applied Oral Science

Journal of Applied Oral Science ◽

10.1590/s1678-77572012000300001 ◽

2012 ◽

Vol 20 (3) ◽

pp. 1-1

Author(s):

Carlos F. Santos

Keyword(s):

Impact Factor ◽

Journal Citation Reports ◽

The Impact ◽

Journal Citation

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Impact factor volatility due to a single paper: A comprehensive analysis

Quantitative Science Studies ◽

10.1162/qss_a_00037 ◽

2020 ◽

pp. 1-24

Author(s):

Manolis Antonoyiannakis

Keyword(s):

Impact Factor ◽

Relative Increase ◽

Comprehensive Analysis ◽

Journal Citation Reports ◽

Reward Mechanism ◽

The Impact ◽

Highly Cited ◽

Journal Citation

We study how a single paper affects the impact factor (IF) of a journal by analyzing data from 3,088,511 papers published in 11639 journals in the 2017 Journal Citation Reports of Clarivate Analytics. We find that IFs are highly volatile. For example, the top-cited paper of 381 journals caused their IF to increase by more than 0.5 points, while for 818 journals the relative increase exceeded 25%. One in 10 journals had their IF boosted by more than 50% by their top three cited papers. Because the single-paper effect on the IF is inversely proportional to journal size, small journals are rewarded much more strongly than large journals for a highly cited paper, while they are penalized more for a low-cited paper, especially if their IF is high. This skewed reward mechanism incentivizes high-IF journals to stay small to remain competitive in rankings. We discuss the implications for breakthrough papers appearing in prestigious journals. We question the reliability of IF rankings given the high IF sensitivity to a few papers that affects thousands of journals.

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Recognizing high impact in acarological research

Systematic and Applied Acarology ◽

10.11158/saa.23.7.16 ◽

2018 ◽

Vol 23 (7) ◽

pp. 1494

Author(s):

Zhi-Qiang Zhang

Keyword(s):

Impact Factor ◽

High Impact ◽

Highly Cited Papers ◽

Journal Citation Reports ◽

The Impact ◽

Highly Cited ◽

Journal Citation

The impact factor for Systematic and Applied Acarology (SAA) in 2017 was announced in the latest release (June 2018) of Journal Citation Reports (JCR) from Clarivate Analytics. I take this opportunity to comment on the growth of SAA’s impact factor and recognize the top 10 most highly cited papers that contributed greatly it. I also introduce the James Allen McMurtry Award, recently instituted by the Systematic and Applied Acarology Society to recognize acarologists who have made outstanding contributions to systematic and/or applied acarology.

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